Oak Harbor man charged in shovel assault

A former Oak Harbor man is accused of hitting a man with a shovel and knocking him unconscious.

A 35-year-old former Oak Harbor man is accused of hitting a man with a shovel and knocking him unconscious, assaulting a woman and illegally possessing firearms, according to court documents.

Police had been looking for Christopher J. Williams, also known as Dookie, since the Feb. 4 incident at a trailer park on Highway 20 on the south end of the city that led to the seizure of illegal guns, fentanyl and methamphetamine from two different cars.

Williams appeared in Island County Superior Court Feb. 28. Judge Carolyn Cliff found probable cause existed to believe he committed the crimes of assault in the second degree, assault in the fourth degree, two counts of unlawful possession of a firearm in the first degree, possession of a stolen firearm and possession of an unlawful firearm.

Deputy Prosecutor Michael Safstrom argued that Williams’ bail should be set at $125,000. He explained that Williams got out of prison on the day after Christmas and then didn’t check in with the Department of Corrections for community supervision, which is a requirement. Williams had served much of a five-year sentence for purposely crashing a car into his estranged girlfriend’s vehicle while children were inside, according to court documents.

The Department of Corrections High Risk Offender Task force came to Oak Harbor Feb. 13 to attempted to arrest Williams, but he fled on foot into the woods and evaded them, court documents indicate.

Williams was apprehended this week by Homeland Security Investigations as part of an ongoing investigation, according to the Island County Sheriff’s Office.

Safstrom emphasized that the crimes Williams is accused of committing occurred just five weeks after he was released from prison.

Williams’ attorney, Shaunita Felder, argued against a high bail amount, pointing out that multiple witnesses were unsure which of the two men committed the crimes.

Cliff followed the prosecutor’s recommendation, noting that the allegations were “disturbing.”

Police reports on the incident describe officers responding to a report of an assault and arriving at a chaotic scene with many witnesses. Williams had allegedly drove away before police arrived.

Based on witness testimony and surveillance video, a police report indicates that Williams drove to the scene in an Audi, got out and confronted a woman. He allegedly pointed what may have been a gun at her and struck her, the report states. A man intervened and got in front of the woman, but Williams repeatedly punched the man until he fell to the ground, the officer wrote.

Williams confronted the woman again, the report states, and the man returned with a shovel, which he swung at Williams. But Williams was able to block it and punched the man again until he fell to the ground and then continued to punch him; a woman hit Williams a few times with a large stick, the report states.

An unknown person handed Williams the shovel, which Williams raised over his head and hit the victim on the top of the head “in a wood-chopping type motion,” the report states. The man fell to the ground, apparently unconscious.

The police reported that the man, who was not cooperative with investigators, did not suffer a skull fracture.

The Audi was found abandoned nearby the following morning. The police obtained a warrant to search the car and found a sawed-off shotgun that was stolen in Seattle and a Romanian AK-47. A bill of sale was also found inside the car which states that it was owned by Williams, the report states.

The police also seized and searched a BMW driven by a different man at the scene who wasn’t involved in the assault. Inside the car police found another stolen sawed-off shotgun, 12.7 grams of blue pills identified as fentanyl and 94 grams of meth, according to the police report.

Prosecutors charged Williams in Island County Superior Court March 2 with assault in the second degree, two counts of unlawful possession of a firearm, possession of a stolen firearm, unlawful possession of a short-barreled shotgun and assault in the fourth degree.

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