Lewis County Sirens.com

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The 25-year-old who stowed himself away beneath a big rig to escape from a deputy last month and was finally apprehended in Centralia, even trying to run after he was handcuffed, was scheduled for his arraignment today.

Lewis County resident Ruben A. Inman is charged with one offense that he allegedly has been trying to avoid since March 3.

Ruben A. Inman

Inman was released from prison in mid-January and placed on community custody.

He reported to the Chehalis office of the state Department of Corrections on March 3 as directed, but when he was ordered to provide a urine sample, he said he couldn’t do it, went to get a drink of water and never came back, according to court documents.

A secretary’s DOC warrant was issued for his arrest, for the felony of escape from community custody. That’s willfully discontinuing making himself available for post-release supervision.

The former Twin Cities resident made headlines after the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office told of an encounter at  Gee Cees truck stop near Vader on March 11.

A sheriff’s deputy was following up on a trespassing complaint in the area and located Inman and a female at Gee Cees, but Inman slipped away and vanished.

A truck driver said he’d seen the male crawl under the trailer of semi truck and it left with him still beneath it. Security footage confirmed what happened and when the truck was finally stopped in Arlington, its driver didn’t locate his hitchhiker but did find his cap.

His daring feat was featured on the television show Washingon’s Most Wanted.

On March 15, Inman left a voice mail message with his community corrections saying he wanted to turn himself in. He was upset his escape was on the news and wanted to know why he was getting so much attention for a warrant, according to court papers.

He didn’t leave  call back number.

On April 6, law enforcement officers went to a residence at the north end of Centralia to find Inman, and he reportedly fled on foot, and then after he was cuffed, tried again to flee.

He was booked into the Lewis County Jail.

Prosecutors declined to charge Inman with escape for that incident. But, on Tuesday, they filed the escape from community custody charge, for walking away from his supervision appointment. His bail was set at $35,000.

It’s a class C felony with a maximum penalty of five years in prison. For hiding out from his DOC supervisors over a urine test.

The charging documents in his case don’t make mention of what Inman was in prison for, but it couldn’t have been a very long term.

A look into the archives of Lewis County Sirens .com shows two incidents from four years ago, when an individual by the same name attempted to elude officers.

JULY 31, 2012: “A short foot pursuit of an individual wanted in connection with vehicle theft ended with the arrest about 10:20 p.m. yesterday of Ruben A. Inman, 21, of Centralia.”

SEPT. 25, 2012: “A 21-year-old arrested yesterday for a warrant after a foot pursuit in the area of Northwest Prindle Street reportedly kicked out a back window of a patrol vehicle, climbed out and ran away again. “He was again apprehended, put back in the patrol car and then booked into jail.”
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For background, read “News brief: Daring escapee apprehended in Centralia” from Thursday April 7, 2016, here

Thomas L. Pleasant is sentenced today in Lewis County Superior Court.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – For the second time in his life, a former Centralia man has been sentenced to life in prison.

Thomas L. Pleasant, 50, went before a judge today in Lewis County Superior Court, having pleaded guilty last month to first-degree robbery and second-degree assault for what took place at the Chehalis Subway store late one night in the summer of 2008.

It was a third strike case with a mandatory punishment neither the prosecutor or defense attorney disputed.

Judge Richard Brosey agreed Pleasant’s 1989 conviction  for first-degree robbery in Pierce County and a Colorado conviction for assaulting an officer with a deadly weapon counted as strikes one and two.

“You’re sentenced to the state Department of Corrections for the rest of your natural life, without the possibility of release or parole,” Brosey told the defendant.

Pleasant readily admitted to a string of robberies that summer, and by the end of 2008, was convicted of three first-degree robberies in Cowlitz County and sent off to prison for life, under the same persistent offender law.

Lewis County detectives interviewed him before he left and charges were filed in Lewis County for the July 16, 2008 holdup of the lone female employee at the shop in the Twin City Town Center. The charges were first-degree robbery and first-degree rape.

He admitted robbing her with a pellet gun that looked real, tying her up with an electrical cord and putting her in a walk-in cooler. When she was interviewed, she told of the same events, along with him asking her if she wanted to live and then with a gun to her back, raping her, according to court documents.

Pleasant denied the rape in 2008 and again today.

