Derek M. Rohr makes his preliminary appearance in Lewis County Superior Court on Monday.
Two local 21-year-old men are accused of stealing more than $6,000 worth of items as well as a truck from a Centralia residence stemming from what police say was a dispute over a campaign sticker for President Donald Trump at a party with approximately 40 attendees.
Derek W. Vandelaarschot, of Centralia, and Derek M. Rohr, of Rochester, were charged with second-degree arson, theft of a motor vehicle and first-degree theft and made their preliminary appearance in Lewis County Superior Court on Aug. 14 and Aug. 17, respectively.
The affidavit of probable cause gives the following account of the alleged incident:
On July 25 at around 7:04 a.m., the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office was advised of a brush fire in the area of the 100 block of Harris Road in Rochester. Firefighters had requested law enforcement to come to the scene because the fire was reportedly suspicious and it involved a vehicle that appeared to have been set on fire.
Riverside Fire Authority personnel told police that while they were extinguishing the fire, there was a clear trace of gasoline on top of the water that ran downhill after being sprayed on the fire. He added there was also an “obvious” smell of gasoline in and around the vehicle as well as a large piece of wood inside the vehicle.
Police contacted the registered owner of the 2009 Ford F-150 truck that was completely destroyed, who stated his son had the truck. The registered owner of the vehicle contacted his son who reportedly said he was safe and that he had no idea what happened to the truck.
The car owner’s son told police he was at a friend’s house the prior night and had no idea who stole the truck, only that the keys were no longer there.
Police then went to the friend’s house on Foron Road in Centralia where they talked with six men, who all told the officer there was a party with approximately 40 guests at the house the night before.
At around 2-3 a.m., they told police, three men showed up to the party uninvited, one of which was identified as Vandelaarschot.
The three men were asked to leave the party after a dispute took place over a “political sign.”
Lewis County Sheriff’s Office Special Services Chief Dustin Breen informed The Chronicle that, according to the detective who was working the case, the “political sign” was a “Trump sticker on a cooler.”
The six men police contacted at the Foron Road residence said they woke up from a phone call from their friend’s dad regarding the stolen truck. At that time, they realized numerous items were stolen from the residence. Police estimated the value of all the stolen items, not including the truck, to be $6,309.
Police would later identify Rohr as one of the other males involved after they retraced the most likely route from the Foron Road residence to the location of the destroyed truck and located a surveillance camera from a nearby property.
The surveillance footage showed the red F-150 being trailed by a white truck, which was registered to Rohr’s stepfather.
After contacting Rohr, police learned he and Vandelaarschot returned to the Foron Road house after they were asked to leave because Vandelaarschot was offended over the dispute surrounding the Trump sticker.
Rohr admitted that they had stolen items from the residence and Vandelaarschot stole the truck. He also admitted that they poured alcohol into the interior of the truck and filled it with brush and tree branches in order to set it on fire.
On Monday, Judge James Lawler agreed to release Rohr from the Lewis County Jail’s custody on $20,000 unsecured bail and, according to court documents, he released Vandelaarschot with the same conditions of release on Aug. 14.
Both men are scheduled to be arraigned on Aug. 27.
