Man, 37, faces assault charge in Kent Library stabbing

A 37-year-old man faces a second-degree assault charge after he allegedly stabbed another man in the arm at the Kent Library.

Travis Anthony Alen, of Seattle, pleaded not guilty Jan. 26 to the charge, according to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. Alen remains in custody in the county jail at the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent with bail set at $200,000. He is scheduled for a court hearing Feb. 9 when a trial date could be set or attorneys could ask for more time to prepare the case.

Prosecutors accused Alen of stabbing an 18-year-old Kent man at about 1:40 p.m. Jan. 16 at the Kent Library, 212 Second Ave. N., in a reportedly unprovoked incident, according to charging documents. They requested the $200,000 bail.

“High bail is warranted to protect the safety of the community as illustrated by the defendant’s violent acts in this referral,” wrote Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Stephen Herschkowtiz in charging documents. “In this matter, the defendant stabbed the victim in the arm at a public library without any apparent provocation. This stabbing was witnessed by a security guard who had told the defendant minutes before the stabbing to calm down.”

Kent Police officers were dispatched to a stabbing at HealthPoint Urgent Care, 219 State Ave. N., according to charging papers. An employee called 911 to report a subject ran into the clinic saying he was just stabbed.

An officer interviewed the Kent man who said he was at the library when a man, later identified as Alen, reportedly started arguing with him and that he told Alen to shut up, according to charging documents. Alen then reportedly stabbed the Kent man in the arm.

The Kent man told police that Alen reached into his pocket and punched something toward him but he didn’t see what the object was. He was struck near his left bicep and had a clear stab injury, according to police. He said the security guard at the library knew the suspect by name.

An officer talked to employees and a security guard at the library who provided a picture of Alen. Officers found Alen a short time later at the King County Metro Transit Center and took him into custody without incident, according to charging papers.

When officers searched Alen, they reportedly found in his possession two sheathed daggers, two sets of brass knuckles, a collapsible baton and a folding knife that had wet blood on the blade, according to police.

The library’s security guard told officers that Alen had been in the library on prior occasions and had never caused a problem.

Alen told officers that “some dude kept walking around me,” when asked about the library incident, according to charging documents. He said he told the man to stop or sit down. He said the man gave him no choice but to stab him.

“I leave everybody alone, they keep coming around me,” Alen reportedly said to an officer. “I’m eventually going to have to do something, otherwise I’m gonna have people jumping.”

Alen’s criminal history includes a 2018 conviction for failing to register as a sex offender in King County and juvenile adjudications for first-degree child molestation in 2003, according to charging papers.