Robert Hill, accused of biting a guard and smashing bongs at a pot shop, is sentenced
A former perennial political candidate and felon accused of smashing bongs worth thousands of dollars and attacking a security guard at a Tacoma pot shop was sentenced Friday in Pierce County Superior Court.
Jurors convicted 50-year-old Robert Jesse Hill of second-degree malicious mischief, felony harassment and first-degree burglary last month. They did not come to a decision about a charge of second-degree assault.
Judge Frank Cuthbertson gave Hill a low-end sentence of seven years, three months in prison, which is what the state recommended.
Court records, which list Hill’s aliases as “Elect Robert Hill” and “The Traveler,” gave this account of what happened:
A security guard smelled intoxicants on Hill’s breath Aug. 31 at the Urban Bud marijuana shop at 112 S. 24th St. He told Hill he needed to leave and that he wouldn’t be served because of his intoxication.
That’s when Hill screamed profanity and pushed past the guard.
The two ended up in a struggle. Hill bit a chuck of flesh out of the guard’s forearm and yelled that he was going to kill the man.
Then he kicked in a glass case holding custom, hand-blown bongs. He damaged about 50 of them, worth about $200 each.
Hill asked for an exceptional sentence of eight months, arguing that the guard initiated the physical contact.
He told the court that he was wrong to go to the shop in the first place but that he was not sorry for biting the security guard, who he said tried to hurt him.
Hill said he’s spent about seven years of his life incarcerated and that he believes much of it has been unjustified.
Cuthbertson focused on the case at hand.
“I watched the video,” the judge said. “... It didn’t make sense to me, really.”
The judge noted that Hill’s mother, who was in court, is of an age where she might need Hill’s help.
Hill has been in and out of jail, the judge said, “at a time when she’s a vulnerable adult and needs assistance.”
“Can this be the last time?” Cuthbertson asked.
Deputy prosecutor Patrick Cooper said Hill had been out of prison for two days at the time of the marijuana shop incident and that he’s a danger to the community.
Court records show Hill has prior convictions for low-level assault, malicious mischief, obstructing police, criminal trespassing and intimidating a judge, among other crimes.
He has run unsuccessfully for various state and local offices through the years and at times attended public meetings dressed in costumes and carrying provocative signs.
