Man Accused of Making Threatening Phone Calls

A Centralia man was charged with three felonies after authorities say he made threatening phone calls to a person on a witness list for an upcoming custody hearing.

Anthony W. Wells, 42, was charged with two counts of intimidating a witness and one count of harassment — threat to kill. He was being held, as of Friday, on $25,000 bail.

According to a probable cause affidavit, on Wednesday, an officer spoke with a social worker who said Wells called her on April 12 and April 16. The alleged victim said she recognized him from the sound of his voice.

According to court documents, Wells said to the woman: “My family will be together, I am going to put a bullet between your eyes and make your family pay like you are making mine pay.”

On the second occasion, Wells allegedly made multiple expletive-laden threats.

The Centralia police officer contacted Wells, who denied making the phone calls. Wells was arrested, and officers were in the process of obtaining warrants to access his phones by the time court documents were filed Thursday.

A separate case against Wells is being reviewed in Centralia Municipal Court for another alleged instance of Wells harassing a social worker.

Wells denied the allegations against him during a preliminary appearance in Lewis County Superior Court Thursday afternoon. He declined to sign any legal documents, so his hearing was bumped back to Friday.

During that hearing, Judge Joely O’Rourke imposed $25,000 bail — a lighter amount than the $50,000 proposed by Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher. Defense attorney Pete Tiller argued that Wells has limited and dated criminal history, saying he didn’t need the amount proposed by Meagher.

Wells has an arraignment hearing scheduled for Thursday.