Fight breaks out outside of Arlington court house

ARLINGTON — "It was a wild day at the court house," said Arlington Assistant City Administrator Kristin Banfield.

It began with what Banfield described as "competing restraining orders" between a 62-year-old Arlington Heights resident and his neighbor in the Cascade District Court July 29.

Cascade District Court Judge Jay Wisman dismissed both requests for restraining orders, and sent both the 62-year-old man and his neighbor out of the courtroom.

From there, what happened remains "murky," according to Banfield. What she can confirm is that, at 1:22 p.m., Arlington Police officers and Snohomish County Sheriff's deputies responded to an assault in progress in front of the court house, where they arrested the 62-year-old man for allegedly assaulting a court bailiff.

"Some sort of altercation began between one of the parties wanting a restraining order and someone else," Banfield said. "At this point, it's unclear whether this scuffle was between the 62-year-old man and his neighbor, or the 62-year-old man and the bailiff."

The bailiff was assaulted when the altercation spilled into the court parking lot. Arlington Police officers and Snohomish County Sheriff's deputies arrived and began to break up the fight, when the 62-year-old man's 20-year-old son "pile-drived" the Arlington Police officer who was attempting to place his father into custody. Snohomish County Sheriff's deputies detained the 20-year-old man for assaulting the Arlington Police officer.

The 62-year-old man then began exhibiting symptoms of a pre-existing medical condition, for which he was initially treated by officers and deputies until EMS could arrive, provide further treatment and transport him to Cascade Valley Hospital. His 20-year-old son was then released from custody to be with his father at the hospital, and the 62-year-old man was released from the hospital less than three hours after his arrival.

Both assaults are currently pending review for prosecution.