Man accused of attacking homeless woman sleeping in front of Bainbridge City Hall

Andrew Binion, Kitsap Sun
·2 min read

After allegedly assaulting his girlfriend with a box cutter Tuesday night, a man is accused of attacking a homeless woman sleeping in front of Bainbridge Island City Hall, kicking her in the head and threatening to “cut her jugular.”

Eric Clinton Simmons, 45, was charged Wednesday in Kitsap County Superior Court with a count of second-degree assault, a felony, for the alleged attack on his girlfriend. He was also charged with two misdemeanors: harassment, for allegedly threatening his girlfriend's son, and fourth-degree assault, for kicking the homeless woman.

Bainbridge Island police officers interviewed the girlfriend and her son, who said Simmons had apparently been waiting for them to take a nightly walk at about 10 p.m. near Bainbridge High School, 9330 High School Road NE.

The woman said Simmons accosted her and “swiped” at her with the box cutter before he got in his truck and drove away, according to court documents. No injuries were reported from the assault.

As officers were searching the area for Simmons, they received a call that a woman who had been sleeping next to City Hall, at 280 Madison Ave. N, had been kicked in the head by a man who also threatened her. Officers wrote in court documents that the woman had a cut on her forehead surrounded by swelling.

Officers found Simmons near Blue Canary Auto Repair, 499 Madison Ave. N, and arrested him. During an interview Simmons said he had interacted with both his girlfriend and her son near the high school and the woman in front of City Hall, but he denied assaulting either.

Officers booked Simmons into the Kitsap County Jail.

Simmons did not appear in court Wednesday. An attorney told Judge Bill Houser that Simmons was lodged in a single-occupant "crisis cell" in the jail and appeared "unfit" to appear in court. House set Simmons' bail at $100,000.

This article originally appeared on Kitsap Sun: Man accused of attacking homeless woman sleeping in front of Bainbridge City Hall