A 17-year-old Coupeville boy is accused of punching a restaurant employee and knocking her teeth out after she confronted him and his friends about leaving without paying, according to court documents.
A few hours later, the teenager was arrested while he was allegedly breaking windows at an apartment complex.
The teenager appeared in Island County Juvenile Court April 11, and the judge set the teenager’s bail at $1,500. Prosecutors charged him April 15 with robbery in the first degree and malicious mischief in the second degree.
The boy and two friends were at the DH Buffet restaurant in Oak Harbor on April 10 and left without paying for their meal, according to a report by an officer with the Oak Harbor Police Department. As an employee confronted the group, the teenager punched her in the mouth, causing her to lose multiple teeth, the police report states. The boys left before police arrived.
A few hours later, a Northeast Kettle Street resident reported that a male subject was hitting and kicking doors in the area. An officer arrived to hear the sound of breaking glass; he found the boy inside a carport, next to a broken window, the report states.
The teen, whose clothes were “extremely wet,” had blood on his hands and his breath smelled of alcohol, the officer wrote. The police located three broken windows in the area.
The case marks the third time that the boy was arrested on suspicion of robbery, according to court documents.
In 2022, the boy was charged with robbery in the second degree, assault in the second degree and theft in the second degree in a case in which teenagers lured a man to Fort Nugent Park, where he was beaten and his cell phone was stolen. The victim sustained a dislocated shoulder and a head laceration. Under an agreement, the teenager pleaded guilty to assault in the second degree and was sentenced to 15 weeks in a juvenile rehabilitation facility.
In October 2023, the teenager and his brother were accused of choking a boy, throwing him in the bushes and kicking his dog because he hadn’t given them $100 a week ago they had demanded, according to court documents. The teenager was charged with robbery in the second degree. A bench trial in the case is set for May 29.
