Crime & Courts

After being punched, Dillingham man blows his nose, loses eyeball

On March 27, a man standing on the Dillingham bike path was punched in the face by a stranger on a bike, and was later hospitalized after his eyeball popped out of its socket.

The afternoon attack was reported to police the following day. The victim told police he had been drinking with a friend and was waiting on the bike path for a cab when a bicyclist rode past him too close for comfort. He yelled an expletive version of "watch where you're going," which allegedly prompted the biker to stop, get off his bike, punch the victim in the left side of his face, and push him to the ground.

The victim did not know who his attacker was, and he went home to nurse the wounds. A short time later, while the victim was blowing his nose, his left eyeball popped out of its socket. He pushed it back in before heading to the hospital, where a doctor advised that he will need to undergo surgery in Anchorage.

The police noted that the victim "had never had an experience where his eyeball popped out when he was blowing his nose, and this incident occurred as a direct result of the injury that he received after being punched in the eye by the male subject."

At least one person witnessed the mid-day attack, and a photo lineup led police to Steven Sanderson, 45. Sanderson denied any involvement, but was eventually placed under arrest and charged with felony assault in the second degree.

Magistrate Tina Reigh set Sanderson's bail at $5,000 at his arraignment.

This story first appeared in The Bristol Bay Times/Dutch Harbor Fisherman and is republished here with permission.

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