Cash, drugs, gun found on Oak Harbor bar brawler

Police say they found a loaded handgun, a baggy of cocaine and $8,414 in cash when they searched a man after he struck a bouncer over the head with a beer bottle at a downtown Oak Harbor bar last month, court records state.

Prosecutors charged Robert Smith, a 35-year-old Oak Harbor resident, in Island County Superior Court Aug. 18 with assault in the third degree, possession of cocaine with intent to deliver, unlawful possession of a handgun in the second degree and unlawful possession of a weapon in certain places.

Smith pleaded not guilty Aug. 30. If convicted of the charges, Smith could face up to five years in prison under the standard sentencing range.

Oak Harbor Police Officer Jennifer Porter was on foot patrol on SE Pioneer Way early in the morning of Aug. 14 and saw bouncers pushing men out of the Lava Lounge nightclub. After Porter and another officer ran to the entrance, one of the bouncers told them that a man, later identified as Smith, had assaulted a bouncer.

Witnesses said that Smith had been fighting with another man inside the bar. Bouncers split them up, but then Smith smashed a beer bottle over a bouncer’s head, the police report states.

The officers searched Smith and found a loaded .22 handgun, a plastic bag containing cocaine and two large wads of cash, Porter wrote in her report.

The bouncer sustained a cut on his head that required stitches, the police report states.

Court documents indicate that Smith has a lengthy criminal history in Illinois, including convictions for gambling, carrying a firearm in public, armed violence, burglary, possession of a controlled substance and illegal possession of a weapon by a felon.

Since Smith is a convicted felon, it’s a crime for him to possess a firearm. Also, it’s illegal in the state to take a gun into a bar.

If convicted of the charges against him, Smith could face up to five years in prison under the standard sentencing range.

Contact Whidbey News Times Assistant editor Jessie Stensland at jstensland@whidbeynewsgroup.com or 360.675.6611 ext. 5056.

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