Lewis County Sirens.com

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A second young woman was charged today in connection with last week’s incident in Centralia where a man said he arrived to motel room and was hit over the head and two armed males stole his wallet and car.

The 17-year-old girl the victim said he was texting with and asked him to meet her there was charged this week as an adult, with first-degree robbery and theft of a motor vehicle.

Today, 18-year-old Claire J. Carsoner-Garcia was charged with the same offenses in Lewis County Superior Court.

Temporary defense attorney Rachael Tiller asked for lower bail, stating Carsoner-Garcia has no criminal convictions and has been extremely cooperative.

“I know she has been fully cooperative,” Tiller said.

Judge Joely O’Rourke imposed $150,000 bail, the same amount as she imposed for Maria I. Sevilla-Martinez on Wednesday.

Charging documents for Carsoner-Garcia offer further details, but they are somewhat vague.

It happened around noontime on Dec. 6.

The victim Jose Ramirez-Ruz told police he had arranged via text messages to meet an ex-girlfriend at the motel on the 700 block of Harrison Avenue to have sex, but when he entered the room, he was immediately hit in the head by a male hiding behind the door, according to court documents.

He said Sevilla-Martinez – the 17-year-old who asked him there – was present, along with two other females. He said the males took his wallet and the keys to his vehicle and said if he left the room, people outside would shoot him, the documents relate.

All five of the individuals left, and his vehicle was taken, according to court documents.

Through investigation, law enforcement discovered Carsoner-Garcia was the person who rented the room.

New information describes that when a detective spoke with the 17-year-old, she said Jose had earlier that day been in the motel room and left after “an incident” occurred between the two of them, according to charging documents.

Sevilla-Martinez subsequently told Carsoner-Garcia what happened and Carsoner-Garcia immediately called her homeys and told them about what happened, the documents relate.

The documents don’t say what the “incident” was.

Several minutes later, the two males arrived and Carsoner-Garcia told Sevilla-Martinez to get ahold of Jose and have him come back, according to the documents.

“Maria stated at first she didn’t want to, she just wanted to forget about it, but after being pressured, she finally gave in and contacted Jose to have him return,” Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Jeffrey Schaap wrote in the affidavit regarding probable cause.

Sevilla-Martinez said she didn’t know what the males were planning on doing, but Carsoner-Garcia kept telling her they would take care of it, according to Schaap.

First-degree robbery is a class A felony, with a maximum penalty of life in prison.
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For background, read “Centralia teen held on $150,000 bail for motel robbery of ex-boyfriend” from Wednesday December 13, 2017, here

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Five people were injured including a 75-year-old driver who crossed the centerline and four Lewis County residents in the other vehicle yesterday afternoon in Grays Harbor County.

Troopers were called just before 5 p.m. to the scene on state Route 101 about three miles north of Hoquiam, according to the Washington State Patrol. The highway was fully blocked for five hours.

Both drivers were airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle and both vehicles were totaled, according to the state patrol.

Christopher E. Lopez, 34, of Chehalis, was behind the wheel of a Dodge Dakota pickup headed southbound near milepost 91 when a northbound Dodge Durango crossed the centerline and they collided head on, the state patrol reports.

Lopez’s three passengers were transported by aid to Community Hospital, according to the investigating trooper. They are Seth M. Larsen, 24, of Morton; Clayton N. Larsen, 35, from Curtis; and Derek J. Watson, 30, Chehalis, according the state patrol.

The driver of the Dodge Durango, Eddie C. Valentine, 75, from Copalis Beach, was flown to Harborview.

The cause of the wreck is under investigation.

Maria I. Sevilla-Martinez meets with temporary defense attorney Kevin Nelson prior to her bail hearing in Lewis County Superior Court.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A 17-year-old Centralia girl was arrested yesterday and charged in adult court today for her alleged involvement in an incident at a Centralia motel last week in which a man was robbed of his wallet, money and car after being struck over the head with a pistol.

The victim told police he had arranged via text messages to meet an ex-girlfriend at the motel on the 700 block of Harrison Avenue to have sex, but when he entered the room, he was immediately hit in the head by a male hiding behind the door, according to court documents.

In the room with his ex-girlfriend were two other females and a second male, according to the documents.

Maria I. Sevilla-Martinez, 17, was brought before a judge this afternoon in Lewis County Superior Court charged with first-degree robbery and theft of a motor vehicle.

Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Paul Masiello asked that she be held on $500,000 bail.

Temporary defense attorney Kevin Nelson asked for lesser bail, noting Sevilla-Martinez lives with her parents in Centralia, has a child and that the state had alleged no affirmative conduct on her part.

Judge Joely O’Rourke imposed $150,000 bail and determined Sevilla-Martinez would be housed at the Lewis County Jail, although separate from the adult population.

Masiello said after the hearing he was not aware of any of the other suspects yet being arrested.

Charging documents state that Centralia police were called on Wednesday to the motel, where they spoke with Jose Ramirez-Ruz, who was bleeding from his head.

Ramirez-Ruz told police he had been assaulted by the two males, both of whom were armed, according to charging documents. He said the males took his wallet and the keys to his vehicle and said if he left the room, people outside would shoot him, the documents relate.

All five of the individuals left, taking his Subaru, then he called police, Lewis County Chief Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher wrote in the affidavit regarding probable cause. Centralia police police last week described the stolen vehicle as a black 1995 Suburban.

Police described the suspects as in their late teens to early 20s and the victim as a man in his 30s.

A police detective viewed video surveillance footage and observed it showed Sevilla-Martinez as one of the females leaving the room and contacted her yesterday at her home in Centralia, placing her under arrest.

Given her age and the level of the charge, the state charged her in adult court, as it is an auto-decline circumstance, according to Meagher.
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For background, read “Vehicle, money stolen by armed suspects in Centralia” from Thursday December 7, 2017, here