By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
A former Winlock-area resident taken into custody following a wild weekend police pursuit has pleaded not guilty to rendering criminal assistance and other offenses related to the aftermath of an Olympia homicide.
Trey Nicholas Jones, 20, was the passenger in a 1999 Kia Sephia that led as many as a dozen patrol vehicles through south Lewis County, as fireworks, full pop cans, duffel bags and a suitcase were tossed from the stolen car, according to authorities.
After the vehicle wrecked on Interstate 5 near Kelso, Jones allegedly admitted that he planned to help the driver – Dwight M. Bradsbery – leave the state following a homicide days earlier in an Olympia apartment, according to charging documents in the case.
He also stated he was injecting methamphetamine during the pursuit, prosecutors allege.
Jones, whose current residence is described by police as “transient”, is being held on $50,000 bail in the Thurston County Jail.
Bradsbery, also 20, is being held on charges of second-degree murder and other related offenses. His bail is set at $250,000. Police say he lives in Olympia.
The pair were arrested March 11 after the wreck.
Detectives from Olympia had been checking around Lewis County since they learned of the homicide the Friday before, according to Olympia police.
One witness lives in Lewis County, the pair had contacts in Centralia and Chehalis, and Jones’ parents live in south Lewis County, according to Olympia Police Department Lt. Jim Costa.
They had gotten information Bradsbery was in the Winlock area earlier that day and asked police there to help find them. Jones grew up in the Winlock area, according to Winlock Police Chief Terry Williams.
According to charging documents, the two were among several individuals at an apartment on Lilly Road in Olympia on the evening of March 8.
The woman who lives in the apartment contacted police early the following day and told of fleeing her home after she saw Bradsbery assault the victim from behind, charging papers state.
The woman, Ajalene Wilson, said she then contacted several other “associates” who had been inside moments before the murder, according to prosecutors.
When Jones was interviewed, he reportedly told police he went inside because he was going to lock the door and keep people out, but instead he supervised the attempted cleanup of the crime scene.
He said he watched, provided direction to others and “masterminded” the cleanup because he was the smartest one, according to prosecutors.
The man police found dead when they went to the apartment is identified as 29-year-old Nathaniel Ollis, an active duty soldier at Joint Base Lewis-McChord. He is from Maine and died from multiple stab and slash wounds, according to the Thurston County Coroner.
Charging documents in the case don’t indicate a motive.
Both Bradsbery and Jones reportedly admitted stealing the car from a female friend in Olympia.
Jones is charged with first-degree rendering criminal assistance and tampering with evidence.
Both men are charged with car theft, attempting to elude and related crimes.
They are scheduled to appear next in Thurston County Superior Court on April 9.
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Read “Read about police chase through Lewis County …” from Sunday March 11, 2012 at 6:48 p.m., here
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter