Winter Park musician hit cop in head with skateboard at U.S. Capitol riot, affidavit says

Federal prosecutors are expected to argue Friday that a Winter Park man arrested in connection to the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol should be jailed as he awaits trial after he allegedly hit a police officer in the head with a skateboard.

Grady Douglas Owens, a Full Sail University student, is facing charges of assaulting a law enforcement officer with a deadly weapon and inflicting bodily injury, entering restricted grounds, obstruction of law enforcement during civil disorder, and violent entry of the Capitol building. He faces up to 36 years in federal prison if convicted, prosecutors said.

He will appear again in court Friday morning for a bond hearing, where prosecutors said they will argue he remain in jail “for crimes of violence” and because he is an alleged flight risk.

According to an affidavit released Thursday afternoon, Owens was captured on body camera video slamming a skateboard over the head of a D.C. Metropolitan Police officer, who suffered a concussion and “an injury on his right pinky finger.”

Investigators said he was later identified with the help of an image search using a photo posted by @SeditionHunters, a Twitter account used to help track down suspects in the attempted insurrection at the Capitol. The image led to a public Instagram account identifying Owens as an Orlando-based music producer and instrumentalist.

Authorities later tracked down Owens using a license plate reader that monitored him to a Winter Park apartment complex and a parking lot at Full Sail University, where a faculty member confirmed Owens’ identity, the affidavit said.

Owens’ arrest comes just days after that of Arthur Jackman, a member of the Proud Boys and husband to an Orange County deputy, who the agency is investigating to find out how much she knew about Jackman’s activities.

Whether Owens has ties to right-wing groups alleged to have been responsible for coordinating the attack on the Capitol has not been released.

The riot occurred after a “Stop the Steal” rally held by then-President Donald Trump, who promoted false claims that the election was stolen from him. Lawmakers and then-Vice President Mike Pence, who were at the Capitol to certify the results of the presidential election, scrambled to safety as rioters broke into the building.

Hundreds of people, including at least 32 from Florida, have been arrested in the nearly three months since the riot. Five people, including a Capitol police officer, died as a result of the riot.

creyes-rios@orlandosentinel.com