News brief: Jury convicts Napavine bar theft suspect as charged

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Thirty-seven-year-old Lonzo W. Lawson II was convicted of burglary for breaking in to Frosty’s bar, convicted of theft for stealing some $15,000 from inside the Napavine business and convicted again for trafficking in stolen property because he gave some of the cash to two of his buddies.

A jury took only a couple of hours today to come up with a verdict in the trial that began last week in Lewis County Superior Court.

Prosecutors told the jury Lawson pedaled a bicycle seven miles to burglarize the Napavine establishment on April 9 and spent the proceeds on partying.

He faces as much as eight years and three months in prison.

Lawson also was found guilty of a special allegation of committing the crime with a deadly weapon – he took a knife from bar’s kitchen to break through its office door. The extra finding probably added three to four years to the potential sentence, Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Shane O’Rourke said.

Lawson, who has been described as a transient, was convicted today also of possession of heroin and methamphetamine. He was represented by Centralia attorney Don Blair.

His sentencing hearing is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
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For background, read “Lawyers: Who broke into the safe at Frosty’s tavern?” from Wednesday June 12, 2013, here

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This entry was posted on Monday, June 17th, 2013 at 7:03 pm and is filed under News briefs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

2 Responses to “News brief: Jury convicts Napavine bar theft suspect as charged”

  1. nobody knows says:
    Tuesday, June 18, 2013 at 9:54 am

    That’s what I’ve been thinking this whole time; he gets charged for giving them the money, they spend almost all of it knowing full well where it came from and they get to carry on with their lives?
    Also, I really want to say that Lawson is 33, not 37. I don’t know why they keep saying he’s 37.

  2. Old Long Johnson says:
    Tuesday, June 18, 2013 at 8:12 am

    So the guy gets a charge of trafficking in stolen property because he gave some of the ill-gotten gains to his “buddies”.

    The fact he told his buddies what he was doing and where the money came from makes his friends guilty of recieving stolen property.

    Why no charges for the so-called ‘friends’?

    The thief goes to jail, but his buddies who are no better are allowed to walk the streets?