PORT ORCHARD — A Bremerton man is charged with felony malicious harassment and fourth-degree assault after he allegedly called a woman and her friends derogatory terms for gays and lesbians, struck one of the women and then head-butted her in the face.
David Alan DeWalt, 59, was booked on Feb. 22 into Kitsap County Jail on $30,000 bail. He was still in the jail on Feb. 27, according to the online jail roster. He is scheduled to make a court appearance at 9 a.m. March 2 in Superior Court.
According to the investigator’s certificate of probable cause, at 4:55 p.m. Feb. 22, CenCom received a report of an assault in the parking lot behind Monica’s Social Club Bar, 818 Sixth St., Bremerton.
Two witnesses told Bremerton police that an altercation started after DeWalt, whom they said was “highly intoxicated” at the time, yelled derogatory terms at the woman and her friends. An argument ensued and DeWalt allegedly “head butted” the woman in the face, “which caused [her] to fall backwards onto the ground where she laid until medics arrived,” according to the certificate of probable cause.
A Bremerton police officer arrested DeWalt at the scene on suspicion of assault and malicious harassment and transported him to Kitsap County Jail for processing. The woman was transported to Harrison Medical Center’s emergency room for medical treatment.
The investigating officer, Bremerton Police Officer Cory Ditmer, wrote that he interviewed the alleged victim at the hospital and her account mirrored that of the two witnesses: she was sitting with friends behind Monica’s Social Club, and DeWalt walked up to them and “started harassing them.” He allegedly called them names, told them he “hates” gays and lesbians, and struck the alleged victim in the arm when she stood up. He then allegedly “grabbed her by both shoulders and pulled her toward him, head butting her. She then fell to the ground backwards until medical aid arrived.”
Richard Walker is an editor for the Kitsap News Group. He can be reached at rwalker@soundpublishing.com.
