Sabino Gomez-Barriga, right, consults with his attorney Bob Schroeter via an interpreter in Lewis County Superior Court.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – Bail was set at $250,000 for the man who allegedly stabbed a co-worker in the throat at a wholesale meat business in Centralia.
Sabino Gomez-Barriga, 35, is jailed and facing a charge of first-degree assault after the incident on Wednesday morning on the 1700 block of Airport Road.
The victim, 21-year-old Jorge Juarez of Centralia, remained in a critical care unit, prosecutors said yesterday.
According to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office, it began as an argument between the two men and quickly turned physical. What the disagreement was over hasn’t been disclosed publicly.
Aid crews were summoned about 11:10 a.m. on Wednesday to what they initially were told was an accident and they requested an airlift for the patient, according to Riverside Fire Authority. About 20 minutes later, police from multiple agencies were dispatched, but Gomez-Barriga had fled on foot, charging documents state.
An airplane from the state patrol flew over the area and a tracking dog requested but by about 1 p.m. Gomez-Barriga was located at the San Juan Arms Apartments downtown Chehalis, according to authorities.
Gomez-Barriga said it was an accident and that he got a ride back to his apartment because he was scared, charging documents say.
The Five Star Beef Company alongside Interstate 5 was previously a slaughterhouse called The Beef Shop and before that was Midway Meats. The weapon was described as a sharp boning knife.
Gomez-Barriga spoke with his attorney through a Spanish interpreter when he went before a judge yesterday afternoon in Lewis County Superior Court.
Deputy Prosecutor Shane O’Rourke asked for $500,000 bail arguing a danger to the community and a flight risk.
When police arrived, the suspect was getting into a vehicle saying he was on his way to dinner in Olympia, O’Rourke told the judge. “We think otherwise,” he said.
Defense attorney Bob Schroeter requested $50,000 bail, noting his client has no criminal history and has lived in Chehalis for three years.
“I’m confident there is a lot more to this story that we don’t realize,” Schroeter said. “Especially given the language barrier here.”
Charging documents describe what the sheriff’s office learned from another worker who witnessed the alleged attack.
Juan Lopez said he was working inside the building with the two men when a verbal confrontation began, charging documents state.
They go on to give the following account: Lopez said Juarez struck Gomez-Barriga in the face with his fist and then Gomez-Barriga grabbed a metal meat hook, using the blunt end to begin jabbing Juarez in the abdomen.
Juarez backed away, but Gomez-Barriga grabbed a sharp boning knife that is used at work and stabbed Juarez directly in the throat.
The younger man put his hand on his throat, but when he removed it to open a door and leave, blood started to spurt everywhere.
When Gomez-Barriga was interviewed by a sheriff’s detective and an officer fluent in Spanish, he admitted there was an incident in which his co-worker was injured.
Gomez-Barriga contended he was flailing to try to stab a third person who was holding him from behind when he accidentally stabbed Juarez.
When asked why he didn’t call for help after he was punched or why he escalated to using a deadly weapon, Gomez-Barriga responded there were women at work and he didn’t want to “look like a kid in front of them.”
Riverside Fire Authority Capt. Terry Ternan said people were putting direct pressure on the victim’s wound when aid arrived and he was taken to Providence Centralia Hospital.
On Wednesday, the sheriff’s office said the victim was in critical condition, but yesterday morning sheriff’s Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said his injuries were no longer believed to be life-threatening.
The sheriff’ office initially reported Juarez’s age as 30, but yesterday said he was 21.
Charging documents presented in court yesterday afternoon say Juarez survived his surgery at Providence, but remained intubated, unable to speak and not able to give a statement.
Gomez-Barriga will be back in the courtroom next Thursday to make his pleas.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
I worked at a meatpacking company. Lots of pressure but anyways: If the guy punched him and instead of going for help, the other guy grabbed a meat hook (just as dangerous as the knife) then the guy might argue that it was self defense (stab the other guy or get the hook in your eye or something, yes it could go trough your head) and please, Illegals? the correct term is undocumented. That and without them there are no hamburgers. Go work for any Meatpacking company in WA. (Lynden, Stanwood, Toppenish, Walla, Walla) see how long you last.
Mary,
Just because he was bullied and teased does not give him the right to attack another person in the manner in which he did. He picked up the weapon and stabbed another human being and injured him to the point where he was still not able to talk, who knows if this man will ever be able to speak again due to the injuries that were inflicted upon him for “teasing” someone. Being teased does not give you the right to stab someone. It seems to me that he should be brought up on Attempted Murder charges. He has to be held accountable for his actions.
