A 31-year-old man is facing multiple charges, including assaulting a police officer, after he allegedly stole a Ukrainian flag off the front of a downtown Port Townsend restaurant, tried to set the flag on fire, then attached it to a sandbag and threw it into the bay.

Johnathan Stewart of Port Townsend was arrested just after
4 p.m. Monday, July 11 on the beach near Taylor and Water streets.

Port Townsend police were first called to the 700 block of Water Street just before 3:30 p.m. after a man was reportedly yelling and screaming.

Officers started searching for the man, who was wearing a bandana and a blue shirt, and had been seen riding a bike away after throwing wood into the street.

A few minutes later, the man, later identified at Stewart, had ripped the Ukrainian flag from the front of a Water Street business and was seen in the plaza area by Union Wharf, yelling at the flag and trying to set it on fire with a lighter.

A police sergeant found Stewart on the beach and saw him throw the flag into the water with a sandbag attached to it.

Stewart allegedly refused to identify himself to police officers, according to an incident report by Port Townsend police.

The sergeant told Stewart he didn’t want to take him to jail for the theft, but would have to if he didn’t share his name.

Stewart repeatedly refused, then walked out into the water and refused to answer questions, stating “he was pleading the fifth,” according to the police report.

Other officers responded, and saw Stewart, waist-deep in the water, using a vape pen.

One of the sergeants on the shore told Stewart he was under arrest and ordered him out of the water.

About a minute later, Stewart came to the shore. 

After he was handcuffed, Stewart said he was going to “go limp noodle on us,” according to the police report, and had to be carried to a patrol car by his arms and feet.

When Stewart remained limp and unresponsive, medics were called but Stewart’s erratic behavior continued. He refused to be evaluated and said he was “trying to get his blood pressure up.”

Officers tried to put Stewart in the back of a patrol car and he asked to have his handcuffs removed. When an officer said that couldn’t happen because he was being uncooperative, Stewart allegedly spit on the officer.

During the ride to jail, Stewart pulled his handcuffs in front of him and took off his seatbelt. 

Police stopped the car and put the seatbelt back on, but a few moments later, the officer heard what sounded like liquid hitting the divider between the front and back seat and he “recognized it as the sound of someone urinating,” according to the police report for Stewart’s arrest.

When the patrol car arrived at the jail, the officer found Stewart in the back seat “with his pants down and liquid running down the back divider.”

Jail staff asked that Stewart be taken to Jefferson Healthcare Medical Center for an evaluation. He was booked into jail the next morning.

Stewart is facing charges of third-degree assault of a law enforcement officer, second-degree malicious mischief, obstructing a law enforcement officer, and third-degree theft.

The theft charge stems from the theft of the flag, which was valued at $25.

Conviction of third-degree assault of a law enforcement officer, and second-degree malicious mischief, can both result in a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

The maximum penalty for obstructing a law enforcement officers, and third-degree theft, is
364 days in jail and a $5,000 fine.

Stewart made his first appearance in Jefferson County Superior Court on Wednesday, July 13.

Bail was set at $10,000.