Deadly weapon stretches prison term

A man who threatened people with a gun at a party in Oak Harbor last August received a sentence of more than nine years in prison.

Last month, a jury in Island County Superior Court found Willie Rainey, a 32-year-old Oak Harbor man, guilty of first-degree burglary with a deadly weapon enhancement, assault in the second degree and two counts of assault in violation of no-contact order.

Thursday morning, Judge Alan Hancock sentenced Rainey to 113 months in prison, which is the longest possible length of incarceration under the standard sentencing range. The sentence includes a two-year enhancement because Rainey used a deadly weapon in commission of the crime.

The incident began with domestic violence at a party on Colin Way. Rainey went to the party even though his 20-year-old, estranged girlfriend was there. She had a domestic violence no-contact order barring Rainey from contacting her.

The incident is described in a report by Island County Sheriff’s Detective Ed Wallace. According to the document, a group of the partygoers intervened when Rainey assaulted the woman in the yard. The woman managed to escape into the house and Rainey tried to follow, but was blocked by a group of men.

Rainey punched one of the men in the face, Wallace wrote, before the men forcefully ejected him from the property and told him not to come back.

Later, Rainey returned and entered the home through the back door. He put a revolver to the head of one of the men who had protected the woman. Rainey then hit the man with the barrel and waved it at others.

At that point, Rainey turned to his girlfriend and punched her again. The male victim ran to another room and called 911.

The crimes occurred while Rainey was on pre-trial release for assaulting the same woman in violation of a court order; he was a suspect in yet another assault.

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

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