Well-known Olympia transient man randomly attacks stranger

A transient man whose behavior has been profiled in The JOLT twice previously over the past month allegedly punched a pedestrian twice, used several racial slurs and then ran off in downtown Olympia on Sunday morning, June 13.

Kenneth Turney, 59, allegedly was punching the window to a building on the sidewalk of the 100 block of Legion Way SE, when Tomas Sanchez exited his apartment and walked by.

Turney allegedly called Sanchez “N----r”, then punched him in the on each cheek, using both hands in closed fists. Turney then took off running northbound.

“I don’t think he’s right in the head,” Sanchez told Olympia Police when contacted. Sanchez said that he had never seen Turney before and had no idea why Turney attacked him. A recording of Sanchez’s call is shown below this story.

Turney was located within minutes at the Union Gospel Mission, two blocks from the alleged attack. One of the officers reported, “Kenneth was rambling things that I did not understand. He did not make any sense. I asked Kenneth if he was in a fight, and he said "No." I asked Kenneth if he hit anyone, and he said "No." Kenneth continued to ramble about random things.

Turney denied that he had hit anyone when contacted by OPD and was booked for assault in the Olympia Jail.

Editor’s Note:  To better understand this story, we refer you to “The Invisible Asylum,” a profile of Olympia published earlier this year in City Journal, a national urban-policy publication.