(WSB photo from Tuesday night)
One more court case to report as the week comes to an end: A charge of third-degree assault is filed against Skyler Gronholz, the 28-year-old man accused in the Tuesday night incident that left a Seattle Police sergeant and officer injured, as well as a citizen who tried to help. As we reported in followups, police say they pulled Gronholz over for running a red light at California and Charlestown; he gave the officer a false name, then tried to drive away while she was arresting him and trying to get him out of the car – that was the start of the struggle that led to injuries. According to the documents arguing to keep his bail at $30,000 (in addition to $15,000 for an arrest warrant that was out for him):
At the time of the defendant’s arrest in this case, he was on warrant status on a case in King County Superior Court Drug Court for multiple counts of burglary and trafficking in stolen property. … The defendant has had 21 warrants issued for his arrest since 2005 in King County. In addition to the defendant’s Drug Court matter, where he was found guilty of four counts of burglary in the second degree and four counts of trafficking stolen property in the first degree, the defendant has known convictions for theft in the third degree (2002, 2006) and criminal solicitation (2010).
The charging documents also include a few more details of the circumstances: The officer’s body was “inside the doorframe of the driver’s door” when Gronholz allegedly started the car. In addition to cuts and bruises on her elbows and knees, she also had a tooth knocked loose during the scuffle. The sergeant is described as having torn muscles in the chest, arm, and shoulder, with possible nerve damage. While, as we reported Wednesday, police suspected Gronholz was in possession of drugs, the assault charge is all that prosecutors filed against him. He’s still in jail at last check, and scheduled for arraignment November 29th.
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