Popular Tri-Cities restaurant owner accused of attacking his girlfriend
A local business owner known for his generous community efforts is accused of beating his girlfriend in a drunken argument in December.
Joel T. Watson, 43, allegedly started attacking the woman as they were driving home from a Burbank bar in December 2021, Pasco Officer Conrad Christenson wrote in documents filed in court.
The attack left her with a broken nose and a swollen face and she ended up at Trios Southridge Hospital, police said.
Nearly seven months later, the Franklin County Prosecutor’s Office has charged Watson with second-degree assault with domestic violence, a felony.
Judge Jacqueline Stam found that the charges can proceed and a summons was issued for Watson to appear in court July 12.
The Tri-City Herald could not reach Watson about the charges, and he does not have an attorney listed in the court documents.
The Kennewick native has not been shy about his troubled past, which he’s said he turned around when he was 30.
He pursued a dream of cooking which led him to renovate and open the small cafe Just Joel’s on Kennewick Avenue.
The breakfast and lunch spot opened in late 2017 and last year was voted best Sunday brunch in the Herald’s People’s Choice awards.
Watson has become a community leader, putting his money behind finding the person responsible for killing cats, paying off school lunch bills for students and supporting COVID vaccination.
December fight
Last December, Watson and his girlfriend were heading home from an evening out when an argument started, according to police.
Watson allegedly started hitting her while they were on Interstate 182 near 20th Avenue. He initially demanded she get out of the vehicle and then eventually dropped her off at her home in Kennewick, she told police.
She didn’t initially call police. Instead, an anonymous caller told emergency dispatchers that she had been attacked and asked that an officer check on her.
Kennewick police Detective Cory McGee arrived at her home and took an initial statement, and then she was taken to the hospital.
Since the incident allegedly happened in Pasco, McGee contacted Pasco police and Christenson responded just before 3:24 a.m. on Dec. 19, 2021.
When he talked with the woman, she was “visibly in pain with a significant swelling and bruising to her face and left eye,” said court documents. Medical records show she suffered a broken nasal bone.
This story was originally published June 20, 2022 at 11:29 AM.