Kennewick restaurant owner accused of beating girlfriend appears in court
A Kennewick restaurant owner pleaded innocent Tuesday to attacking his then girlfriend in December during a ride home from a Burbank bar.
Joel T. Watson, 43, appeared for the first time in Franklin County Superior Court to face one count of second-degree assault with a domestic violence allegation.
Watson, the owner of Just Joel’s cafe, is accused of hitting her while they were in a car on Interstate 182. The attack left her with a broken nose and a swollen face, say investigators.
She went to Trios Southridge Hospital after being contacted by a detective after officers received on an anonymous tip, police said.
Franklin County prosecutors filed the charge in late June, nearly seven months after the alleged attack.
Deputy Prosecutor Maureen Astley did not request that bail be set for Watson. She said he had shown up on time after getting a summons to appear in court. His trial is set for Sept. 21.
Judge Joe Burrowes agreed, but ordered Watson not to contact his ex-girlfriend or come within 1,000 feet of her home or work. The order expires in two years.
Watson, a Kennewick native, has not been shy about his troubled past, which he has said he turned around when he was 30. His last felony conviction was in 2009 for drug possession, and he has previous convictions for second-degree theft in 2005, along with first-degree robbery and illegal drug possession both in 2001.
He pursued a dream of cooking which led him to renovate and open the small restaurant 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 a person responsible for killing cats, paying off school lunch bills for students and supporting COVID vaccination.
He has not spoken publicly about the charges. He has hired Kennewick attorney Alexander Johnson to represent him in the criminal case.
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, but 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 Officer Conrad 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.
