Man faces charges, accused of throwing a child, pushing a woman into Lake Washington

SEATTLE - On Thursday, the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office filed four felony charges against Chaz R. Butler, 33, who is accused of taking an 18-month old child from her mother and pushing the mother and another woman into Lake Washington Monday.

Prosecutors charged him with Attempted Robbery in the Second Degree, two counts of Assault in the Second Degree and Attempted Kidnapping in the Second Degree.

The alleged crime spree started at 11:25 a.m. Monday when the first woman called police on Marsh Island near the Montlake Cut.

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The woman and two friends were taking photos at a lookout when the suspect tried to grab one of their phones from her hand. The woman struggled with him until he pushed her into the lake and ran off.

Minutes later another person called, saying a man pushed her off the trail after attacking her 18-month-old daughter.

This victim said he came up from behind them, grabbed the toddler by the hood, lifted her and threw her to the side of the trail. The mother tried to go after her daughter but the man then grabbed the mother and pushed her into the lake too.

Police say Butler continued on and a witness saw him heading toward the University of Washington.

Seattle Police notified UW police, who said the man had been at the UW Medical Center earlier in the morning when he threw water on an employee and ran away.

Around 1 p.m., multiple people called 911 saying someone attacked a jogger in the 12300 block of 30th Avenue Northeast. The suspect allegedly ran up behind the woman, swept her legs out from underneath her, which caused her to fall forward.

A bystander saw this attack and went to help the woman when the suspect then began to punch him multiple times.

KOMO News dug into Butler’s record, which contains convictions for five assaults, including three felonies.

Most recently Butler was convicted of randomly attacking a family that was picnicking at Green Lake Park in 2020.

Prosecutors said he served 12 months in accordance with state law sentencing guidelines and was released on Dec. 3, 2021.

He is currently being held on $150,000 bail.