Elusive convict gets six-year prison term

An Orcas Island man who two weeks ago began serving a six-year prison term for felony assault could face additional penalties for failing to appear at a sentencing hearing in late October.

On Feb. 27, David D. Thompson, 48, was sentenced in San Juan County Superior Court to 72 months in prison for second-degree assault with a deadly weapon, a Class B felony, and to 60 months in prison for felony harassment, a Class C felony. The sentences will be served concurrently.

At the sentencing hearing, Thompson also pleaded not guilty to a charge of bail jumping, a Class C felony, and is currently in custody in Island County Jail pending an April 20 trial date. Bail was set at $200,000.

Thompson was convicted of the two felonies in late October following a jury trial and then failed to appear at the subsequent sentencing hearing. It was the second time over a five-month period that he’d been convicted of the charges by a jury; however, he was granted a new trial in July because of impropriety involving a juror during the first trial.

Thompson, whose criminal record includes 14 felony convictions as adult, mostly non-violent crimes in six different Washington state counties, as well as 15 separate misdemeanor offenses, eight of which occurred in San Juan County, was initially charged with five criminal offense stemming from a confrontation in late 2013 in which he reportedly threatened three men with a rifle after they refused to let him shoot their dog, according to court documents. He was acquitted of three lesser offenses. A $100,000 warrant was issued for Thompson’s arrest after he failed to appear at an Oct. 31 sentencing hearing. He was apprehended in early February while en route to the mainland, after disembarking a ferry in Anacortes. A Class C felony, bail jumping carries maximum penalties of five year in prison, a $10,000 fine, or both.

Scuffle prompts felony charges for alleged knife-wielding San Juan man

A San Juan Island man faces charges of felony assault for allegedly brandishing a knife during an after-business-hours confrontation in a parking lot with two others.

On Feb. 27, Eric M. King, 34, pleaded not guilty in San Juan County Superior Court to one count of second-degree assault with a deadly weapon, a Class B felony, and was releases under court orders pending a May 11 trial.

According to prosecutors, King threatened another man with a “large folding knife” during the early evening confrontation, in which a brief altercation reportedly ensued in the parking lot of a commercial wood shop on Argyle Avenue. The man reportedly was shoved and then fell into his car during the scuffle.

A third person at the scene, a female acquaintance of King’s, reportedly told authorities that she did not see him brandish a knife but that King is known to carry them.

A class B felony, second-degree assault with a deadly weapon carries maximum penalties of 10 years in prison, a $20,000 fine, or both.