Lewis County Sirens.com

Edgar Ramirez-Dado consults with temporary defense attorney Rachael Tiller in Lewis County Superior Court.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – An intercepted message on a Centralia Middle School issued iPad arranging to buy $10 worth of marijuana from a somebody led to an arrest yesterday outside a Centralia convenience store, of a 22-year-old Chehalis resident also wanted on a $100,000 arrest warrant in a rape case.

Edgar Ramirez-Dado was arrested at the 400 block of West Main Street for allegedly planning to sell a little baggie of weed to two boys, ages 16 and 14, according to court documents.

He was booked into the Lewis County Jail for that and numerous outstanding warrants, including one that was issued late last year when a charge of second-degree rape was filed in a case investigated by the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

Lewis County Chief Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher today requested and was granted bail in the amounts of $100,000 and $50,000 for the two cases.

Ramirez-Dado was represented by temporary defense attorney Rachael Tiller this afternoon in Lewis County Superior Court. Judge Andrew Toynbee appointed Centralia lawyer Don Blair to the cases.

Charging documents indicate a sheriff’s deputy met with a 26-year-old woman in mid-December 2015 when she described a party the night before with a lot of people in which she and her friend consumed a large amount of alcohol.

She said she was introduced to Ramirez-Dado and recalled being dragged by her arms by him into a bedroom and laying on a bed, before two girls came in and pulled her out, Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Melissa Bohm wrote in charging documents.

She had a couple more shots and the next thing she knew, she was in another room with Ramirez-Dado, according to Bohm.

Bohm wrote that the alleged victim recalled Ramirez-Dado pulling her panties off from beneath her dress and her telling him no and to stop, but she was too weak and drunk to push him away.

She said he raped her.

Charging documents indicate a deputy received a sexual assault report from Providence St. Peter Hospital in January 2016, but don’t explain why charges were not filed until nine months later.

The documents in the new case state that it was just yesterday when a school resource officer alerted a Centralia drug detective of the drug deal arrangement made through a messaging app on the school iPad.

Knowing the details, members of the Joint Narcotics Enforcement Team followed one of the boys to the Apex market on Main Street in Centralia.

Police contacted the 16-year-old and Ramirez-Dado inside a vehicle parked there. Inside Ramirez-Dado’s backpack, they allegedly found more than an ounce of marijuana buds, a scale and plastic bags.

Ramirez-Dado is charged with second-degree rape, a class A felony with a maximum penalty of life in prison. He is also charged with possession of marijuana with intent to deliver and involving a minor in drug dealing. Those offenses each carry a maximum penalty of five years.

Meagher told the judge he felt the $100,000 bail was in order in the rape case because of the violent nature of the alleged offense and also because there was some indication an attempt was made to make sure the victim did not tell people what happened.

The 26-year-old victim also told a deputy that when it was over, Ramirez-Dado told her not to come out of the room for a few minutes so it would look like they were not together, according to charging documents.

His arraignment is scheduled for June 15.

Benjamin J. Breitenbach, in red, is led into a courtroom for a bail hearing in Lewis County Superior Court.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Bail was set at $25,000 this afternoon for the Toledo resident accused of raping a woman this weekend he had met on a social media dating website.

Benjamin J. Breitenbach, 37, allegedly admitted to law enforcement to having sex with the alleged victim but said it was consensual, according to court documents.

Breitenbach was arrested after being contacted at his home about 10 p.m. on Saturday.

The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office said a deputy responded to a call about 6 p.m. on Saturday and spoke with the woman who said the two communicated on the site Plenty of Fish and she went to his home that afternoon on the 200 block of Kangas Road.

She said she had met him on the site about a month earlier.

“(She) further explained she and Breitenbach had been exchanging small talk for approximately 10 minutes when he suddenly attacked her on the sofa,” Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Melissa Bohm wrote in charging documents.

He allegedly grabbed her breasts, twisting them causing a great amount of pain, and used that leverage to push her into an adjacent bedroom where he raped her despite her protests.

He left the room, she was able to depart in a near hysterical state and called 911, according to Bohm.

The sheriff’s office this morning reported the 41-year-old woman sought medical attention.

Breitenbach denied to law enforcement any kind of roughness, according to Bohm.

He was charged today in Lewis County Superior Court with second-degree rape, a class A felony with a maximum penalty of life in prison.

Temporary defense attorney Rachael Tiller this afternoon told a judge Breitenbach is employed but she believed he qualified for a court appointed lawyer. Centralia attorney Don Blair was appointed.

Lewis County Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher asked the judge to hold the defendant on $25,000 bail, because of the violent nature of the alleged offense.

Meagher said Breitenbach had only three warrants in the past, related to minor driving offenses.

Judge James Lawler agreed with the request but stated he had thought the state would have asked for a higher amount.

Breitenbach’s arraignment is scheduled for Thursday morning in Lewis County Superior Court.
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For background, read “Claim: Meet-up associated with dating website leads to rape in Toledo” from Monday June 5, 2017, here

Detectives begin to examine the interior of a car after getting a search warrant on Sunday.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Chehalis police say it appears the woman found dead yesterday inside a car at K-Mart died from a gunshot wound.

Officers responded just after 10 a.m. yesterday to a call of a suspicious death at the 1200 block of Northwest Louisiana Avenue, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

The light green 2001 Kia Rio was situated in a parking space at the far south end of the lot.

Department spokesperson Linda Bailey said a gun was found with the woman.

A search warrant was obtained, evidence was collected and the car impounded, according to police.

Police are awaiting a report from the coroner to confirm the identity, according to Bailey.

There was identification found with her, but the car is registered to someone else, Bailey said. The vehicle has Washington license plates, according to police.

As of this morning, nobody had contacted police about a missing person, Bailey said.

It’s the third time in six weeks a person has been discovered deceased inside a vehicle in the city of Chehalis.

The cause and manner of death in the previous two cases have not yet been released, although they did not include gunshot wounds, according to Bailey.

On April 21, the body of a 16-year-old boy was discovered inside his car parked at the Twin City Town Center, also on Northwest Louisiana Avenue. Cole Burbank of Camas had been reported missing eight days earlier by his parents and police subsequently concluded his Honda Accord had been parked at the shopping center since the day he disappeared.

Early on the morning of May 6, a man was found dead after a car fire, in a Honda Accord parked on residential property just south of the Yard Birds Shopping Center off Northeast Kresky Avenue. Robert A. Mansker, 48, was from Kelso.

The Lewis County coroner has said he is awaiting the results of various tests in those cases.

Bailey said the police department will release details in the new case as they become available.
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For background, read “Body discovered in vehicle in Chehalis store’s parking lot” from Sunday June 4, 2017, here