Yellow Pages
MOUNT VERNON — A 47-year-old Concrete man pleaded not guilty Thursday in Skagit County Superior Court to a handful of charges, including attempted murder for allegedly swinging a loaded .444 caliber rifle around a Hamilton bar in late May.
Major B. Wood, originally from Louisiana, had gone to Willie’s Hi-Lead Tavern in search of James C. Ervin, according to an affidavit written by Skagit County Sheriff’s Deputy Tobin Meyer.
Ervin had beaten Wood earlier that night at a home in Hamilton and assaulted Wood’s girlfriend, said Wood’s attorney, Keith Tyne, head of the Skagit County Public Defender’s Office.
After the fight, Wood’s girlfriend told Wood that Ervin had gone to Willie’s in Hamilton. Wood went home, picked up his rifle, loaded it and stuffed about four rounds in his pocket before heading to the bar, according to case documents filed by the prosecution.
About 1:20 a.m. May 31, witnesses saw Wood stumble into the tavern, obviously drunk and holding a rifle, the prosecution affidavit says.
Wood held one hand on the barrel and the other on the trigger, sweeping the gun back and forth, pointing it at most of the bar’s patrons, the case documents said.
One woman ducked behind a pool table for cover, later telling investigators that she was so scared that she felt like a “trapped little mouse,” the affidavit states.
Witnesses told investigators that Wood said “I’m going to kill him (Ervin),” but several people in the bar tackled him and took away the rifle.
Wood is charged with second-degree attempted murder, second-degree assault, harassment and unlawful possession of a weapon in a tavern. He also faces a firearm enhancement, which could add more time if he is convicted.
In court Thursday, Tyne asked that Wood’s $100,000 bail be reduced, saying the man has had a steady job his entire life, both as an iron worker and a logger and has no felony criminal history.
“I think this case is seriously overcharged,” Tyne told Judge John Meyer.
Tyne described Wood as a polite, quiet man, whose actions that night were “highly, highly anomalous.”
Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Erik Pedersen said the charges fit because Wood planned to kill Ervin and took steps to do so.
When deputies arrived at the bar that night, Wood told them that he wanted to kill Ervin for the earlier fight, but that he came to the bar just to scare him, the affidavit states.
The judge kept Wood’s bail at $100,000. Meyer said he would consider releasing Wood in the future to a secured alcohol treatment center.
Meyer said one thing is certain in the case.
“Much too much alcohol is involved in all this.”
Tahlia Ganser can be reached at 360-416-2148 or at .
