Prosecutors say the driver was delivering a package when a man confronted him over a driveway and sprayed him with cleaner.
A 77-year-old Steilacoom man has been charged with a hate crime after prosecutors say he sprayed an Amazon delivery driver with upholstery cleaner and used racial slurs during an argument over a driveway.
William Patrick Ptak was charged in Pierce County Superior Court with one count of hate crime in connection with the April 7 incident on Sequalish Street.
He was booked and released from the Pierce County Jail on Wednesday.
Prosecutors accused Ptak of acting, at least in part, because of his perception of the driver’s race.
According to court documents, the driver was delivering packages in a clearly marked Amazon vehicle and wearing a high-visibility Amazon vest when he parked near a driveway for a delivery to a nearby home.
The driver told police Ptak confronted him, used racial slurs and sprayed him with an unknown substance from a bottle.
The driver did not have obvious physical injuries and initially declined medical aid, according to the police report. He later told officers he wanted charges filed.
Police said Ptak told officers he had been frustrated for years by delivery drivers using the driveway while making deliveries to a neighboring home. He told police the encounter started because the Amazon vehicle was blocking him as he planned to go grocery shopping.
Ptak told officers the two men called each other names and acknowledged using a racial slur, according to the report.
Police said Ptak also admitted spraying the driver with a bottle of upholstery cleaner, saying he did so because the driver was approaching him.
Investigators later reviewed videos from the driver, including footage from inside and outside the delivery vehicle, as well as cell phone audio. Police said the videos showed Ptak walking away, then returning with the spray bottle and spraying it multiple times toward the driver while the driver’s back was turned.
The officer wrote that the videos contradicted several parts of Ptak’s account, including the claim that the driver approached him and caused him to use the spray bottle defensively.
Police said the videos also supported the driver’s account of the sequence of events and the use of racial slurs.
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