Mark E. Grover is shown his seat in Lewis County Superior Court for a bail hearing.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – Bail was set at $200,000 for the man who allegedly pointed what turned out to be a BB gun but looked like a 9mm pistol at a Centralia police officer who was chasing him on foot.
Mark E. Grover, 35, of Sequim, was charged in Lewis County Superior Court yesterday with second-degree assault and possession of methamphetamine.
Grover has no felony convictions in his past but has had misdemeanor driving offenses and has a pending case involving obstructing a law enforcement officer, Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Joel DeFazio told the judge.
DeFazio asked for the high bail, citing a threat to the community and a flight risk. He has three active warrants, DeFazio said.
Temporary defense attorney Rachael Tiller tried for a lesser amount and conveyed to the judge her client said he has broken ribs and something is “very wrong” with his back.
Grover told the judge the pain was making him nauseous.
Judge Joely O’Rourke told him to work that out with the jail.
According to charging documents and police, Grover wrestled with three officers for several minutes behind the Rite Aid store on Harrison Avenue in Centralia on Wednesday morning.
Centralia police were initially called about a suspicious person who seemed to be prowling vehicles in the Safeway parking lot and were then told a store manager confronted him and pulled him out of a vehicle, according to the documents.
The suspect ran, but saw one officer’s police car and changed directions, according to the documents.
Centralia police Sgt. Brian Warren spotted the suspect in the Rite Aid parking lot, exited his vehicle, identified himself as police and instructed the suspect to stop, according to authorities.
Grover ran, Warren chased him on foot.
Warren was outfitted in plain clothes and driving an unmarked car, according to the Centralia Police Department.
Warren continued to yell he was police and to stop and was three to five feet away from Grover, when Grover stopped, turned around and pointed what appeared to be a handgun at Warren, Lewis County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Will Halstead wrote in charging documents.
Rather then stop to pull his duty weapon, Warren continued forward and grabbed the gun with both hands, according to Halstead. Grover also had two hands on the gun and the two men struggled over it, he wrote.
Warren repeatedly told him to let go, but he refused, according to the documents.
“While struggling over the gun Grover asked Warren if he was a cop and Warren said he was and he needed to release the gun,” Halstead wrote. “Grover stated numerous times, ‘you’re going to get shot.’ ”
Other arriving officers got the gun from Grover’s hands but spent the next several minutes trying to get Grover’s hands out from beneath his body as he lay on his stomach, according to Halstead.
Officers deployed the Taser numerous times, Halstead wrote.
When Grover was searched, officers found a substance that field-tested positive for methamphetamine on his person, the documents state.
Grover was taken by ambulance to be checked out before being booked, according to police.
When the gun was examined, it was found to be a loaded, operational BB gun but appeared identical to a 9mm Smith and Wesson handgun, according to court documents.
Grover’s charge of second-degree assault includes an enhancement that alleges he was armed with a deadly weapon other than a firearm.
He was assigned a court appointed lawyer. His arraignment is scheduled for Thursday.
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For background, read “Centralia officer facing gun-wielding man goes hands-on” from Thursday March 16, 2017, here
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
I do have to say the the new chief of Centralia seems very open to discussing issues with the public regarding his department.
Hey Bo aren’t you tied up with harassing your local sheriff in Kansas. You really should just focus on making one person’s life miserable at a time.
I spoke with Centralia Police Chief Carl Nielsen in great detail about this issue over the telephone today and he for the most part agreed with me about the issue of Sgt. Warren being out of uniform and being at the call. He told me that this was a great training reminder for him and all of his officers.
plainclothes officers and unmarked cars are a very dangerous thing to be using. Anyone can start going around claiming to be an officer and start hurting people by convincing lw abiding folks that they are officers. This can later put real officers with good intentions lives at risk. This is the concern I have about this case and the concern that I shared with Nielsen. I think that this is totally reasonable and logical.
Bo… Maybe spend a little time researching the law before spouting out your opinionated idiocy. Off duty/non-uniformed, sworn officers have arrest powers within their jurisdiction.
If you don’t like the laws, why don’t you try climbing to the top and changing them instead constantly bitching. It changes nothing.
Bo,
You are way off base on this one. Officer Warren is a commissioned police officer and crime had been committed. Now plain clothed police officers are to sit on the sidelines and watch crime being committed to wait for uniformed officers? What about the other two officers who struggled with the suspect for 4 minutes who were uniformed?
What type of complaint will you file when you were not even involved or there?
I know you have a jaded opinion of everything law enforcement does but again this was a great case of the officer choosing another option besides deadly force which he would have been fully justified in using.
I look forward to your reply.
If the officer had been a little farther away when the gun was pointed at him, he would have been forced to fire and probably kill the meth head creep. As it was, he just didn’t have time. Heroic none the less. He deserves a citation.
We can only hope that idiot gets many years to “recover” in one of Washington’s rehab houses, like the one in Walla Walla.
I am going to side with Grover on this one. Brian Warren should not have even been there in plain clothes. How was this person who has never interacted with Brian Warren to know that he was a police Officer when he did not arrive in unifrom, or a marked patrol car? Anyone can say they are a cop!!!!!! Brian Warren should be ashamed of himself for getting involved. I am going to file a formal complaint against him.
Maybe one day, these meth., labs, dealers and users will get the hint, we wont tolerate them in Lewis County. To all Law Enforcement Officers in Lewis County, Thanks!
I wish the officer would have shot him… Dead. One less crack head in the community!
Hell yeah lewis county police. That split second decision was nothing short of heroic! He thought it was a 9mm and he still charged him. That takes some balls! Boo hoo to this dude saying he has broken ribs, that’s a hell of a lot better then what could have happened. He could be dead!
In most communities he would have been shot, he is one lucky guy that the officer didn’t shoot him. In Seattle he would be dead, dead, dead.
point a gun (albeit a BB gun) at an officer and fight with three officers for four minutes and then in court tell the judge I have a boo boo.
Please. He was transported and examined at the hospital. If you weren’t committing crimes and running from the police you wouldn’t have been injured.