Centralia Woman Accused of Stabbing Man on Side of Interstate 5 Says She Was Defending Father

A Centralia woman accused of stabbing a man with a pocket knife during a fight on the side of a distributor lane of Interstate 5 in Centralia argued in court on Thursday that she was acting in defense of her father.

Charlotte S. Norton, 33, was charged with second-degree assault with a deadly weapon at her preliminary appearance in Lewis County Superior Court based on allegations that she stabbed a man who was fighting her father on the side of the road.

Norton’s defense attorney for the day, Rachael Tiller, said in court the victim of the stabbing was well known to Norton, and at the time of the assault he was beating her 66-year-old father.

“Ms. Norton says that it’s been common for this family to suffer from violence and abuse at the hands of (the alleged victim),” Tiller said.

“Ms. Norton has no assault-like history on her record,” Tiller added.

Tiller requested bail to be set for Norton at $25,000 unsecured, meaning she would only need to pay the amount if she were not to show up for her hearing.

Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher argued that some bail should be set, based on the fact a man was stabbed, and asked Superior Court Judge Andrew Toynbee to set bail at $25,000.

Toynbee ultimately sided with the defendant and set her bail at $25,000 unsecured.

The affidavit of probable cause gives the following account of the assault:

On Monday, Nov. 10, the Washington State Patrol and Centralia Police Department responded to a report of a physical altercation that took place on one of the distributor lanes of I-5 near exit 82 in Centralia.

When the officers arrived at the scene, they contacted a man who stated his daughter, identified as Norton, had been assaulted at the location by another man that they were familiar with.

Norton’s father added that the man who he accused of assaulting his daughter left the scene with his girlfriend.

Norton told police that the altercation occurred because the man’s girlfriend had called to tell her that he had stolen some of Norton’s belongings.

The affidavit does not specify whether both parties intended on meeting on the side of the distributor lane, but nevertheless, they arrived at the side of the road in separate cars and a fight ensued between Norton’s father and the man, Norton told police.

After being asked by her father to stay in the car, Norton inserted herself into the altercation in an attempt to remove the man from her father, she told police.

After the fight ended, the man and his girlfriend drove away.

However, on the same day, the state patrol was told that the man Norton’s father accused of assaulting his daughter was at PeaceHealth St. John’s Medical Center in Longview being treated for stab wounds.

When contacted by police, the man said he was not sure who stabbed him, but he was facing Norton’s father during the fight and Norton was at his back.

The man had sustained puncture wounds to the left side of his back and the right side of his torso underneath his arm.

Police subsequently contacted Norton about the man’s injuries, and she admitted to police that she “stabbed him in the back once” and that she did so with a pocketknife she was carrying. 

Norton is scheduled to be arraigned on Nov. 19.