A 22-year-old Oak Harbor man is again facing a felony charge for allegedly driving a motorcycle into a parked car while he was intoxicated and injuring his passenger last summer, court documents state.
Prosecutors charged Christopher Atkinson in Island County Superior Court with vehicular assault.
The case has a complicated history. Island County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Eric Ohme said it was originally a vehicular assault case in superior court, but then was transferred to district court as reckless driving and DUI charges. When Ohme was unable to reach a plea bargain on the gross misdemeanor charges, he brought the case back to superior court with the felony charge.
According to the State Patrol’s report, Atkinson was driving a 1989 Yamaha dirt bike on Childrens Avenue, about six miles north of Oak Harbor. Raymond Jackson, a 24-year-old Oak Harbor man, was a passenger on the dirt bike. Neither of the men was wearing a helmet.
Atkinson lost control of the dirt bike near the intersection with Nogaterra Way. The bike slid into a parked 1991 Chevrolet Camaro.
Jackson suffered a head injury and was airlifted from the scene to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle for treatment, but now is fine, Ohme said. He said Jackson isn’t cooperating with the prosecution.
