PORT ANGELES — Charges were filed Wednesday against two Port Angeles brothers who allegedly beat a 68-year-old Neah Bay man on a Clallam Transit bus on Friday.
William M. Parker was suffering Monday from a traumatic brain injury as a result of the attack and remained hospitalized Wednesday, authorities said.
If convicted, Steven Rene Davis, 39, would add a third violent felony to his criminal record, guaranteeing, if convicted, a life sentence without the possibility of parole under Washington state’s three-strikes law.
Davis and his brother, Channing Warren Davis, 36, allegedly beat and kicked the man late Friday afternoon after he told them to be quiet.
They then walked off the bus with his backpack.
The victim was treated at Olympic Medical Center before being transported Monday to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle after suffering altered states of consciousness due to a traumatic brain injury, Sgt. John Keegan, of the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office, said Wednesday.
The man was in satisfactory condition Wednesday afternoon, hospital spokesperson Susan Gregg said in a text message.
Channing Davis was charged in Superior Court with accomplice to first-degree robbery and accomplice to second-degree assault-substantial bodily harm. His arraignment was scheduled for 9 a.m. Sept. 24, and his bail was set at $750,000.
Steven Davis was charged with first-degree robbery with a special allegation of deliberate cruelty, and accomplice to second-degree assault-substantial bodily harm. His arraignment is 9 a.m. Friday, and his bail was set at $1 million.
Steven Davis was 16 in 1999 when he was convicted, as an adult, of possession of a stolen firearm and first-degree attempted murder while armed with a deadly weapon following a shooting in downtown Port Angeles, according to Superior Court records.
He was sentenced to 20.6 years after pleading guilty. He shot a male as part of a violent gang initiation after the victim, who was hitchhiking, was misinterpreted by Davis, Davis’ brother and others in a car who stopped to give the male a ride.
The victim said “you’re full,” according to the Sept. 10, 1998, probable cause statement, written by then-Port Angeles Police Detective Sgt. Terry Gallagher.
“The wanna-bes apparently interpreted these words as “you’re fools,” wrote Gallagher, later the city’s police chief.
Steven Davis fired six to eight rounds at the victim, who was wounded by an apparent ricochet.
He also has been convicted of second-degree assault, giving him two strikes toward mandatory life imprisonment.
Channing Davis, 13 at the time of the shooting, pleaded guilty as a juvenile in connection with the incident to first-degree assault, possession of a stolen firearm and drive-by shooting.
A jury found him guilty of second-degree assault-reckless infliction of bodily harm for beating a fellow Forks city jail inmate June 5, 2011.
He was sentenced to 18 months. The state Court of Appeals denied his appeal.
Allegedly acting together Friday, the brothers threatened, then beat the Neah Bay resident on the bus, punching him 23 times, throwing him to the floor, and kicking him after he told them to “hold the noise down” as the bus approached a stop at East Beach Road, according to a probable cause statement.
It was based on the bus video-audio system and witness statements.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
