The incident occurred near Belltown, according to a police report. Witnesses said Ian B. Scarlett brandished a knife and assaulted a man near the intersection of Lenora St. and 3rd Ave. At that point, Jones and several others began following Scarlett as he walked away from the scene. When Scarlett hailed a cab at 7th Ave. and Blanchard St., Jones and the others prevented the cab from leaving.
Police arrived soon after and took Scarlett into custody. Scarlett denied attacking the victim, and police were unable to find the knife used in the attack, though witnesses reported seeing Scarlett throw it away as he was getting into the cab.
Scarlett was later booked into King County Jail. The victim, whose name was blacked out of the police report, was transported to Haborview Medical Center for treatment. The SPD report notes that the victim had a warrant outstanding for violation of the controlled substances act.
Photographer Ryan McNamee was one of the witnesses to the incident and posted the video below of some of what occurred as Jones and the others chased Scarlett:
Phoenix Jones, is a self-appointed watchguard, patrolling bar and club-heavy parts of town like Capitol Hill and Belltown to stop muggings and other crime. He was arrested Oct. 9 after he was involved in a brawl outside a Seattle club. He said he was trying to break up an assault; some witnesses accused Jones of attacking them.
The end result of the Oct. 9 incident was that city prosecutors opted not to file charges against Jones.
(H/T to Publicola, which reported the incident first.)
Additional reporting by KING 5's Chris Daniels.