Oak Harbor resident accused of hate crime

Marty Baldwin, 60, was arrested on April 16 on suspicion of assault in the fourth degree and three counts of malicious harassment.

An Oak Harbor man who hit and threatened neighbors, using homophobic and racist slurs, faces hate crime charges, according to court documents.

Marty Baldwin, 60, was arrested on April 16 on suspicion of assault in the fourth degree and three counts of malicious harassment.

Under state law, a person is guilty of malicious harassment if he or she threatens, assaults or vandalizes property of someone because of a perception of that person’s race, color, religion, ancestry, gender, national origin, sexual orientation or handicap.

At about 4 p.m., police responded to a report of an assault outside an apartment complex on North Oak Harbor Street.

A man on North Oak Harbor Street reported that he had been assaulted by a neighbor in an apartment building.

Two men and a woman told police that Baldwin approached them and wanted to “fist bump,” but they refused because of COVID-19 restrictions.

Baldwin became angry and yelled that they were homosexuals, but used a homophobic slur, an officer’s report states. He then punched one of the men on the forearm and walked away, telling them he was going to get a gun and shooting all the Black people and homosexuals, but used racist and homophobic slurs, the report states.

The officers spoke with Baldwin, who appeared to be intoxicated. Baldwin immediately began saying that “they are all gay” and pointed to the three people. He also complained that they had all been “kissing each other,” the officer wrote.

The officer recommended that Baldwin be held without bail because of his behavior, but a judge in Island County Superior Court released him on his own recognizance, ordering him not to contact the victims or possess or drink alcohol.