Man, 38, charged in Seattle bus stop attack



SEATTLE -- King County prosecutors have charged a 38-year-old man in connection with an attack on a man at a Rainier Beach bus stop. The 61-year-old victim is developmentally disabled.  Seattle Police said Friday that Aaron Sloan was arrested after attempting to sell a gold Ford Contour, the vehicle seen in surveillance images released by investigators, on Craigslist.

Sloan has been charged with second-degree assault in the March 24 incident.  Ray Pieczynski suffered a traumatic brain injury and severe hearing loss after he was attacked with a baseball bat.

Pieczynski continues to recover at Harborview Medical Center.

According to charging documents, Sloan is facing his third strike if he is convicted in the assault and will face a life sentence. That's because he has prior convictions for two counts of first-degree robbery in King County and one count of attempted bank robbery.

In addition, Sloane has been busted for second-degree attempted theft, malicious harassment, unlawful bus conduct and second-degree theft. He was also arrested in 2005 and subsequently convicted for mailing a hoax Anthrax letter containing white powder to the FBI in Washington D.C. He sent a similar letter with light brown powder to the Economist in New York. He was sentenced to two years in prison.

Once released, he promptly tried to rob another bank and was convicted in U.S. District Court with Attempted Bank Robbery in 2009. While in prison in 2014, Sloan was convicted of assault of a federal officer for attempting to break a guard's arm.

Bail has been set at $1,000,000 in this recent assault case. He is scheduled to appear in court April 22 for arraignment.

Ray's sister set up a GoFundMe to help pay for his expenses.