It’s not that the police or public don’t care about brutal assaults on Olympia’s streets in broad daylight because, well, they don’t! (Oly’s Tenderloin Street Crime: Bizniz As Usual?)
by Amelia Dickson
Olympia, WA (7-11-15) — A 20-year-old Olympia woman will serve a six-month jail sentence after pleading guilty to second-degree assault, a charge stemming from a May altercation at the Artesian Commons Park in downtown Olympia.
Alexandra K. Thompson entered her plea before Thurston County Superior Court Judge Mary Sue Wilson on Friday. She had been in custody in the Thurston County Jail since her May 10 arrest, and will serve the rest of her sentence in the county jail.
Her co-defendant, 32-year-old Brynn K. Thomas, pleaded guilty in June to second-degree rendering criminal assistance. She hasn’t been sentenced yet.
Deputy Prosecutor Jim Powers recommended the six-month sentence, and told the judge that the May 7 assault left the victim hospitalized with facial fractures and cuts that required stitches.
“This was a completely unprovoked attack,” Powers said.
Olympia police responded to the Artesian Commons about 4:30 p.m. after a witness reported that a woman was bleeding heavily from her head, according to court documents. The woman was transported to Providence St. Peter Hospital. She identified her attackers as Thompson and Thomas.
Surveillance footage of the park showed that the two women arrived at the park in a white van. They climbed out of the vehicle and approached the victim, who was riding her bike past the park. Footage shows Thompson punching the victim in the face, knocking her off the bicycle.
Footage shows that Thompson then punched the woman in the head 13 times while she was lying on the ground, according to court documents.
Karl Hack, Thompson’s attorney, asked the judge to award his client a five-month sentence. He said Thompson wants to take advantage of free tuition in a GED program before she turns 21. Wilson denied his request, explaining that the serious charge warranted the six-month sentence.
During the hearing, Thompson apologized for the assault.
“She did not deserve what I did to her. … I am not proud in anyway of what I did,” Thompson said.
(*Ahem!* It’s been said a picture is worth a thousand words. The moral of the following photos is: Grow up to be pretty–you’ll do a lot less time for your crimes and your critics will be written off as curmudgeons…or worse.)