Updated at 1:13 p.m.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – An inmate was accidentally released from the Lewis County Jail last night, a 25-year-old man charged just yesterday with harassment, threat to kill.
Joshua E. Blankenship was arrested on Monday afternoon after allegedly pointing an imaginary gun at grocery store employees who detained him for stealing pre-packaged biscuits and gravy in Centralia.
Police said he mimicked shooting sounds at the same time, saying “Pow, pow, pow,” while staff held him down.
Jail Chief Kevin Hanson said he learned of the error this morning.
“We had law enforcement all over searching for him,” Hanson said.
Centralia police located Blankenship and returned him to the Chehalis facility at about noon today.
Blankenship has been described by local police as both a Chehalis resident and a transient.
He was arrested a week ago in Chehalis for allegedly stealing a backpack and attempting to steal a bicycle chained up on a porch. A caller to 911 said he seemed to be speaking in tongues.
On Monday, Centralia officers were called to Fuller’s Shop ‘n Kart on the the 500 block of South Tower Avenue where they were told he was seen walking into the restroom with a food item in his hand, but when he came out he didn’t have it.
He allegedly shoved an employee who tried to block his path and then during an ensuing tussle, the biscuits and gravy fell from his pocket.
Threatening the workers with his pretend gun brought him a charge yesterday in Lewis County Superior Court of harassment. The shove elevated what would have been a shoplifting charge to second-degree robbery.
A judge yesterday afternoon ordered Blankenship held on $10,000 bail.
Hanson said he was let go from the jail yesterday evening because his paperwork wasn’t properly processed.
“My staff read the paperwork wrong and released him,” Hanson said.
Jail staff thought Blankenship could get out on a signature bond, a promise to appear in court, according to Hanson.
Hanson said he didn’t know how dangerous Blankenship is or isn’t, as he hasn’t met him.
Mistakes are bound to happen, with a hugely convoluted paperwork system, Hanson said.
“What I can tell you is nobody’s perfect,” he said. “We process thousands of releases and bookings each year, and it’s not always easy to decipher.”
A Centralia Police Department spokesperson said he didn’t yet know the details, but believed Blankenship was found standing on a street in town and an officer spotted him.
His arraignment is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon, when a judge may be asked to consider a lower bail amount, according to defense attorney Bob Schroeter who represented him temporarily at yesterday’s hearing.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
KEEP HIM IN THERE..SEND HIM TO OLYMPIA FOR MENTAL HEALTH EVAL…OR BETTER YET SEATTLE…he’s been permanently 86’d from the buses…he is nothing but trouble.
Maybe he used his fingers as a gun again and forced his way out.
And he isn’t placed in a mental health facility WHY? Because 1) our up-to-date society no longer has treatment facilities for the mentally ill and 2) the disabilities act requires officials to ask a schizophrenic if s/he wants to go in for treatment to which s/he pretty much always replies, “No but thanks anyway.” We are not idiots. We are stupid idiots.