A Tacoma man is being held in the Lewis County Jail after he allegedly wrote a bad check to steal a Winlock man’s vehicle.
Tacoma resident Charley Joe Culbertson, 30, has been charged with one Class B felony of first-degree theft and one Class C felony of unlawful issuance of a check exceeding $750.
He made an initial appearance in Lewis County Superior Court via a video feed from the jail on Monday, Oct. 12.
The charges were filed after Culbertson allegedly wrote a bad check for $6,530 and gave it to a Winlock resident to purchase a vehicle he was selling on Facebook Marketplace, a 2013 Mini Cooper, back on July 3, 2026.
According to the declaration of probable cause, the Winlock man stated Culbertson gave him a check from K-9 Properties LLC through Bank of America for the car.
The local resident contacted the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office to report his vehicle had been stolen after attempting to cash the check at a Bank of America branch and being told the account had insufficient funds. Though the car had been stolen, he had retained the title, which he told sheriff’s deputies he was going to give to Culbertson after the check cleared.
The victim then contacted Culbertson again, who allegedly stated he was out of the area and “gave several excuses” about why he couldn’t access the Mini Cooper. Then he allegedly began requesting that the victim pay him $500 to tell him where the car was. Culbertson also allegedly threatened to take the car to a “chop shop” if he didn’t get the $500.
Deputies could not find Culbertson or the Mini Cooper until July 18, when a Clark County Sheriff’s Office deputy reached out to Lewis County investigators to inform them Culbertson had been arrested and was in custody in Oregon. He had allegedly “been travelling up and down the I-5 corridor between Oregon up to Tacoma purchasing cars with bad checks.” According to court documents, there is probable cause for his arrest following a similar theft in Clark County.
The declaration of probable cause added Culbertson allegedly purchased an RV from a Vancouver resident using a bad check. He left the Winlock man's Mini Cooper on her property as “collateral for the RV.”
While the keys were missing, the vehicle was recovered and returned to the owner who also identified Culbertson as the person who issued the check and took his vehicle after being presented with a “photomontage” of suspects.
During his Oct. 12 initial appearance before Lewis County Superior Court Pro Tem Commissioner Kathryn Eyraud, the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office asked to keep the bail at $50,000, the same amount issued with the original July arrest warrant.
The prosecutor’s office stated Culbertson was likely no longer facing charges in Oregon, but questioned whether he would appear at future hearings and requested a no-bail hold, as he is facing an additional felony charge in Clark County as well as an additional seven pending felony charges in Pierce County with “active warrants on them.”
Defense attorney Rachel Tiller argued for Culbertson to receive conditional release “on his own personal recognisance” and stated his case in Clark County had been resolved and that he already had no-bail holds concerning his Pierce County charges.
Tiller added Culbertson wanted to be released to continue on to hearings in other courts to get “in his words, ‘a global resolution,’” and was trying to “wrap up” all of the cases.
Because he had a pending warrant in Lewis County since July, Eyraud chose to impose the $50,000 bail and all other standard conditions for release.
Eyraud set Culbertson’s arraignment and trial setting hearing for Thursday, Oct. 15, at 1:45 p.m.
