Woman charged with assault after fight

A fight outside a popular Oak Harbor nightspot Oct. 29 has resulted in a felony charge against a 22-year-old California woman.

Prosecutors charged Megan Byelick of El Cajon in Island County Superior Court Nov. 17 with assault in the second degree.

Oak Harbor Police Officer Serloyd Carter investigated the early-morning assault outside of the Bayside Lounge. He got different versions of the incident from interviews, but arrested Byelick and her friend, 23-year-old Erica Hohenstein, for allegedly assaulting a 21-year-old woman. Hohenstein was arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor assault, the report states.

The victim and Byelick did not know each other prior to the incident, which may have been a case of mistaken identity.

The victim said that Byelick walked up to her and punched her in the eye, temporarily blinding her, the report states.

The victim fought back, but the two women started beating the victim, the officer wrote. The victim’s boyfriend intervened; he threw Byelick on the ground and hit Hohenstein, the report indicates.

The victim was taken to the hospital where she received received four staples on her scalp. The vision in her eye started clearing up later in the day, but she had to see a specialist for the injury.

“Her eye looked as if the cornea had separated from the eyeball,” Carter wrote.

If convicted of the charge, Byelick could face between three and nine months in jail.

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

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