Lewis County Sirens.com

Wellington M. Waggener hasn’t been back to Lewis County Superior Court since he threw himself over the half wall behind the defendant’s table shortly after this photo was taken on Wednesday afternoon.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A Centralia resident arrested three times in four days – twice for his alleged actions inside the jail – won’t be arraigned anytime soon.

Wellington M. Waggener, 26, is scheduled to return to court for a review next month.

He was to have the opportunity to make his pleas on Thursday morning to four felony charges, but the judge signed an order for a mental evaluation to be conducted by Western State Hospital.

The former Centralia College basketball player was booked into the Lewis County Jail after a Friday night incident in which a woman said she found him in her bed at a Centralia motel, touching her with his hands.

While being housed in the medical observation portion of the jail on Sunday, he allegedly spit on a corrections officer’s face as he was being served dinner.

Then on Tuesday morning, he allegedly threatened to kill two other of the officers, telling one of them that he would kill her if he saw her outside the jail and telling the other he wanted to slit his throat.

Defendants can’t be arraigned unless they are competent to understand the charges against them.

The judge had already noted at Waggener’s first appearance in Lewis County Superior Court that he was familiar with Waggener, and that he may need to be on some mental health treatment.

Then on Wednesday at his second bail hearing, the handcuffed and shackled  6-foot 9-inch tall defendant threw himself over the half wall that separates the public seating area from the front portion of the courtroom. Guards dragged him out of the courtroom.

It was about 18 months ago that jail staff left Waggener in a cell to suffer for more than five hours without any water for relief after an entire three-ounce can of pepper spray was discharged into his cell. Lewis County had a check for $300,000 delivered to his lawyer last month as a settlement regarding the incident.

The sergeant held responsible was fired.

According to charging documents in his newest case, at about 5 a.m. on Tuesday, Waggener became angry when told he couldn’t take a shower at that moment, and 40 minutes later tried to flood his cell.

He was still being held in the medical observation unit.

When a corrections officer responded, he allegedly said he would shoot her, he would kill her if he saw her on the streets. He acted like he had a rifle in his hand and told he’d like to see her head explode, charging documents state.

Charging documents go on to allege that when questioned, Waggener said they were not threats, but promises.

It was a few hours later when he allegedly told a jail sergeant that he wanted to slit his throat.

He asked the sergeant if that scared him, and the sergeant said no, charging documents state. He allegedly said it should, because when he was released, he would do it.

When Waggener was interviewed about it, he said he’d been asleep all day and made no threats.

He is currently charged with residential burglary with sexual motivation as well as custodial assault, for which his bail was set at $25,000. He is also charged with  two counts of felony harassment, for which bail was set at $50,000.

Waggener’s review hearing is on the court calendar for Aug. 8.
•••

For background, read:

• “Former Lewis County Jail inmate paid $300,000 for pepper spray abuse incident” from Wednesday July 15, 2015, here

• “Centralia man jailed after woman tells of waking up to stranger in her motel room bed” from Tuesday July 14, 2015, here

Three wooden crosses mark the roadside of Monday night’s collision. / Courtesy photo by Ayla Marie Withey

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The driver of the second vehicle in the Onalaska crash that killed three teens told the investigating trooper he’d drank a beer about five hours earlier, but his breath and his entire van smelled of alcohol, according to the Washington State Patrol.

Joseph W. Rogerson, 36, and his wife were returning home to Chehalis from getting a shovel at Cowlitz Timber Trails when they collided head on with a sport utility vehicle carrying eight young people on state Route 508 near Hyak Road.

The state patrol has said both vehicles crossed the centerline and the investigation is ongoing.

The Monday night tragedy has left a community grieving.

Wooden crosses have been placed beside the road at the scene and a vigil is set for tomorrow night, where organizers hope mourners will encircle the entire Carlisle Lake mill pond.

The state patrol’s initial reports indicated the black 2002 Land Rover Discovery was occupied by four 18-year-olds and four 13-year-olds from Onalaska and Chehalis.

However, the police report indicates slightly different ages.

Dead at the scene were the driver, Arnold W. Mullinax, 17, and Taylor N. Thompson, 12, both from Onalaska, according to Trooper Torson Iverson’s report.

Dakota L. Dunivin, 18, from Chehalis, died the following day at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. All the deaths were caused by blunt force trauma and listed as accidental.

