Lewis County Sirens.com

Jose F. Chagolla Flores and his lawyer face a judge in Lewis County Superior Court

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Eighteen-year-old Jose F. Chagolla Flores of Onalaska is off to prison today, with an 18-month sentence for stabbing another teenager who punched him in the face in the Chehalis Wal-Mart’s parking lot.

Instead of going to trial, charged with first-degree assault, Chagolla Flores entered into a plea deal with prosecutors.

Lewis County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Will Halstead told the judge the reason: It was a case of possible self defense.

“There is evidence the victim was the aggressor,” Halstead said.

Halstead’s comments came on Tuesday morning in Lewis County Superior Court in front of Judge Andrew Toynbee.

Exactly what a group of young people were doing there the night of Oct. 5 is uncertain. Chehalis police were called about two males fighting but when officers arrived they were gone.

Seventeen-year-old Bryce Friedley of Chehalis turned up at Providence Centralia Hospital and was transferred to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

Chagolla Flores pleaded guilty to second-degree assault on Nov. 30, a felony with a standard sentencing range of three to nine months. But he pleaded guilty to the committing the crime with a deadly weapon, which means 12 more months.

Defense attorney Chris Baum told the judge it was a tough case in many ways, one in which everyone could acknowledge there was “bad blood.”

The victim’s mother tearfully addressed the court, her voice breaking as she described the trip to the trauma center in Seattle and the hours-long wait before she finally saw her son, on life support.

She addressed the defendant, telling him choices have consequences.

“You chose to use that knife as self defense,” she said. “That choice could have cost you my son’s life. I pray you learn to do better.”

Judge Toynbee pointed out that if Chagolla Flores had gone to trial and been convicted as originally charged he would have been facing a possible sentence of nine years plus nine months.

“Now we’re looking at 15 to 20 months,” he said.

“The injury to Mr. Friedley was so significant,” Toynbee said. “But I can’t isolate that from the facts of this case.”

Judge Toynbee chose the middle of the standard sentencing range, six months, plus an additional 12 months for the weapon enhancement.

Chagolla Flores will be subject to 18 months of community custody after his release. And the judge ordered no contact with the victim for 10 years.

The Oct. 5 episode was followed a week later with several of the victim’s family and friends arrested for allegedly taking baseball bats to Chagolla Flores’s 19-year-old friend in Adna. Then in mid-November, Friedley and his brother were arrested for allegedly being two of four males who initiated an armed encounter with other teenagers near Penny Playground in Chehalis.

Prosecutors have suggested there are gang overtones to the cases.
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For background read, “Chehalis Wal-Mart stabbing suspect says teen hit him first” from Tuesday October 10, 2017, here

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A 47-year-old Centralia man was summonsed to Lewis County Superior Court yesterday, charged with animal cruelty in a case that was discovered by a neighbor this summer.

A Centralia animal control officer was dispatched to a home on South Buckner Street, where a woman said her neighbor had not been around for days, his dogs had been barking for hours and when she checked, she found they were without food or water, according to court papers.

Four exotic birds in cages at the front window inside the home had only empty water dishes and empty shells in their food dishes. One, an African Gray parrot, was laying face down and deceased the documents relate.

The owner, Llewellyn A. Roy, was located at the Lewis County Jail, where he been booked after an arrest more than three days earlier.

Charging documents state a necropsy showed the parrot had died of dehydration and starvation.

The neighbor described a bull dog which seemed in better condition than two very thin Mastiff’s with eye infections, one of them in an kennel with a floor compacted with feces, and open sores on its legs, according to the allegations.

Animal Control Officer Jennifer Krueger reported the shape the animals were in would have taken weeks to develop.

Roy is charged with first-degree animal cruelty and second-degree animal cruelty.

When he arrived to the courtroom yesterday afternoon, he used a walker.

Temporary defense attorney Kevin Nelson told the judge Roy owns his home and makes about $2,000 a month, but medical and living expenses take up all of it. He was assigned a court-appointed lawyer.

Lewis County Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher asked that  Roy be allowed release on a $5,000 unsecured bond. Judge Joely O’Rourke agreed.

After the brief court hearing, outside the courtroom, Roy said he didn’t want to comment on his case, but said there was “more” to it.

Charging documents indicate the call to animal control came on July 19, a Wednesday at mid-morning. Centralia police had arrested for Roy for driving under the influence on Plum Street just before midnight on Saturday, July 15, and booked him into jail, according to the Centralia Police Department.

Animal Control Officer Krueger reported that after she first spoke to the neighbor, and learned the dogs had been given water, she contacted Roy at the jail asking permission to go into his home to care for the animals, according to charging documents.

He told her he wanted his parents to take care of them, but when she contacted the parents, they wanted nothing to do with it, the documents relate.

Krueger stated in her report that when she and another officer entered the home, she was hit with the stench of dirty dog, cigarettes, urine and feces. She observed garbage all over the floor and a small table in front of a chair that was covered with prescription bottles and beer cans.

The bird cages had not been cleaned in a long time, which contributed to the smell in the house, Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Paul Masiello wrote in the court documents.

The animals were taken so they could be cared for, according to Masiello.

Roy’s arraignment is scheduled for Thursday.

Updated

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – An individual was robbed of his wallet, money and car after being struck over the head with a pistol yesterday in Centralia and five suspects are at large, according to the Centralia Police Department.

Centralia police called just after noon yesterday to a motel on the 700 block of Harrison Avenue were told a male fled in the victim’s black 1995 Suburban, while three females and another male left in separate vehicle, according to police.

The suspects are described as in their late teens to early 20s.

The missing Suburban has a Washington license plate reading BIA4104, according to police.

The victim, a man in his 30s, sustained a non-life threatening injury to his head and was treated at the scene, according to Sgt. Dave Clary.

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CORRECTION: This news item has been updated to correct the number of suspects police are looking for.

Jason Estimo and his son Buddy play with Hank on the floor. / Courtesy photo by Jan Propp-Estimo

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Lawyers involved in the case of Hank the Centralia dog are meeting for mediation on the matter this week.

Lewis County Civil Deputy Prosecutor David Fine said yesterday that he, attorney John Justice and animal attorney Adam Karp will meet with a mediator on Friday afternoon in Olympia.

A preliminary injunction was issued on Oct. 18, allowing the pit bull terrier to be freed while the case continued in the courts.

Hank the dog went home to his Centralia family that day.

Jann Propp-Estimo adopted the animal from the Lewis County Animal Shelter in January, but the county impounded him in May, after discovering Hank was actually a dog named Tank which the county had previously designated a dangerous dog because he was implicated with his mother in the killing of two goats in Winlock last year, and was destined to be put down.

Propp-Estimo and her lawyer have been fighting in court since then to prevent the dog from being euthanized.

She says he is doing well.

“He’s very happy,” Propp-Estimo said today. “He came away a little bit needy from the shelter, but we just keep working on that.”

Fine declined to discuss further the planned mediation.

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Hank on his way home the day he was sprung from the Lewis County Animal Shelter in October. / Courtesy photo by Jan Propp-Estimo