July 7, 2021
SEATTLE, Washington—“Can’t you see enough out of your tights eyes!” the intruder yelled before viciously attacking 78-year-old Japanese-American Gordon Shoji in his own apartment building back on May 14.
The Seattle Police Department arrested Effendi Dean on June 28 and he is currently being held on $150,000 bail. The arrest came six weeks after the assault and not until Shoji shared a video he had secretly taken of the assault with an ex-police officer—who Shoji thinks may have sent it to the SPD—did there appear to be any action on the case, reports Northwest Asian Weekly.
Shortly after the video was shared, police arrested Dean—who was working at a pot shop in Las Vegas. “They told me he’d gone to Las Vegas,” Shoji stated in an interview, a day before Dean’s arrest.
Apparently, Dean was the ex-boyfriend of one of Shoji’s tenants. Whatever semi-cordial relationship both individuals had with one another quickly disappeared when Shoji heard a report that Dean and others were firing automatic weapons from Shoji’s rooftop.
Shoji asked Dean to leave, which Dean refused. Dean concocted a story that his weapons were stolen and not in his possession. When Shoji asked to conduct a room inspection, Dean began threatening Shoji and even left a note, which Shoji shared with Northwest Asian Weekly.
“If I were not an older Asian man, he would not have felt he could take advantage of me,” said Shoji.
Things eventually got worse as Shoji was forced to get a restraining order against Dean, which then eventually lead to an all-out assault. Video footage has not yet been released, however, Northwest Asian Weekly described the content:
“The video itself is nightmarish. Dean is all padded up, a towering figure, his movements crisp and violent. Despite there being no sound, you can see his head moving up and down frantically as he screams at Shoji, who is standing back in his hallway. After he strikes Shoji, Shoji gets up again, and Dean pursues him off camera into his bedroom. For several minutes, the screen shows only an empty hallway.
“Then Dean strides out, shaking off his arms.
“After a moment, Shoji comes struggling out again. Dean again fells him with a harsh violent blow, then kicks him while he’s lying on the floor.”
Shoji has also been unable to evict the tenant responsible for inviting Dean and three other people, including a young child, to live with her. Shoji has not received payment of any kind since the pandemic started—despite the tenant receiving unemployment benefits, reports the Northwest Asian Weekly.
Screenshot via Northwest Asian Weekly