A 26-year-old Centralia man was arrested and booked into the Thurston County Jail Thursday night for first-degree burglary while armed with a deadly weapon, first-degree assault and first-degree robbery, according to the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office.
Thomas Denegar, wearing a mask and armed with a handgun, reportedly broke into a residence on the 100 block of Perkins Street North in Bucoda at about 10:36 p.m. Thursday, the sheriff’s office said.
According to the sheriff’s office:
Denegar woke the 34-year-old resident and ordered the man to come with him. The man put on his shoes as though he we going to comply with Denegar’s demands.
However, the man turned on Denegar and began punching him repeatedly, the sheriff’s office said. Denegar then allegedly pistol whipped the man repeatedly.
Denegar was able to separate from the man and fired a single round from the pistol into the floor between the man’s feet. Denegar then grabbed the man’s cellphone and fled the scene.
“The victim was running out of gas because it was that kind of fight,” Sgt. Kenneth Clark said. “The victim regained his feet, the suspect regained his feet and fired the shot.”
The sheriff’s office said the man was able to identify Denegar when he pulled the mask off of Denegar’s head. The man recognized Denegar as the soon to be ex-husband of a female friend.
Officers arrested Denegar in the Grand Mound area after he called to report that he had been the victim of an assault.
“The suspect called and said he was the victim of an assault, but we already knew who he was,” Clark said. “That part was fully investigated and it didn’t add up.”
