Journal staff report
A San Juan Island man accused of stabbing another man in an altercation over a $100 pickup is slated to stand trial for felony assault in mid-May.
On March 27, Victor James Capron Jr., pleaded not guilty in San Juan County Superior Court to one count of first-degree assault with a deadly weapon. He was released under court orders and on $100,000 bail pending trial.
If convicted, the 56-year-old lifelong San Juan Island resident would face a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison, as required under state law. First-degree assault with a deadly weapon carries maximum penalties of life in prison, a $50,000 fine, or both.
He has no history of violent crime.
Born and raised on San Juan, Capron was taken into custody Monday, March 23, shortly after 6 p.m., at the end of a long gravel driveway on the Boreen property, which borders the gravel pit and the San Juan Community Home Trust neighborhood near the intersection of Hunt and Grover streets.
He was intoxicated, slumped over in the front seat of his vehicle, a Ford Explorer, and nearly incoherent at the time. He had a folding knife in his right front pocket and the front passenger seat and door were smeared in blood, according to Sheriff’s deputies.
The alleged victim, Eric King, 34, was found lying face up near the entrance to the driveway and flown to Harbor View Medical Center for treatment. He had bled profusely from a deep laceration under his left bicep by the time deputies arrived at the scene, and had a deep gash and a smaller wound on his face.
The extent of the injuries, in part, prompted authorities to file a charge of first-degree assault, according to Deputy Prosecutor Emma Scanlan.
King reportedly was in stable condition the day after the alleged assault, according to authorities. Sources close to the defendant say Capron maintains that he was defending himself during the altercation.
The two men were unacquainted when they met. However, in a statement to deputies, Kelsey Boreen, who lives on the property, said King had repeatedly tried to interest Capron in buying the pickup, but that a deal never materialized. They met that afternoon to look over the vehicle and discuss a possible transaction, Boreen said.
In his statement, Boreen told deputies that King became apprehensive because of Capron’s condition, offered to drive him home, and asked Boreen for a ride back.
Not long after, he said that he saw the Explorer speed down the driveway, then heard someone screaming for help and went outside to find King staggering up the driveway and covered in blood.
Though now the presumed victim in a felony assault case, King is the defendant in an unrelated case of felony assault as well, and is also slated to stand trial in mid-May.
He faces one count of second-degree assault with a deadly weapon for allegedly brandishing a large folding knife and threatening another man with it during a confrontation in a parking lot in mid-February near the fairgrounds in Friday Harbor.
