A man charged with assault for an incident at Fred Meyer in 2020 has been acquitted.
Joshua Sonkiss, 50, was arrested for assault on June 1, 2020. Sonkiss was checking out at Fred Meyer when, after a verbal confrontation with Bowen Dallman, he struck Dallmann once, fracturing his jaw, according to court documents. Sonkiss then continued checking out and left the store.
According to the arrest documents, Dallman claimed Sonkiss punched Dallman in the face for not wearing a mask. CCTV footage from the store shows Dallman is maskless during the incident, though there’s no audio record of the confrontation, according to court documents.
Sonkiss, in the same arrest document, claimed Dallman was infringing in his personal space, and threatened him verbally with physical violence before Sonkiss punched Dallman in self-defense.
According to court documents, Dallman followed Sonkiss into the parking lot and removed his shirt when officers from the Juneau Police Department intervened. Dallman wanted to pursue assault charges, according to the arrest record.
Sonkiss was acquitted on April 23, 2021.
• Contact reporter Michael S. Lockett at (757) 621-1197 or mlockett@juneauempire.com.
