Patricia Lee makes an appearance in Lewis County Superior Court via HomeWav Monday afternoon in Chehalis.
David Straub makes an appearance in Lewis County Superior Court via HomeWav Monday afternoon in Chehalis.
A landlord and a Centralia woman accused of burglarizing a tenant’s home say they did it because the resident owed rent.
David D. Straub, 57, of Centralia, was charged with residential burglary-domestic violence and Patricia M. Lee, 53, was charged with residential burglary.
Superior Court Judge James Lawler set bail for both Straub and Lee at $20,000.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, on July 19 police responded to a reported residential burglary in the 1000 block of Ham Hill Road.
Police spoke to the tenant of the home who explained she returned home to find her front door broken and her house ransacked.
She also told police she suspected that Straub and Lee were responsible for burglarizing her property, according to the affidavit.
Straub and Lee live next door to the alleged victim who rents her property from Straub, according to the affidavit.
Police contacted the two and Lee reportedly admitted that she and Straub forced their entry into the alleged victim’s residence and stole several items. Officers found all of the victim’s missing items inside Straub and Lee’s residence, according to the affidavit.
Lee added they stole the items because the woman owed rent.
According to the affidavit, both Straub and Lee have made threats toward the alleged victim in the past and Straub had a past dating relationship with the victim.
Straub and Lee are scheduled to be arraigned on Thursday.
