Kirkland Man Charged With Felony Assault After Cop Kicked in Face

A 21-year-old Kirkland man has been charged with felony assault for allegedly kicking a Kirkland police officer in the face while being arrested just after midnight on June 30 for spray-painting graffiti on Fire Station 22 in Houghton.

Jonathan Andrew Stevenson, who lived near the 108th Avenue fire station at the time, was charged in King County Superior Court earlier this week for assault on a police officer. He is free and faces arraignment on April 30.

Alerted by a firefighter, according to Kirkland Police reports, officers allegedly found Stevenson and a 20-year-old woman at the side of the fire station, along with fresh spray-paint graffiti on a fire station door, window, roof and nearby dumpster. The report claims the pair gave officer false names, and when officers noticed a spray paint can in Stevenson’s pocket and began to frisk him, he sprinted away.

After an officer tackled Stevenson, according to the report, he resisted and continued fighting after another officer arrived to help subdue him. An officer shot Stevenson in the buttocks with a taser stun gun and he was handcuffed, but he continued to resist and kicked one of the officers in the face, leaving a cut above the officer's nose.

Officers also reported smelling alcohol on Stevenson and finding two cans of beer on him. Stevenson was then taken into custody on suspicion of assault, resisting arrest, making false statements, malicious mischief and being a minor in possession of alcohol.