Lewis County Senior Prosecuting Attorney Will Halstead and Centralia defense attorney Don Blair struck a plea deal, agreeing the rape charge would be dismissed for “evidentiary reasons”.

Blair addressed the court this afternoon, and said his client’s DNA was not present, but other males’ DNA was. Judge Brosey said he understood the Chehalis Police Department no longer had the evidence for the case.

“We believe we would have prevailed on that count,” Blair said.

Pleasant accepted the judge’s offer to speak on his own behalf and told him he was willing to accept the consequences.

“It is what it is,” Pleasant said. “I don’t know why the person said what she said.

“I know I went in, I robbed her, tied her up and put her in the cooler; that was it.”

Halstead told the judge he’d met with the victim as recently as Monday, and believed she now understood why he amended the charges downward.

He read a letter from the victim, who was not named. “She’s adamant she was raped,” he said.

“To whom it may concern: I have to live with what happened to me every day

“I never asked to be robbed at gunpoint, raped and put in a cooler.”

She continued on how she would have liked to stand up to her attacker at trial, but that was taken from her.

“What does that say about the Lewis County court system,” Halstead read. “About the Chehalis Police Department?”

Chehalis Police Chief Glenn Schaffer this afternoon said the evidence was not lost, it was destroyed and he’s not sure exactly where along the line the case came apart.

The department keeps case evidence in a vault and periodically gets rid of or returns what they don’t need any longer, he said.

The department routinely checks with the prosecutor’s office before taking such actions though, according to Schaffer.

“We sent a note and the prosecutor’s office checked off on it,” he said.

Schaffer said he wasn’t certain at this point if his department erred in making the request, or if the prosecutor’s office erred in approving it.

“I’m not looking to place any blame, I don’t know,” he said.
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For background, read “Suspect from 2008 Subway robbery initiated reopening his case” from Monday March 7, 2016, here

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Convicted killer John A. Booth Jr. will be back in Lewis County next month, when a judge will hear his contention eavesdropping on inmates in the jail was governmental misconduct and jeopardized his rights to confidential communications with his lawyers.

The former Onalaskan was sentenced to life in prison for the August 2010 shootings at the home of 52-year-old David West Sr., from whom prosecutors contended Booth was seeking payment of a debt for a local drug dealer.

John A. Booth Jr.

Booth was 31 years old when he was arrested for the slayings of three people, and wounding of a fourth person at the residence on Wings Way, off of Gore Road.

He’s lost his appeal, he’s lost his personal restraint petition and the upcoming hearing grows out of his December 2012 motion to vacate the judgement and sentence based on court rule 7.8.

He is represented by court assigned defense attorney Erik Kupka.

Kupka and Lewis County Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher went before Lewis County Superior Court Judge RIchard Brosey this afternoon.

Booth and Kupka have requested various documents from the state to prepare for the hearing, and today Meagher told the judge his position is all information required to be turned over has been turned over.

Judge Brosey said he was denying any further requests for materials related to Booth’s request, noting his attorney would presumably make requests as he sees fit.

Four of the many individuals from the sheriff’s office expected at the May hearing have pre-paid planned vacations, according to Meagher.

Judge Brosey indicated they should be excused from the May 2 and May 3 proceedings, and if their testimony is still needed, the proceedings can reconvene when they return.

Booth was sentenced under the state’s so-called three strikes law.

Losing their lives on Aug. 21, 2010, along with West Sr., were 16-year-old David “D.J.” West Jr. and 50-year-old Tony Williams of Randle. West Sr.’s girlfriend, Denise Salts, survived a gunshot wound to her face

Booth denied shooting them.
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For background, read “”Ear hustling”: Convicted murderer John Booth tells judge about problems at Lewis County Jail” from Friday July 5, 2013, here

Gregory L. Trujillo is being held in the Lewis County Jail on $500,000 bail.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A 58-year-old man accused of beating a woman and attacking her with a knife at her Winlock home will get his chance to make his plea in Lewis County Superior Court on Thursday morning.

Gregory L. Trujillo is being held on $500,000 bail following his arrest last week for the incident.

He is charged with first-degree assault.

The Toledo area man appeared before a judge in a wheel chair last week. Defense attorney Joely O’Rourke noted he worked as a longshoreman, is a longtime area resident and has lots of family ties to the community.

Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Kevin Nelson told the judge Trujillo had July 2012 convictions for second-degree assault with a deadly weapon and felony harassment.

Trujillo was picked up by police the night before at a Chehalis motel after his release from Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

Toledo Police Department Chief John Brockmueller said the night it happened, Trujillo sustained wounds to his abdomen and the woman had lacerations to her upper extremities. She declined an ambulance and was going to the hospital with a friend.

Police were still working the following Monday to figure out who did what.

Charging documents in the case don’t offer any clues about a disagreement between the two before the assault.

They give the following account of the emergency response about 9:30 p.m. on April 1 to the 300 block of Cedar Court in Winlock.

Police documented blood smears and splatters at various locations throughout the woman’s house. They were unable to locate the weapon, but were told it was a small-bladed knife.

The woman had multiple bruises on different parts of her body, a black eye swollen shut. She sustained a large deep gash from the palm of her hand near her ring finger to the outer portion of her hand near her wrist.

She was located at a neighbors. Trujillo was still inside the house.

Officers surrounded the residence and made multiple attempts to contact him with no response and finally made entry and found him in a bedroom, with what appeared to be stab wounds to his belly.

No information is included regarding a police interview with Trujillo.

The woman however, spoke to police.

She said the two had been in an intimate relationship for a couple of months, and on that date, he found her at a neighbor’s and asked if he could speak with her at her house. She agreed.

“As the victim walked into her house, the defendant began beating her with his closed fists,” Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Sheila Weirth wrote. “The victim tried to get away by moving toward the back of the house, while the defendant kept on hitting her, kicking her and even biting her.”

She said he pulled out a knife with a black handle and began attacking her. She used her hands to try to protect herself.

She managed to get back to the living room and as she moved to escape out the front door, Trujillo yelled, “You’re not leaving here alive, Bitch!”

At that point the neighbor knocked, the victim opened the door and the two fled.

Judge Richard Brosey last Thursday afternoon appointed Centralia attorney Don Blair to represent Trujillo. A no-contact order was also put into place.

Trujillo’s arraignment is Thursday morning.
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For background, read “News brief: One booked for Winlock knife incident” from for Thursday April 7, 2016, here

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A couple whose Packwood cabin was broken into the week before last managed to track down what they were missing the most: three hand-carved Native American masks.

The objects would be worth hundreds of dollar apiece in a gallery, but have sentimental value for Bob Cartano.

He got them years ago when he was working with native bands in Alaska and Canada developing timber, he said.

Shaman mask

The Seattle residents were contemplating offering a reward for the return of the artwork and this morning, he was checking eBay to find monetary values for the masks. The insurance company had given him a lot forms to fill out, he said.

He got lucky.

“He saw them along with antique snowshoes for sale by a shop in downtown Snoqualmie,” Maureen Cartano said in an email message this afternoon. “We drove out, contacted local police, and the shop owner gave them back.”

The Cartanos lost many other valuables in the break-in, mostly tools. Today, besides the masks, he got back his ski shoes and their snowshoes. All were listed for sale on eBay.

One of the masks was broke in half and glued already, presumably from falling off the wall from high up, when the thief or thieves used a ski pole to pull them off their hooks, he said.

Bob Cartano said he has quite a collection of masks, but it was his three favorite he kept at the cabin.

He was feeling so good about his sleuthing skills today, he was sort of hoping he could get designated an honorary deputy.

For the week, he said.

Three others property owners were victimized in the same gated neighborhood on Teal Drive in Packwood during the same time frame, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. A deputy called to the area on April 2, a Saturday, determined they were hit sometime since the Tuesday evening prior.

The initial total loss was with more than $4,000.

The shop owner in Snoqualmie told the officer who spoke with him he had purchased the masks from three people whose black SUV was “full of stuff.”

Grace E. Barker appears in Lewis County Superior Court today.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The 26-year-old woman accused of stabbing the father of her baby in the neck at his Mossyrock home was brought before a judge today for her first court appearance.

Grace E. Barker was rolled in a chair to which she was restrained into Lewis County Super Court.

Barker was non-communicative yesterday at the jail, and missed her scheduled appearance, but the judge told corrections officers she had to see him today, even if it meant employing a so-called drag order.

Barker said very little, except for “yes” when Judge Richard Brosey asked if Grace Barker was her true and correct name.

She was represented at the hearing by defense attorney Joely O’Rourke.

Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Kevin Nelson requested she be held on $1 million bail, noting the charges against her could change.

At last check, the victim was in critical condition, Nelson said.

Barker is charged with first-degree assault, an offense with a maximum penalty of life in prison.

Prosecutors wrote in court documents that Brian Slater was trying to get her to leave his residence when she picked up a knife, and he armed himself with a knife and when he threw his down thinking she had done the same, she stabbed him in the throat.

He was interviewed at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle before he underwent surgery.

Both Nelson and the judge spoke of getting an order on Monday, to have Barker’s competency evaluated by Western State Hospital. Brosey said he expected she could be seen by a doctor within 72 hours after that.

The judge appointed Centralia lawyer Shane O’Rourke to represent her. He set her bail at $500,000.

The judge also signed a no-contact order with the victim. He scheduled her arraignment for Thursday.

Jail staff emptied the courtroom of other defendants who made their first appearances this afternoon before bringing Barker up from the jail. They’re usually brought into court in groups.

Joely O’Rourke, who has worked in the courthouse since 2009, said she believed that was only the second time she’d seen a defendant brought to court in a restraint chair.

After Barker’s hearing was finished and she was taken back down to the Lewis County Jail, corrections officers brought another defendant into the courtroom in a restraint chair.

Shaylor L. Black also said very little.

Black was booked into the Lewis County Jail yesterday for possession of methamphetamine as Jane Doe, as Chehalis police weren’t certain of her real name.
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For background, read “Mossyrock argument: Two knives, one airlifted, other arrested” from Thursday April 7, 2016, here

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The second of two defendants brought to Lewis County Superior Court today from the jail in a restraint chair, Shaylor L. Black, was accompanied by four corrections officers.

Jennifer Jenkins, left, consults with temporary defense attorney Joely O’Rourke in Lewis County District Court.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The Onalaska woman who owns the nine horses and the two acres they were seized from by the county was upset to find herself in court yesterday.

“Outraged, floored, that they didn’t just come out and help me,” Jennifer Jenkins said after the hearing. “And turned it into a giant fiasco.”

Jenkins was arrested for animal cruelty the day before, following the evaluation of a young horse found trapped on its side in a pen of mud for an unknown length of time.

Tuesday April 5, 2016

Her own veterinarian advised the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office the animal was suffering from a painful skin infection from lack of shelter and/or blankets and was very malnourished, according to a narrative from the deputy assigned to the case.

The other eight horses occupying firmer ground had the same skin infection, according to Dr. Christian Affeldt. He described their living conditions with the mud and manure field as terrible, and not suitable for as many horses as Jenkins had on the property.

Lewis County District Court Judge Wade Samuelson yesterday afternoon entered pleas of not guilty to nine counts of animal cruelty and told Jenkins she may not possess or care for any livestock until her case is resolved.

Specifically, he ordered her not to ride, lead, groom or even pet a horse.

Jenkins, 44, was accompanied to court by a friend, and said she may have more comments on her situation later.

The fire department, deputies, code enforcement personnel and others spent hours on Tuesday rescuing the horse at Jenkins’ residence on the 2500 block of state Route 508 east of Onalaska.

Jenkins had gone to her veterinarian to ask for help and her neighbor summoned assistance by calling 911.

On Wednesday, Dr. Affeldt and also a veterinarian from the state Department of Agriculture looked at the animals. The state vet determined they were in pain caused from the deplorable living conditions and in serious need of medical attention, according to the sheriff’s office.

One of the mares is due to foal in the next couple of weeks, according to the Lewis County Animal Shelter.

Jenkins is charged with nine counts of animal cruelty in violation of Lewis County code. The offenses are gross misdemeanors with maximum penalties of 364 days in jail and a $5,000 fine.

While she was booked into jail Wednesday, she was released by posting bail in the amount of $4,500.

The code relates to criminal negligence and failing to provide adequate care.

Jenkins was assigned to a court appointed lawyer, David Brown.

Her next appearance in court is not yet scheduled, but would be expected to take place in a couple of weeks, according to Lewis County District.
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For background, read “Onalaska horse pulled from mud hole getting evaluated ” from Wednesday April 6, 2016, here

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Rescuers offer water to young horse after pulling it from mud on Tuesday. / Courtesy photo by Lewis County Fire District 1