A 36-year-old Oak Harbor man accused of grabbing a pair of handcuffs and using it as a weapon against two deputies is getting a mental health exam.

Bevis G. Walters appeared in Island County Superior Court Monday without an attorney. He refused to answer questions or sign papers.

Prosecutors charged him Jan. 23 with assault in the third degree and resisting arrest.

Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Eric Ohme asked the judge to approve a competency exam, which will determine if Walters is mentally competent to stand trial. He said the motion was based on the police report and Walters’ conduct in court.

Judge Vickie Churchill readily agreed.

According to court papers, Deputies Sean Warwick and Frank Gomez responded to a report of a disorderly man near the Greenbank Store on the night of Jan. 17.

One caller reported that a man was standing on the highway, yelling and talking to himself with his hands in the air. Another caller said the man ran across the highway and she almost struck him in her car. A third caller said the man was verbally accosting people

Warwick found Walters in the area; he smelled of “intoxicants,” Warwick said in his report.

“He was making wild statements about owning the electrical substation and building my patrol car,” the deputy wrote.

Warwick and Gomez tried to arrest him on outstanding warrants, but it didn’t go well.

Warwick started putting handcuffs on Walters, but they got caught on his sweatshirt. Walters turned and grabbed the handcuffs, swinging them at Gomez, who was cut on the forehead, the report states.

The two deputies attempted to subdue Walters, but he kept resisting and hitting them both with the handcuffs, the report alleges.

The deputies sprayed Walters several times with pepper spray, but he kept fighting. Warwick started striking him on the legs with his baton, but he kept fighting.

Warwick then struck him on the arms and hands to make him release the handcuffs; Walters flung them away and kept fighting, the report states.

Warwick used a “vascular neck restraint.” Walters stopped fighting, the report states.