PORT ANGELES — A Port Angeles man charged in three assault cases has pleaded not guilty to second-degree assault in one of them.
Riley Edge White, 59, is charged in three assault cases for alleged crimes that occurred on a Clallam Transit bus, in the Clallam County jail and his Port Angeles home.
White, who remained Sunday in the Clallam County jail on $150,000 bond, was arraigned Friday on a second-degree assault with domestic violence charge for an alleged attack Aug. 27 on a woman who rented a room at his South I Street residence.
The woman sustained facial bruises, contusions and a broken nose, Port Angeles police said.
“Blood covered her entire face and her left eye was swollen shut,” officer David Dombrowski wrote in the affidavit for probable cause. “Her face was disfigured.”
The woman told police that her landlord suddenly began punching her without warning or provocation while she was standing in the kitchen.
White continued punching the woman after she fell to the floor, Dombrowski wrote.
A trial for the domestic violence assault case was set for Oct. 17.
White is charged in another assault case for allegedly attacking a Clallam Transit bus driver and an 80-year-old passenger before trying to kidnap the driver and commandeer the bus May 28.
He is also charged with custodial assault for allegedly punching a corrections officer July 11.
White’s status hearing was moved to 3 p.m. Thursday to allow defense psychiatrist Dr. Kenneth Muscatel, who evaluated White before the most recent allegation surfaced, to furnish a report.
Muscatel’s report could be used in a possible mental health-based defense, defense attorney Harry Gasnick of Clallam Public Defender said Friday.
Gasnick said he had been in contact with Muscatel and that he expected to have the report by Thursday.
White has claimed he was beaten up severely in Mexico several years ago, leaving him with a brain injury.
“He claims he has seizures and does not remember his actions during these seizures,” Dombrowski wrote in the arrest narrative.
“When I asked him if he had documentation relating to his old brain injury, he told me he does have documentation and it’s filed somewhere in his paperwork now stored in his garage.”
White had been in and out of jail before his most recent arrest.
After posting a $30,000 bail bond June 16, White was arrested at a Clallam Transit bus stop the next morning for violating orders to stay away from Transit facilities.
White’s bail was raised to $50,000, which he posted July 29.
Clallam County Superior Court Judge Christopher Melly raised White’s bail to $150,000 last Monday. Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Sarah Acker had requested a $200,000 bail for White.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56450, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
