Three Kent men and a Renton man are charged with first-degree assault for allegedly attacking a fellow member of the Sikh temple in Renton.
The four men, and a fifth man yet to be caught, reportedly used a baseball bat, sword and iron bracelets to attack the man on Oct. 18 at the temple, 5200 Talbot Road S., according to charging papers filed Oct. 27 in King County Superior Court. They also allegedly kicked and stomped the man, whose age was not listed in court documents.
The man suffered three broken fingers, eight stab wounds to his head, a deep sword wound on his right forearm, a swollen injury to his left forearm from a baseball bat and multiple cuts and bruises to his upper body.
King County prosecutors charged with assault Kuljit Singh, 33; Harinderbir Singh Gill, 62; and Maninder Pal Singh Dahb, 37, who are all of Kent, and Harbhajan Singh, 50, of Renton. They are scheduled to be arraigned on Nov. 9 at the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent. None of the men were related to each other, according to court documents. Bail was set at $100,000 for each man. They all have posted bail.
“The defendants attacked the victim in a place of worship, after arming themselves with several weapons,” wrote Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Jennifer Phillips in charging papers. “The defendants’ attack was only stopped when others intervened. However, before others intervened, the defendants were able to inflict serious injury to the victim.”
Phillips wrote that even after the victim attempted to flee, he was attacked again.
It’s unclear in the charging papers what started the reported attack. The location was a 23,000-square-foot structure that services 50,000 Sikhs in Washington, according to the Renton Police report. On the afternoon of Oct. 18, several fights broke out inside the temple. Kuljit Singh reportedly threatened the victim, who then was in management office reporting the threat when a pack of five men attacked him.
The man told police he feared for his life and that the men were trying to kill him, yelling in Punjabi that translated to English is similar to, “You will die today!”
One man used a kirpan, a sword or dagger carried by Sikhs, to attack the victim. Three of the men used a kara, a steel or cast iron bracelet worn by Sikhs, to hit the man. One of the men also used a baseball bat.
