PORT ANGELES — Two juveniles arrested for investigation of assaulting an unhoused man on the Port Angeles City Pier and throwing his belongings in the harbor appeared in Clallam County Family Court on Friday afternoon where charges were laid out against them.
Both juveniles, aged 15 and 17, remain unnamed by authorities due to their ages. A $100,000 bond was set for each of the juveniles, who were both on probation for previous charges. An arraignment was set for 9 a.m. Aug. 24.
The two allegedly had posted a video filmed by the 15-year-old of the 17-year-old hitting the man and threatening him with what looks like gun. The video was widely viewed on social media locally. More than two dozen people were present in the courtroom Friday afternoon, including the man who had been hurt; he made no comment.
The two juveniles appeared via teleconference from the Clallam County Juvenile Detention Facility.
The 17-year-old was charged with second-degree assault with a firearm enhancement and first-degree robbery, according to Clallam County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Tracey Lassus.
“(The 17-year-old) has a past criminal history of intimidating witnesses,” Lassus told the judge. “He has spent time at (Juvenile Rehabilitation) already with regards to that case and that did not appear to make an impact on him.”
The 15-year-old was charged with accomplice to second-degree assault and accomplice to first-degree robbery, Lassus said.
“I believe given the opportunity, (the juvenile) would be doing the exact same things that he has been doing previously,” Lassus said at the hearing, “because nothing that we have interjected into his life has made a difference.”
Both juveniles were given no-contact orders for each other and the alleged victim and ordered not to come within 1,000 feet of City Pier.
City security cameras on City Pier helped Port Angeles police identify the two juveniles after the alleged victim of the attack reported it to police Monday afternoon, The two were arrested just as the video allegedly filmed of the attack was shared on social media, according to Port Angeles Sgt. Kevin Miller.
Miller said the victim was sleeping on City Pier when he was awakened at 5 a.m. Monday by being punched in the face and threatened with what he thought was a gun. The victim came to the police department at 2 p.m. that same day to report it, he said.
The man had suffered numerous bruises, but his injuries were non-life-threatening, Miller said.
Officers pulled up city security video from the pier and gathered enough information to corroborate the victim’s story, he said.
“We were able to identify the two suspects from the video and established probable cause for their arrest,” he said.
But before police could locate them, a video of the assault taken by one of the suspects was posted online by the suspects themselves, Miller said.
“That was when the community was blowing up. We were coming up with a safety plan for the suspects’ and the public’s safety,” he said.
The two juveniles were arrested Thursday morning and are being held in the Clallam County Juvenile Detention Facility.
“And we still don’t know about the gun, if it was real or a BB gun or a toy gun. They threw all his belongings into the water. I’m glad that they’re in custody,” Miller said Friday.
Gofundme aims to help hurt man
Contributions of $875 were donated within the first two hours of the creation of a gofundme site to benefit an unhoused man assaulted on City Pier.
Bri Gillett, a Port Angeles resident, organized the fundraiser, aiming to raise $5,000 for the victim of the attack.
“I am fundraising to help Mike Wadlow, the man that was attacked on the Port Angeles pier earlier this week,” Gillett says on the page. “I was absolutely mortified watching the video of the teenagers who attacked him while he slept peacefully…. … They left him with broken ribs, bruises all over his body and trauma that will last a lifetime.”
The address of the site is https://www.gofundme.com/f/mike-wadlow
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Reporters Peter Segall and Brian Gawley and Executive Editor Leah Leach contributed to story,
