A 57-year-old Oak Harbor man is facing a felony charge for allegedly beating his stepson with a fireplace poker, court documents allege.

Prosecutors charged Samuel D. Howard in Island County Superior Court Oct. 15 with assault in the second degree, a domestic violence charge.

On Oct. 10, a 27-year-old man reported that his stepfather, Howard, had repeatedly struck him in the hands, forearm and leg with the “sharp end” of a fireplace poker, court records state. The man said he got into an argument with Howard just prior to the assault.

An Oak Harbor police officer noted that the man had a large cut on his knuckle area and a hole in his pants leg. The man had to undergo surgery to repair a broken finger.

Williams, however, claimed he did not assault the man and conjectured that he may have showed up at his house with the injuries. Williams said he kicked the man out of the house after he went crazy and tipped over the coffee table and threw the fireplace poker, the report states.

If convicted of the charge, Howard could face up to a year and two months in prison under the standard sentencing range.