Jonathan S. Tomlin, 52, was charged in Jefferson County Superior Court of Assault in the Second Degree with the use of a deadly weapon — in this case, his pitbull, Rosie.

Port Townsend Police Officer Jon Stuart outlined the July 21 incident in his Probable Cause Statement for the court.

According to Stuart, two calls were made to dispatch alleging that Tomlin and his dog were attacking people, threatening them and throwing rocks at them. Upon arrival at the scene of the alleged incident, Stuart heard from a fellow officer that Aaron Arnes had been attacked by Tomlin’s dog.

“Arnes explained that he initially walked up to Tomlin to say hi and Tomlin got upset because he was sleeping. Arnes said that Tomlin got up and started getting in his face so Arnes began walking backwards telling Tomlin to ‘back the (expletive) up.’ Arnes pointed to where he walked backward to when Tomlin signaled for Rosie to do what she did, which was bite Arnes on the left foot,” charging documents state.
Stuart stated that he found Tomlin laying in the grass at the park, between the Food Co-op and the Penny Saver, where the incident had allegedly occurred.

“Tomlin denied Rosie biting anyone …Tomlin then said that the guy came over to ask if he wanted to buy some drugs,” court documents stated.

Stuart notes that he had inspected a fresh wound on the left foot of Arnes and that he is familiar with Tomlin and knows him to be aggressive, particularly when under the influence of alcohol. Tomlin appeared to be highly intoxicated and provided a breath sample which showed .34 Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) court documents state. A BAC of .08 is considered intoxicated in Washington.

“Furthermore, it should be noted that Arnes appears to be disabled, as he walks with a limp and utilizes a cane,” Stuart stated.

Upon hearing from another officer that there was a witness who saw Arnes fighting off the dog with his cane. 

Bart Johnson, who works at the Penny Saver, told Stuart that he saw Tomlin being verbally aggressive and that all he saw was “dust and teeth,” and he was unsure as to whether the dog had bitten Arnes, but he did indicate that the dog was off leash. After Arnes hit the dog with his cane she retreated, Johnson told Stuart, Tomlin then leashed the dog and left it with a female in the park and then “came back after Arnes, aggressively…” court documents stated.

“It is unknown if this dog has been trained to attack others, however this dog has known to be aggressive and has bit people in the past and that Tomlin will cause the dog to become aggressive,” Stuart stated, “I also know this dog and have interacted in the past with her as well, my experience with this dog is that she is a good dog, friendly dog and only gets aggressive when Tomlin encourages it.”

Tomlin entered a not guilty plea and trial has been set for Oct. 30. He faces a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment and/or a $20,000 fine plus restitution and reimbursements.