Two suspects are facing felony charges in an alleged robbery and assault that took place in early June in Chehalis, according to court documents.
Justin Paul Neuenswander, 39, of Centralia, made his first appearance in Lewis County Superior Court Thursday on charges of first-degree robbery, first-degree assault, first-degree burglary, second-degree theft and theft of a motor vehicle.
He was granted $50,000 bail and as of Friday was in custody at the Lewis County Jail.
An arrest warrant has been issued for a second suspect, identified in court documents as Keith Lee Swain, of Lakewood.
According to a report from the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office, detectives responded on June 5, 2019 to a location in the 100 block of Fircrest Road in Chehalis, where the alleged victim reported that he was assaulted in his home by two men wearing masks.
The man told detectives he came home to find the two men in his residence, one of whom was armed with an AR-15-style rifle. The men then reportedly tied up and blindfolded the victim, “demanded access to his gun safe and continually struck him with with the rifle,” according to the sheriff’s office report.
The victim reported the suspects assaulted him over the course of an hour and ransacked his house. They then took the victim’s truck and his roommate’s car and left.
Neuenswander was identified as a person of interest and detectives attempted to contact him, but were unsuccessful. A detective contacted him after a traffic collision and Neuenswander reportedly denied any part in the robbery.
In September, detectives got a search warrant to get Neuenswander’s cellphone records. According to the sheriff’s office report, detectives analyzed the data and found calls going through the cell tower closest to the victim’s house immediately following the incident to and from Swain’s cellphone.
The cell records also showed Neuenswander’s phone “pings” the cell tower closest to where the victim’s truck was found after the robbery.
“This information from the cell data records is consistent with Mr. Neuenswander casing (the victim’s) residence, driving to Mr. Swain’s residence to retrieve Mr. Swain, and then returning to (the victim’s) residence to commit the burglary and subsequent robbery,” according to the sheriff’s office report.
Swain was arrested in Pierce County in July with a rifle and suppressor matching the description from the robbery victim and analysis of his cellphone records also showed his phone to be in the same area as Neuenswander’s cell during the incident, according to the sheriff’s office report.
Neuenswander was arrested early in the morning of Nov. 21. As of this weekend, Swain had not yet been arrested.
