Charges: Stranger punched man using walker at rest stop

Published 1:30 am Sunday, April 28, 2019

SMOKEY POINT — An attack on a man who relied on a walker has resulted in criminal charges.

The injured man was transported to the emergency room after the confrontation at a rest stop in Smokey Point last summer.

He had been eating food at a picnic table with a group of other people. Nearby, a stranger was arguing with his girlfriend.

The stranger, a 25-year-old man from Everett, turned his attention toward the picnic goers and began yelling at them, according to charging papers filed in Snohomish County Superior Court. The older man got up, using his walker, to confront him.

The older man was punched in the head, prosecutors allege. He fell down and hit his face on the walker.

He was transported to the Cascade Valley Hospital, where he was treated for fractures around his eye and nose.

The defendant took off in a Nissan Altima, leaving his girlfriend behind. She told Washington State Patrol troopers that she didn’t know where he went. The pair had been living inside the vehicle.

A witness provided a license plate number, and the younger man was later found.

He is now charged with second-degree assault.

The defendant has no other criminal history. He was released from custody, with the promise that he will return to court as needed.

He is scheduled to appear in court on May 2.

Zachariah Bryan: 425-339-3431; zbryan@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @zachariahtb.