Ammonia thrower faces felony charge

By JESSIE STENSLAND
Whidbey News Times Assistant editor
February 23, 2009 · Updated 1:06 PM 

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A 39-year-old Oak Harbor woman accused of throwing ammonia in a man's face is facing a felony assault charge, court documents state.

Prosecutors charged Heather Firch in Island County Superior Court Feb. 11 with second-degree assault with poison, second-degree malicious mischief and three counts of fourth-degree assault.

Under the definition of the felony assault, Firch is accused of inflicting bodily harm by administering or causing someone to take "a poison and / or any other destructive or noxious substance."

Oak Harbor Police Officer William Wilke investigated the dispute Feb. 6 at a home on NE Tenth Avenue. The homeowner said that Firch had been staying with them for a few days, but became out of control when he had friends over.

Firch first started fighting with a woman in the guest bedroom, the report states. Firch bit the homeowner on the wrist when he tried to break them apart, Wilke wrote, and she began assaulting other people and breaking things all over the house.

A man said that Firch punched him in the face twice and threw a cup of a substance, which he believed was ammonia, in his face. It "burned his eyes and made him scream in agony," the report states.

The man went to the hospital for treatment, where a doctor told him the substance "was more harmful than an acid or poison," the officer wrote.

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

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