PORT TOWNSEND — A 29-year-old man pleaded guilty to second-degree assault and was sentenced to six months in Jefferson County Jail for kicking a state trooper in the head multiple times during a traffic stop.
Alejandro Almiral-Nieves pleaded guilty on Tuesday in Jefferson County Superior Court and was given credit for time served.
He remained in the county jail on Wednesday and will serve the balance of his sentence there, the Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office stated in a news release.
Second-degree assault, a Class B felony, is a violent strike offense, but when the defendant has no felony criminal history, the standard sentencing range is three months to nine months in jail, the prosecuting attorney’s office said.
The trooper, Brandon Johanson, sustained a concussion in the Oct. 4 incident and has yet to return to work, the prosecuting attorney’s office said.
At about 5:27 p.m. that evening, State Patrol communications broadcast a rolling domestic violence incident in progress involving a Subaru Outback traveling northbound on U.S. Highway 101 south of Forks, the prosecuting attorney’s office said.
Callers reported the female driver was striking the male passenger, according to the news release.
Johanson located the vehicle in a highway pullout, initiated a high-risk stop to separate the occupants and attempted to investigate both the reported domestic violence and signs that the driver was impaired, the prosecuting attorney’s office said.
Johanson eventually arrested the driver, who became non-compliant and physically resisted. When Johanson attempted to coax the driver into his patrol car and the woman continued to argue, Almiral-Nieves got out of the car and began to interfere with the arrest, the prosecuting attorney’s office said.
As Johanson struggled to control the driver, Almiral-Nieves kicked Johanson in the head about four times and continued to fight until backup units and civilian bystanders came to the trooper’s aid, the prosecuting attorney’s office said.
Johanson was transported by ambulance to Forks Community Hospital, where he was diagnosed with a concussion and ordered to follow 24-hour concussion protocol, the prosecuting attorney’s office said.
“Trooper Johanson put himself in harm’s way to protect both occupants of that vehicle and the traveling public,” Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney James Kennedy stated in the news release. “Instead of allowing a law enforcement officer to de-escalate a dangerous domestic-violence situation, Mr. Almiral-Nieves chose to escalate it with a vicious assault.”
The sentence holds him accountable, Kennedy said.
