The case against a Centralia man accused of attacking grocery store employees with a knife in late 2021 has been refiled in Lewis County Superior Court after over a three-year pause.
Isaac J. Nelson, 30, was booked back into the Lewis County Jail at 2:50 p.m. on Tuesday, April 8. Bail was set Wednesday, April 9, at $1 million.
Nelson was initially arrested and charged Dec. 29, 2021, with one count of first-degree attempted murder and two counts of second-degree assault for allegedly stabbing a grocery store employee in the back of the “head/neck area” while she was restocking items on a shelf, then threatened two other employees who attempted to help her.
The Fuller’s Shop’n Kart employee who was stabbed suffered a 1-inch laceration to the back of the head, according to the Centralia Police Department. No other injuries were reported.
Centralia police initially reported that Nelson had been asked to leave the store and then returned and attacked the employee, but court documents did not include those details.
A psychiatric evaluation completed by the state Office of Forensic Mental Health Services on Jan. 19, 2022, found Nelson was not mentally capable of standing trial, according to previous Chronicle reporting.
Nelson was transferred to a secure state Department of Social and Health Services facility for 90 days of mental health treatment after a judge signed an order approving the treatment on Jan. 20, 2022.
Treatment ended up continuing through May 4, 2023, when Judge J. Andrew Toynbee signed an order of dismissal with civil commitment after his competency restoration treatment failed.
An evaluation dated April 25, 2023, noted that Nelson had undergone all of the competency restoration treatment allowed by law and still lacked the capacity to understand the nature of his court proceedings and assist in his own defense.
The dismissal order signed by Toynbee required Nelson to be transferred to Western State Hospital for a civil commitment evaluation.
In Washington state, civil commitment is a legal process for involuntarily confining individuals with mental health or substance use disorders who are deemed a danger to themselves or others or are unable to provide for their basic needs.
Nelson’s charges were refiled in Lewis County Superior Court on Oct. 17, 2023, but were dismissed again on Nov. 7, 2023.
Nelson was released from Western State Hospital sometime before April 8, 2024, when he was booked into the Lewis County Jail.
The charges were again refiled ahead of Nelson’s preliminary hearing on Wednesday.
“None of them are true,” Nelson said of the allegations, against the advice of his defense attorney, during his hearing.
Arraignment is scheduled for Thursday, April 17.
This case is the third since 2017 in which Nelson has been evaluated on his competency to stand trial, according to previous Chronicle reporting. The other two cases were filed in Mason County in 2017 and 2019. In both of those previous cases, he was deemed competent to stand trial after completing mental health treatment.