Alot of people are judging him very harshly.. I do not know him fully as he is just an acquaintance.. What i do know about him is that it may not be entirely his fault. He used to work with my husband and other people i know & by what they tell me he is bullied around alot.. People pick on him alot.. “its just funny to pick on him” i have witnessed this myself.. So my opinion on this is that there is only so much a person can take and eventually has to explode.. He is a big victim of harrassment. He is a very nice guy & its just sad hes in this situation.
Yes Local meat is only 2.50 a pound and blows kangaroo meat away..
first off that you tube was reicherts meatshop it said so in the video. 2nd of all I know a few white people that work there. this place is very forgiving. they give their workers a lot of chances. they hire a lot of people just out of jail and prison. they hire people who need jobs That other places won’t hire. yes they do have a lot of Hispanics. so does mcdonalds. big fricken deal. no they my not have 401 or healthcare or very good wages. but it is a job. keeps them from sitting on the corner of Harrison. do your research. thats fine if you think their meat came from other countries. but they slaughter. they kill live beef cows that people hall in. It would not be cost effectI’ve you don’t want to buy your meat from them fine. they don’t sell privately. all their meat is usda inspected and transported…Safeway shop n kart….so grow your own beef.
He just wants to do the stabbing that Americans don’t want to do.
The Public Defender has a Haunting Look in his eyes., I myself have looked this man in the eye. He reminds me of a used car sales man…
I agree with all the statements above. We better wake up. Simple facts are that most of the time “Illegals” spend their time working so called jobs that the white man won’t take BUT, They run drugs through. I would not be surprised if we find out this was a drug deal gone wrong.I passed a construction site that looked rather large in olympia last week on the corner of Galaxy Rd. I remember looking for these sites years ago because that was how my husband raised 4 children and provided for them. I “Counted ” the “White boys” Not ONE!!! I counted over 17 workers, all hispanic and of course I was concerned. MY ancestors had to come to this country LEGALLY! They were not welcome in if sick (for the protection of our citizens) , given $20.00 and told to learn the language, and sink or swim. Our country WAS founded on the american dream. I worry for my 13 year old son as he will not have that dream. Although it was OUR ancestors that shed blood for our freedoms and right to religion,my son will not experience that because he is not the right color ! Reverse discrimination is STILL descrimination ! Now we pay for interpreter ! On who’s tax paying dollars?Better clean it up NOW and pay close attention. Have had Many friends who lived in Ca. And are not ‘Welcome ” there anymore because it has been taken over by “Outsiders” and Illegal ones to boot! I consider myself a very compassionate person but,It is getting very hard to show that when we do not get ANY respect for what OUR ancestors went through. If he gets out on Bail, he will be back in Mexico and there’s not a darn thing we can do about it!They know this and laugh in our faces while the citizens pay the Bill!
In Prison they chain your knife to the table. Looks like this meat shop might have to make some alterations to their slave labor operation. Disgruntal Workers. Hyper Inflation, No Health Care or 401K. Let me guess the meat is being shiped to china….. Oh speaking of meat shops check out this little clip. I call it Centralia Kangaroo Meat. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntZIX6_d_6U
Looks like the meat shop is in need of two fresh Employee’s. Bring your own knife and your hired!
LOL 🙂
Brilliant comment, and I say that without snark or sarcasm.
Slaughter House fight? haven’t seen these kind of headlines since Citizen Kane
These immigrants enter the united states on work-visas and green-cards.
They are recruited in South America by snakeheads hired by U.S. companies.
When the employees arrive in the U.S., they oftentimes have their visas taken away and are threatened with deportation if they complain. These are poor people trying to raise families in Guatemala on minimum American wages.
The reason these companies don’t hire local american workers is because americans have rights and people can go to jail for violating those rights.
It other words, it’s easier to confiscate future wages from a holder of green-card immigrant than it is to hold wages from a local red-neck good-ol-boy.
I say that the upper class of Lewis County wouldn’t be able to survive in such luxury if they had to hire local. They would play the victim and claim that local american labor is “too lazy” or too “doped up”. etc.
It’s just easier to rip off migrants. Plain and simple. And as the locals would say, “if you don’t like it, move to Mexico where they have plenty of jobs!!!”
Oh and where is this meat ship to! I will never buy anything from this place. And well gee a job an american won’t do…