Man arrested for allegedly punching Port Townsend police officer

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A Bellingham man is facing a felony third-degree assault charge after he allegedly punched a Port Townsend police officer in the face, chipping his tooth, while resisting arrest last week.

William Leroy Wilcox, 42, was arrested just before 3 a.m. Wednesday, July 20. 

In addition to the assault charge against Wilcox, prosecutors are also pursuing two counts of third-degree theft and additional charges of obstructing a law enforcement officer, resisting arrest, making false or misleading statements to a public servant, and second-degree criminal trespass.

Wilcox remained in Jefferson County Jail this week on $15,000 bail.

Police first contacted Wilcox on Tuesday, July 19 when a man was reportedly acting erratically at McDonald’s and doing tricks with a knife on the restaurant’s patio.

Workers at the restaurant were too worried to contact the man, but an officer contacted the man, later identified as Wilcox, and he said he had been playing with a razor-blade knife. Wilcox allegedly gave police a false name, and he was allowed to walk away because the officer had no reason to detain him.

The following night, an officer who was leaving Safeway just before 10 p.m. heard a disturbance between a man and a woman at nearby Kah Tai Lagoon.

After arriving at the park, which is closed after dark, the officer contacted a man who was believed to be trespassing.

The man, later identified as Wilcox, gave police a false name. After discovering the name was fake, the officer continued to try to learn Wilcox’s name, and told the man he could be put in jail for trespassing until his fingerprints would eventually lead to his identification.

Wilcox became aggressive, according to an incident report from the Port Townsend Police Department, and started using obscenities as the officer tried to detain him. Wilcox broke free and ran away, and as he passed a picnic bench outside Safeway, he grabbed a man’s bottle of Gatorade and continued running.

According to a police report, Wilcox was able to circle back to the park and elude police.

The officer then returned to the grocery store for an unrelated reason when he was asked by a manager if he was there for a theft incident.

When the manager was told no, the manager showed the officer a video of Wilcox stealing a bottle of alcohol earlier that night.

Police were told that Wilcox had taken a bottle of alcohol worth about $10, then punched the Lotto machine on his way out.

The officer returned to the station to do paperwork, but he again saw Wilcox walking on the road near Kearney and Blaine streets after the officer was dispatched to an unrelated call on 19th Street.

Wilcox flagged down the officer and asked him how to get to the police department so he could find free food at the self-serve food cupboard.

The officer said he needed to pull his patrol car over, and Wilcox continued south on Kearney Street. The officer called out that Wilcox was going the wrong way, and called deputies to the scene for back-up.

The officer tried to stall for time until other officers arrived, but Wilcox started to walk away when the officer asked his name. When told he was under arrest, Wilcox began arguing and wouldn’t put his hands behind his back. The officer kicked him several times on the left leg in an attempt to take him down, according to an incident report, but Wilcox stayed on his legs, got his right arm free, and “threw a right hook-style haymaker” that hit the officer on the jaw. Wilcox then pulled away and fled south on Kearney Street.

The officer gave chase and tried to use his Taser twice on Wilcox, but it did not have any effect. 

Wilcox again fled to the park, and as officers began to surround the park, the officer who had confronted Wilcox felt something in his mouth, and discovered it was a piece of his front tooth, which had been chipped when he was punched.

Police found Wilcox crossing Sims Way toward Boat Haven, and when confronted by an officer with a baton, Wilcox became compliant and was arrested.

He was taken to Jefferson Healthcare Medical Center to be cleared for booking, and his examination showed the Taser probes had not made contact during his earlier confrontation with an officer.

The officer who had been punched later went to the hospital’s emergency room for treatment of his injuries.

Wilcox allegedly told police after his arrest that he had stolen a bottle of alcohol from Safeway so he could sell it to juveniles and get money for food.