He crept up from behind and stabbed a stranger. Now, police say he’s done this before.
It happened in broad daylight — a man walking through Seattle’s Chinatown-International District, minding his business, pulling a cart down the sidewalk. Then out of nowhere, another man on a bicycle rolls up behind him and plunges a knife into his back.
Just like that.
No shouting. No warning. No reason.
The victim collapses, clutching his stomach, blood staining the sidewalk. He tries to chase the attacker — staggering, holding his side, but it’s too late. The suspect is already gone, pedaling away.
But the part that makes people stop in their tracks? It didn’t have to happen.
Because police say the man they arrested, 44-year-old Jose Francisco Garcia, should’ve never been on the street in the first place.
Garcia has a rap sheet that resembles a scroll, stretching back to at least 1997. Third-degree assault. Harassment. Obstructing law enforcement. Unlawful firearm possession. Resisting arrest. Attempting to disarm a cop. Drugs. Theft. You name it, it’s in there.
Oh — and just last November? He was already facing pending drug charges. But somehow, some way, he was out. Again.
And now a man is in the hospital, seriously wounded — simply because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Surveillance video captured the stabbing in grim detail. Garcia approaches silently. He strikes. Then he flees. Police say he tried to outrun cruisers on his bicycle — yes, a bicycle — before they finally tackled him. Bodycam footage shows officers pulling a knife from his waistband. It had Paracord wrapped around the handle.
He’s now charged with first-degree assault. That’s a felony that could carry a life sentence — but how many times have we heard that before?
The disturbing truth is, Seattle isn’t alone in this cycle of repeat offenders committing new crimes while under court supervision, or worse, recently released.
In Charlotte last month, a 34-year-old man with over a dozen prior charges allegedly stabbed a woman in the neck on a train. She bled out on the floor. She was just 23. The man accused of killing her had been out on no bail for misusing the 911 system. That’s all.
It’s part of a pattern.
In Seattle’s Chinatown-International District alone, police have been called to multiple shootings just in the past few weeks. People hurt. People dying. And more often than not, suspects are familiar names — not strangers to the system, but repeat guests.
Police union president Mike Solan is calling it out. He says officers are tired, overwhelmed, and working in a system where their hands are tied. He blames “unreasonable activists” for pushing criminal justice reforms that let violent offenders walk free — and return to the streets where they do it all over again.
“It’s an absolute detriment to our entire nation’s public safety,” Solan said.
NEW OVERNIGHT: Seattle police confirm 1 man was killed and another man was seriously hurt during a shooting in the city’s Chinatown-International District.
Our @NatalieFahmy will be following the investigation throughout the morning on @komonews Morning News!#LiveDesk pic.twitter.com/fMyAUbobK7
— Steve McCarron KOMO (@SteveTVNews) September 23, 2025
You can feel the tension mounting. You can see it in bodycam footage. You can hear it in the quiet outrage behind Solan’s words. And maybe the most frustrating part? The community sees it too. They’re not asking for miracles. Just a little common sense.
Because how many more times do we have to hear: He had a long criminal record… He should’ve been in custody… The attack came out of nowhere…
And how many more innocent people have to be stabbed, shot, or worse — before someone in charge finally decides that enough… really is enough?
