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One of three men implicated in a series of assaults reported against a man last May in Centralia made his first appearance this week in Lewis County Superior Court.
Gerardo Ramirez Dado, 23, of Centralia, was charged Tuesday with one count of second-degree assault.
He was granted $25,000 bail. His next court appearance is scheduled for Thursday.
Two other men, Stuart Arturo Acosta and Jose Guadalupe Hernandez, are listed as co-defendants in the case but have not made their first court appearances
The alleged victim reported that he knew two of the men, including Ramirez-Dado, from an encounter approximately a month before when they allegedly confronted him for wearing red, saying it was a gang color, according to court documents.
At 9:07 p.m. on May 22, 2016, police responded to a parking lot in the 800 block of Harrison Avenue to a report of a hit and run. They found a gray Lincoln sedan high-centered on a rock in the driveway.
The driver of the Lincoln told police he was traveling eastbound on Harrison Avenue when he saw a green Dodge minivan following him. He pulled into the parking lot planning to pick up dinner at the restaurant for his family. As he parked the Lincoln, the green van reportedly pulled up on his left side.
The victim reported that three men got out of the van and began to advance toward him “in an aggressive manner,” and said one of the men had a knife.
The victim put the Lincoln in reverse and tried to leave the lot while the three men allegedly threatened to kill him, according to court documents. The man with the knife reportedly struck the vehicle and caused damage.
As he tried to get out of the parking lot, the victim got his car stuck on the rock. He told police he got out of the vehicle and ran into the middle of Harrison Avenue in an attempt to get away from the alleged assailants.
He ran into the path of a vehicle, whose female driver rolled down her window to ask if everything was alright.
The woman reported to police that the three men were yelling at the victim, “I know where you live,” and “your house is going to go boom,” according to court documents.
The woman’s boyfriend, also in the car, called 911, and police responded.
Police were able to locate a fingerprint on the Lincoln and collected it as evidence.
Later that evening, at 11:30 p.m., officers responded to the 1100 block of Harrison Avenue regarding another reported hit and run.
The incident reportedly involved the same parties as the previous altercation. The victim from the earlier incident reported that he and his family were at Safeway and saw the same green minivan from the earlier incident.
The van pulled up and one of the men allegedly approached the victim’s vehicle. The victim’s girlfriend exited the vehicle and tried to de-escalate the situation, at which point one of the men allegedly slapped her and threatened to kill her.
The man reported he and his girlfriend tried to drive away and one of the other men got in front of his vehicle and was hit.
Officers contacted Ramirez-Dado and Acosta at the scene, but they allegedly refused to cooperate, according to court documents.
Officers identified Hernandez as the third suspect through social media. He is believed to be in Oregon and is currently wanted on an Oregon arrest warrant.