Trooper Iverson writes he arrived shortly after 10 p.m. that night, and saw emergency lights ahead, and then a silver van partially blocking the westbound lane, and the Land Rover on its top in the center of the road.

The bulk of his report focuses on Rogerson, the driver of the Ford Freestar minivan.

The man was crying as he answered questions, and said he’d been doing CPR on someone for about five minutes. When asked if he was hurt, he said he didn’t know.

“Rogerson stated he was driving ‘and all of a sudden, it’s like, you just never think someone like you is going to be involved … all of a sudden bam’,” Iverson wrote.

Rogerson agreed to perform field sobriety tests, during which at some points he stumbled and also swayed from side to side, the trooper wrote. He declined a portable breath test.

From the beginning, the man told the trooper the other vehicle basically was in his lane, and that it ran into him

Three troopers located what they believed to be the point of impact, deep gouges in the roadway, right on the centerline, between the yellow lines that form the centerline, according to the report.

Rogerson, who mentioned the next day was his first day at work as a medical assistant, was transported to Providence Centralia Hospital by ambulance, where the trooper met him to have his blood drawn for testing.

The report does not include his blood alcohol level.

Rogerson was booked into the Lewis County Jail for driving under the influence on the instructions of his sergeant and the prosecutor, Iverson wrote.

The following day, Rogerson appeared in Lewis County District Court where he pleaded not guilty. A $5,000 appearance bond was posted on his behalf.

Among his conditions of release, is that he may not consume any alcohol or go into a bar. The court order stated he had to be equipped with a SCRAM – an alcohol monitor bracelet – before leaving the jail.

And he may not drive without an  ignition interlock device installed in his vehicle.

Rogerson was appointed Chehalis attorney Jacob Clark. His court file does not indicate when he will return to court.

The state patrol indicated the night of the accident that if the investigation reveals his driving is the cause of the collision, the charge could be elevated.
•••

For background, read “Two dead, at least three injured in head on crash in Onalaska” from Tuesday July 14, 2015, here

Chan H. Oscar is seated with his lawyer David Arcuri at his sentencing hearing in Lewis County Superior Court.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Chan H. Oscar’s voice broke and he looked down as he apologized to the friend he called his cousin, for shooting him on a Chehalis street.

The round from the 9 mm semi-automatic handgun grazed an eyebrow and traveled through Kevin St. Catherine’s wrist.

St. Catherine did have a full time job and commuted to Bremerton, Lewis County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Will Halstead told the judge. But he’s had two surgeries and won’t be able to bend his wrist.

“He won’t be able to work,” Halstead said.

The two men, are both from the Caribbean, are both Chehalis residents and their families have known each other for quite some time, Halstead said.

“Unfortunately, on this particular day, things got out of hand,” he said.

Oscar was in Lewis County Superior Court yesterday morning, to be sentenced for second-degree attempted murder. He’d made an Alford plea, not admitting guilt.

Halstead as he made his recommendation, told the judge Oscar wasn’t the instigator, that the two 36-year-olds had agreed to go fight. It had to do with a woman, Halstead said.

Defense attorney David Arcuri spoke on behalf of his client, telling of St. Catherine being the aggressor, tracking Oscar down at the Motel 6 where he assaulted him.

“And it wasn’t until my client opened his coat and showed he had a firearm, that Mr. St. Catherine backed off,” Arcuri said. “Our evidence would have showed Mr. St. Catherine said words to the effect, you’re not the only one with a gun.”

The incident took place the night of May 13,  on Southwest William Avenue near Fourth Street in Chehalis. Their two vehicles met up there.

“No doubt Mr. Oscar is culpable for discharging that firearm” Arcuri said. “But one has to appreciate how terrifying that could be.”

Oscar was taken into custody a few hours later, a loaded handgun found on his person.

Arcuri asked for 108 months in prison for his client. Halsted asked for 160.

Judge Richard Brosey imposed 156 months, which is 13 years.

He also ordered three years of community custody with the state Department of Corrections upon Oscar’s release.

And no contact for life with the victim.

Prosecutors dismissed a charge of rendering criminal assistance against 50-year-old Lenard A. Carlile, who was a passenger in the vehicle that police found Oscar in when they took him into custody that night.

•••

For background, read “Police: Chehalis resident jailed for shooting cousin on neighborhood street” from Thursday May 14, 2015, here