A “bad blood” dispute between two men in Port Hadlock left one with an apparent head injury and the other facing a charge of second-degree assault with a deadly weapon.

Deputies were called to a parking lot near the Ajax Café just after
6:30 p.m. Friday, April 21 after bystanders reported a man who had struck another man in the head with a piece of wood. The assailant then got in a rowboat and rowed out to a sailboat that was moored in the harbor.

The victim told deputies he had been working on his car when the alleged assailant — later identified as Brian Richard Carter, 49, of Carnation — walked past.

The man said he had disputes with Carter in the past, and his dog didn’t like him. He also said his dog was tied up to his car and growled at Carter when he came close.

Carter went back to his vehicle and grabbed a 1-inch-thick wooden dowel about 4 feet long, according to a probable cause report, and came back swinging the stick around.

The victim said he was afraid that Carter was going to hit his dog and got in front of the animal.  Carter then allegedly hit him on the left side of the head.

The impact broke the dowel in half, according to court documents.

When deputies arrived, they could see Carter on his sailboat, but within yelling distance. A deputy called out and asked him to come to shore, and he did.

Carter claimed the dog was barking and had lunged at him while on its leash when he was walking by, and he was using the dowel to defend himself.

When the deputy asked him how the leashed dog could attack him if he kept his distance, and why he hit the dog’s owner instead, Carter allegedly continued to say he was defending himself.

Carter later claimed that the other man had a hammer in his hand and had “charged him.” He also said the other man had threatened to kill him in the past.

The other man told deputies he had never charged at Carter or threatened him with the hammer. He also told deputies that he had seen Carter armed with a handgun in the past, holding it in his hand as he walked past.

Witnesses who were about
40 feet away said they had seen the two men have words before one of them hit the other on the head with a stick, then walk away toward the dock.

The stick was found near the victim’s vehicle, broken in two.

Carter was arraigned on the felony charge Friday in Jefferson County Superior Court. He entered a pleading of not guilty.

At his first appearance in court on April 24, Prosecutor James Kennedy said Carter had a criminal history that included seven warrants for his arrest.

Kennedy also said the assault was unprovoked, and the full extent of the victim’s injuries was not known. He asked the judge to set bail at $10,000.

The assault, Kennedy added, was “totally, 100 percent avoidable.”

Scott Charlton, Carter’s attorney, said Carter was gainfully employed and recalled his client’s statement that the other man had threatened him with a hammer and had threatened to kill him on numerous occasions.

“There’s obviously bad blood between these two individuals,” Charlton said.

Superior Court Judge Brandon Mack agreed to the request by Charlton that Carter be released on his personal recognizance.

The defendant had connections in the community, and was employed, Mack said.

The judge also noted that Carter’s court history was old.

Conviction of second-degree assault can result in a maximum prison sentence of 10 years and a $20,000 fine.