PORT ANGELES — A Sequim man who is accused of punching a woman who cut in line at a fast-food drive-thru has been charged with fourth-degree assault.
Guy Douglas Eldredge appeared in Clallam County District Court 1 on Tuesday and was ordered held on $1,000 bail, which he had posted prior to his court appearance.
District Court Judge Dave Neupert ordered Eldredge to stay away from the woman and set arraignment for 9 a.m. Tuesday.
“You may not recognize her, but based on what I read in the police report, she will recognize you,” Neupert said.
“She has blasted me on the internet,” Eldredge told the court. “I couldn’t find her if I wanted to.”
Eldredge told police he did not hit the woman.
The woman reported at about 2:17 p.m. Monday that she had been punched in the face by a man who was upset that she cut him in the drive-thru line at Wendy’s in Port Angeles.
The woman told police that a man in a truck was about three car lengths away from the speaker at the drive-thru and was not moving forward, despite her honking to “remind him to pull forward,” according to a police report.
When the truck did not pull forward, the woman drove around the truck and pulled up to the drive-thru speaker, police said.
“[She] stated that the male then got out of his truck and approached her,” Officer JJ Smith wrote in her report. “[She] stated that after a brief argument, the male reached into her driver-side window and hit her in the right side of her face.”
Smith saw that the woman had redness on the right side of her face and wrote that she complained of soreness.
After the woman was hit, she took a picture of the man’s truck as he was leaving the scene, which led to police identifying Eldredge as possibly the man who hit her.
Clallam County Sheriff’s deputies then located his truck and arrested him for investigation of fourth-degree assault.
During an interview with police, Eldredge said he tries to stay away from the speaker in drive-thrus while other people are ordering because his truck is loud, the police report said.
He said while he was pulling forward, the woman pulled around him and cut in line. After arguing with the woman, Eldredge left, he said.
“Eldredge stated that he never touched her … [and] that he wanted to see photos of her face because he never touched her,” Smith wrote. “I advised Eldredge that I would not be showing him the photos of her face.”
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Reporter Jesse Major can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56250, or at jmajor@peninsuladailynews.com.
