Stabbing Suspect Beat Elderly Man 2 Years Ago 81-Year-Old Died Soon After Attack; Judge Warned Of Future Violence;

A Spokane teenager who sparked a community outrage two years ago when he viciously beat an 81-year-old man now is accused of stabbing another teen.

Adrian Washington, who turned 18 two weeks ago, was charged Wednesday with first-degree assault.

Detectives say Washington stabbed a 17-year-old boy once in the stomach Tuesday morning at Dutch Jake Park in north Spokane.

District Court Commissioner Virginia Rockwood ordered Washington held on a $50,000, cash-only bond.

The victim was listed in serious condition at a local hospital Wednesday afternoon after undergoing surgery.

In 1995, Washington, then 16, pleaded guilty to second-degree assault in the beating of Peter LaBeck.

Authorities said Washington and two other youths punched, kicked and shoved the old man outside the Fox Theatre.

LaBeck died two months after the attack. Family members said the beating stole the former Air Force sergeant’s will to live.

Washington admitted hitting LaBeck once with his elbow.

He said the man called him a name prior to the assault.

Superior Court Judge Neal Q. Rielly handed down an exceptional sentence in the case: 65 weeks in juvenile detention.

“I’m absolutely convinced that unless this young man gets some serious intervention in his life, someone else is going to get hurt,” Rielly said at the time.

Detectives said Tuesday’s attack appeared to be a random act of violence, possibly gang-related.

A 20-year-old man told police he and the victim were walking through the park about 3 a.m. when they saw a group of six or seven people nearby.

Two men separated themselves from the group and confronted them, asking where they lived and whether they were claiming the park as territory for their gang, the man said.

The witness told detectives neither he nor the victim belong to a gang.

One of the suspects used a threatening tone and at one point challenged the victim, the witness said.

The 20-year-old said he walked away but turned back when he heard the sound of a bottle breaking.

He told police he saw his friend staggering toward him, bleeding from his stomach.

The man later picked Washington’s picture out of a photo lineup as the suspect making the threats.

Police stopped a car driven by Washington later that morning. Officers said Washington was carrying two knives, one of which had a “dried, reddish stain on it.”

Officers seized the knives but didn’t arrest Washington until Tuesday night, after they’d had a chance to interview the victim and witness.

Washington has denied the attack, detectives said.

, DataTimes