KIRO/Dept. of Corrections
A man who has been arrested over 70 times has been detained once again after attacking a 2-year-old child. According to KIRO, Seattle-man Francisco Calderon poured coffee on a 2-year-old just 48 hours after being released from jail.
Although Calderon is a repeat criminal with a history of random attacks, KOMO reports he was not charged with a felony for the attack on the toddler. The incident happened in downtown Seattle on Saturday, per officials.
Even though Calderon escaped a felony charge he will be charged with a misdemeanor, according to pro tem Judge Annie Harper. Calderon was a no show at his hearing, according to KOMO.
“Mr. Calderon is being released without conditions on the felony charge…he has been filed in Seattle Municipal Court on a misdemeanor charge…he remains detained but not on the felony, that is by decision of King County Prosecutor’s Office and Seattle City Attorney,” Harper said.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Calderon Was Harassing Others Prior to Dumping His Coffee on the 2-Year-Old
According to a woman who felt harassed by Calderon, he approached a group of women and started yelling at them.
After causing disturbances inside a Gap store in downtown Seattle, Calderon was forced out of the store. He then targeted a group of women on the street and started to yell that them, per KIRO.
Witnesses said he started escalating his behavior and then yelled, “Not your father!” at the group of women. After several women intervened Calderon targeted the 2-year-old child and tossed his coffee on the toddler, police said.
2. The Father of the 2-Year-Old Began to Fight Back after Calderon Threw His Coffee
KOMO NewsDaynard Butler
Daynard Butler, his wife and his three sons were visiting Seattle from Daytona Beach, Florida when one of his sons was attacked.
“He was being belligerent to people on the street,” Butler told KOMO, who was with his 2-year-old son Ryan. The toddler was asleep in a stroller at the time. “He followed a lady, and I started thinking to myself, ‘if he does something to this lady I’m going to have to step in because she’s by herself.'”
Butler then told KOMO what happened when he threw the coffee on his son.
“He did a crescent turn-around, was saying something, grabbed his coffee and just threw it on my son’s face,” he said Tuesday from his family’s home in Daytona Beach. “To me, I didn’t know if the coffee was boiling hot or anything, all I knew is he tossed it in my kids’ face and as a father, I protected my kid.”
That’s when Butler snapped and attacked the man.
“I went straight for him, I hit with rights — straight to the face. I was very mindful of the situation after a couple of blows, I knew I couldn’t kill him — you know what I mean,” he said.
Butler is an army veteran and is married to an active military member. The family has spent the last three years in Japan as part of the wife’s deployment, according to KOMO.
3. Butler Wasn’t Charged as Police Told Him He Was Acting in Self-Defense
Butler thought he might be in trouble after he took down Calderon, but an officer told him he was acting in self-defense.
“I told my wife that I thought I might be in trouble, but the officer later told me that I acted in self-defense, defending my son,” Butler told KOMO.
Calderon was detained by a uniformed Kittitas County Sheriff Officer working as security across the street.
Butler was dumbfounded when he found out about all of Calderon’s convictions.
“To me I don’t understand why, with 73 convictions, he was out. That’s crazy,” Butler said. “But it looked like he was looking for a way to get arrested, he was looking for a way to get back to jail, that’s how it looked to me.”
4. The 2-Year-Old Was Not Injured or Burned
Police said the 2-year-old was not injured or burned. They believe that the cup only contained coffee and not any bio-hazards.
“The victim did not appear to be physically injured or burned, but was not communicative and appeared to be staring off into space, possibly in shock,” police said, per KIRO.
KOMO reports that Calderon has 74 convictions including 15 assaults, and was freshly out of jail after serving eight months of a one year sentence.
5. Calderon Is Listed as One of 100 Individuals Who Are ‘Prolific Offenders’ of the Law in Seattle
Calderon is “one of the 100 people listed earlier this year in an analysis of 100 individuals with a high frequency of criminal activity in Seattle,” per KIRO.
He was previously given the maximum jail sentence in Seattle Municipal Court for a Capitol Hill assault case. After Calderon was sentenced to 364 days in jail, he was released on good behavior even though Presiding Seattle Municipal Court Judge Ed McKenna sentenced him to this strict sentence after admitting that he thought Calderon would continue to be a repeat offender.
City Attorney Pete Holmes believed Calderon’s actions were due to the fact that he was not receiving stable mental health therapy.
“Tragically but predictably, the defendant apparently reoffended almost immediately upon being released from jail,” Holmes’ office said, per KIRO. “We continue to believe public safety would be best served by addressing and resolving the underlying behavior through treatment.”
According to mynorthwest.com, Calderon’s sister, Anna Calderon Barnett, told KIRO radio that the outcome of the coffee-throwing incident was inevitable. She also said her brother is severely mentally ill.
“The approach they were hoping to use just doesn’t seem right to me,” she told KIRO Radio. “My brother is severely mentally ill, and while he does use drugs and has a history of drug use, that’s not the core of the problem. The core of the problem is that he is mentally ill.”
Calderon’s current case will be handled by the City Attorney’s Office.