Anacortes man not guilty of assault charge, third strike

MOUNT VERNON, Wash. (AP) — A 37-year-old Anacortes man was found not guilty Monday of a charge that could have landed him in prison for the rest of his life.

The Skagit Valley Herald reports after about a weeklong trial in Skagit County Superior Court, Brett Harold Grimnes was found not guilty of second-degree assault for a February 2018 incident at an Anacortes storage unit facility.

According to court documents, Grimnes was accused of choking his ex-girlfriend’s father while the father helped his daughter collect her belongings.

Second-degree assault is a Class B felony and is considered a “strike” offense. Under state law, the only sentence available to those convicted of three such offenses is life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Grimnes has previously been convicted of two strike offenses.