Doughnut assault: An 18-year-old man was arrested after taunting police officers with a doughnut hanging on a stick.
The bizarre incident occurred at a ‘Back the Blue’ rally in Everett, Washington, on July 17, Bolde reveals. It was caught on camera by a friend of the teen.
Despite never actually touching any of the officers, the boy was eventually cuffed. The arrest took place at an event organized by the Snohomish County Republican Party. As The Daily Herald reports, the young man was booked into the Snohomish County Jail for investigation of fourth-degree assault. The following day, he was released after making bail of $1,000.
In the video, the teen can be seen walking and skateboarding to a group of sheriffs and marshals. He then asks them if they “want a bite” of the doughnut he was dangling near their heads.
Some of the officers took the doughnut gesture as a joke. One can be heard laughing, while another one says he already had “like ten”. On the contrary, others were visibly offended by the young protester. One of them furiously says:
“Get that f***ing s**t away from my face or I will whoop your a**. Get the f**k away from me.”
While the joke was indeed offensive in a way, the 18-year-old never actually harmed or even touched any of the officers.
Shortly after, an outraged officer, identified as marshal James Simoneschi, can be seen pushing the boy before arresting him.
When the girl recording the incident asks the policemen what’s the reason for her friend’s arrest, an officer who was heard laughing earlier tells her to “back off”.
“Back off! Back off! He assaulted a lieutenant. You back off or you’ll go to jail.”
Nevertheless, the video shows that the teen didn’t physically attack neither of the group, so the reason for his arrest remains unclear.
According to a report written by marshal Simoneschi, the boy had pushed the stick toward the plainclothes lieutenant’s face. At the time, the lieutenant was standing on a set of concrete stairs with a retaining wall and handrail behind him, so he was unable to back away, the marshal adds. It was at this point when Simoneschi decided to take action and shoved the 18-year-old away.
Additionally, Courtney O’Keefe, sheriff’s spokesperson, claimed the boy was previously taunting other attenders at the ‘Back the Blue’ rally event. O’Keefe said:
“The individual in the video was also intimidating and verbally attacking ‘Back the Blue’ rally attendees as they were leaving the area Friday night.”
However, one of the organizers of the event, Olushola Bolonduro, 26, said he saw the whole doughnut encounter. According to Bolonduro, the teen didn’t do anything to deserve being cuffed, adding “it’s just a kid pulling a prank”.
