Alleged assault prompts hammer attack


Dec 04 2009

A 23-year-old Oak Harbor man is accused of hitting another man with his fist, a glass cup and a hammer because he was upset about an alleged sexual assault, court documents indicate.

Christopher Avance pleaded not guilty in Island County Superior Court to first-degree burglary and assault in the second degree. If convicted of the charges, he could end up in prison for more than two years under the standard sentencing range.

Avance is accused of walking into the 19-year-old victim’s Oak Harbor apartment uninvited and assaulting him on the night of Nov. 17, according to the police report.

Witnesses said Avance hit the young man on the back with a hammer and broke a glass on the back of the man’s head, the officer wrote. The officer wrote that the man’s face and head were covered with blood from a large head laceration.

At the hospital, the victim was also diagnosed with a spinal fracture, the officer wrote.

According to the report, Avance admitted assaulting the man. Avance said he was upset that the man had allegedly sexually assaulted Avance’s ex-wife earlier in the day.

The woman, who was a witness to the assault, said she did not want to bring charges against the 19-year-old man in connection with an alleged sexual assault, the officer wrote.

Avance got out of jail after posting $5,000 bail Nov. 24.

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