Bainbridge man jailed on assault charge

Published 11:33 am Saturday, February 27, 2016

A 33-year-old Bainbridge Island man was charged with third-degree assault in Kitsap County District Court after he allegedly tried to hit a Bainbridge officer during his arrest for drunk driving.

Solomon Arthur Ottow was charged with the felony Feb. 16.

Ottow was stopped by police just before 5 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 13 after an officer saw him spinning his wheels as he made a left turn from Day Road onto Highway 305.

Police caught up to him as he approached Lovgreen Road, and an officer determined he was going 64 mph in a 50 mph zone.

The officer said Ottow crossed the center line twice, and then crossed the center line a third time and almost hit another vehicle head on.

When the officer turned on his emergency lights, Ottow allegedly drove onto the shoulder of the highway, then drove over into the left turn lane at Sportsman Club Road to turn east onto North Madison Avenue. When he stopped for the left turn light, the officer turned on his PA and told him to pull over on the right shoulder of the road.

The officer said he immediately smelled the odor of alcohol when he spoke to Ottow, and said the man’s words were slurred and his eyes looked watery and bloodshot. He was taken to the Bainbridge police department after his DUI arrest for processing, and breath test samples had results of .29 and .28.

Ottow allegedly became uncooperative at the police station when it came time for him to be handcuffed and taken to the Kitsap County Jail.

He struggled with officers who were trying to handcuff him, and three officers took him to the ground as they tried to get his hands behind his back.

According to an investigation report of the incident, another officer pushed Ottow’s head to the ground with the officer’s body weight so Ottow couldn’t move his torso. He allegedly said something along the lines of “This hurts, I give up” before officers were able to put him in handcuffs.

He was then put into a patrol car, but on the way to Kitsap County Jail, Ottow allegedly said he was going to get the cuffs in front of him from behind his back, and then get out.

The officer taking him to jail warned him not to do that, and when he looked in the back seat, he could see that Ottow’s hands were in front of him and he was trying to grab at one of the cuffs.

When told that he would have to put his hands back again behind his back, Ottow responded with an obscenity and the Bainbridge officer stopped at the Agate Pass Park-and-Ride to get help from a Suquamish officer.

When the officers removed Ottow from the back seat, he was able to turn away from the officers and tried to hit the Bainbridge officer in the head with his right elbow.

He continued to struggle and refused to put his right hand behind his back until he was on the ground with the two officers and one officer had put a cross-face hold on Ottow.

Ottow was then put back into handcuffs and police put zip ties around his waist and zip-tied the handcuffs to the man’s back so he couldn’t slip them in front of him again.

Neither officer was hurt in the struggle, and Ottow did not complain of any injuries.

At the jail, the Bainbridge officer was met by several corrections officers. One of them asked Ottow if he was going to fight and warned him against it.

Ottow allegedly said something like “We’ll find out,” but he got out of the patrol car and was booked into jail without incident.

Conviction of third-degree assault can result in a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.