(The Center Square) – A recent alleged assault of a 75-year-old woman by a repeat offender in Seattle has prompted public safety leaders to criticize what they describe as systemic failures within the King County jail system.
On Dec. 5, Fale Vaigalepa Pea, 42, allegedly struck Jeannette Marken with a wooden board that had a screw protruding from one end. According to court documents, Marken suffered a broken nose, a broken cheek bone, and blindness in her right eye.
Pea has an extensive criminal history, including eight bookings in the King County Jail in 2025 alone, as previously reported by The Center Square. Court records show his violent history dates back to 2011, with one misdemeanor conviction in 2024, four in 2023 and one in 2020. All were for assault.
Despite that record, Pea was out of custody and in the public eye earlier this month when Real Time Crime Center video surveillance allegedly captured him striking Marken outside the King County Courthouse.
Seattle Police Officers Guild President Mike Solan described the region’s jail system as a “revolving door,” repeatedly releasing offenders back into the community, where they are prone to commit more violent crime.
“[It] is offensive to past and future victims of violent crime, our entire community, and an affront to the profession of policing,” Solan told The Center Square in an email.
Solan added that he believes the jail system is shaped by ideological politics. City leaders like outgoing Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell have voiced support for empathy toward repeat offenders as a way to solve the issue. This was highlighted in a debate with Mayor-elect Katie Wilson during the 2025 election campaign in which he said government should consider a repeat offender’s life story, including any instances of child abuse or hunger in their lives in determining justice.
Solan characterized Harrell’s approach as “suicidal empathy.”
“Time and time again, police do our jobs to arrest these offenders, but the system, post arrest, sadly releases them to revictimize our community with no end. What rational society allows this practice to occur?” Solan asked. “Our communities are being destroyed.”
During that debate, Wilson said the answer to the repeat offender issue is an effective diversion program.
Seattle has a jail diversion program in the form of the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion, or LEAD, program, which diverts suspects away from jail and toward case management, shelter, housing and services.
LEAD is currently offered in Seattle’s West, East, North, and South Police Precinct patrol areas as well as in Metro Transit zones and on Metro buses through the King County Sheriff’s Office.
“Rational citizens must use their constitutional right to vote anyone out of office that allows this practice to continue,” Solan emailed. “It is time for public safety to make a comeback. ENOUGH is ENOUGH!”
