Police need public's help to find suspect in attack

Seattle police are seeking the public's help in identifying a man who attacked a good Samaritan when he tried to help a woman who was being harassed at a bus stop earlier this month.

Joseph Skillings, 52, an elementary school teacher with the Seattle School District, saw the suspect harassing a woman at a bus stop on East Pine Street around 10:45 p.m. on Jan. 13, according to police. Skillings attempted to intervene on her behalf and was trying to call police when the other man punched him and knocked him to the concrete. Skillings suffered a seizure and remains hospitalized, police said.

Police said the assailant was a slim, black male in his late 40s, between 5 feet 9 and 6 feet tall with a "wrinkled face." He was last seen wearing a black ski cap, black thigh-length coat with a 1- to 2-inch white stripe down the length of the sleeve. Police said he was also carrying a large black backpack and may have been wearing gold jewelry.

Police released a sketch of the man this afternoon.

Police ask that anyone with information about the suspect or the incident contact the Seattle Police Department's Homicide Unit at 206-684-5550.