A 31-year-old Centralia man has been charged with a series of crimes following two different alleged incidents involving theft last month.
Austin Wayne Jensen is in the midst of two separate criminal cases in Lewis County Superior Court. In one case, he was charged Monday with second-degree burglary and third-degree theft after allegedly stealing an iPhone that was being purchased by a customer at Boost Mobile. In the other, Jensen was charged Oct. 1 with second-degree and third-degree possession of stolen property, third-degree theft and possession of a controlled substance after allegedly stealing a jacket, the key to a utility vehicle and a mountain bike.
Jensen was already in custody in Lewis County Jail for the latter incident, for which his bail was set at $20,000, when he was determined to be a suspect in the alleged Boost Mobile theft. His bail was set at $25,000 in the Monday preliminary hearing by Judge Paul Strophy.
On or about Oct. 2, Centralia Police Sgt. Alan Hitchcock responded to an incident at Boost Mobile in Centralia. The store owner stated a male subject stole an iPhone 16e on Sept. 28 at approximately 2:49 p.m., according to an affidavit of probable cause filed by the prosecutor. The owner provided video footage of the incident showing a male subject wearing a black hat, brown jacket, blue jeans, a backpack and white Nike shoes going behind the register and taking a black iPhone. The suspect is then shown exiting the store with the phone and its box. The owner said the phone was worth $650, according to court documents.
The owner stated at the time of the incident that the on-duty employee stepped outside to assist another customer. The suspect went to steal the phone in an employee-only area and that was obviously forbidden for customers to enter due to the “cash wrap” blocking the area.
At the time of the theft, the phone was being purchased by a customer and the store was porting over their number, according to court documents.
Detectives advised the suspect looked like Jensen. Hitchcock reviewed a photo and believed he might be the suspect. Hitchcock also observed Jensen was in custody at the Lewis County Jail on a Lewis County Sheriff’s Office case. Hitchcock reviewed photographs from that case and observed Jensen was wearing the same pants and distinct shoes from the Boost Mobile incident.
Hitchcock contacted the jail, and jail officials confirmed that Jensen had a black iPhone in his property. The officer obtained a search warrant for Jensen’s property and obtained the phone. On Oct. 3, Hitchcock met with the store owner, who plugged the phone into the store’s software and confirmed it was missing from his store but showed up as in his inventory.
Jensen was already in jail for an incident that took place on or about Sept. 30, Lewis County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Blaine Latimer spoke to a man, who advised that a transient male had stolen his green, fluorescent jacket on Sept. 29. The man stated the jacket had the letters OSG on the back and his name on the inside.
Shortly after on Sept. 30, dispatch advised of an attempted theft at 560 Spooner Road in Chehalis. The call notes indicated the suspect was being restrained on the ground by the reporting person’s neighbor. The reporting person stated he believed the suspect had taken the key to his Can-Am utility vehicle.
Latimer arrived and saw the restrained male was wearing the jacket with OSG on the back and identified him as Jensen. During a search incident to arrest of Jensen, Latimer located a baggie with a white substance he believed to be methamphetamine, and a key to a Can-Am, which Sgt. Doug Lowrey subsequently confirmed with the owner that it was his key to his vehicle.
Jensen was also in possession of a mountain bike, according to court documents. Latimer returned the jacket to its owner, who stated he had texted his neighbor about the incident. The neighbor checked and saw one of his mountain bikes was missing from under the carport.
Latimer contacted his neighbor, who confirmed the bike Jensen possessed was his and stated that it was worth approximately $1,000.
Jensen’s preliminary hearing for the first case was held Oct. 1, and he was arraigned the following day. His jury trial is scheduled for Nov. 17.
As for Jensen’s Oct. 6 preliminary hearing for the alleged Boost Mobile incident, Prosecuting Attorney Scott Jackson requested $50,000 bail as Jensen has 44 warrants in his history and has prior felony convictions for retail theft, possession of a stolen vehicle, second-degree theft and identity theft, among others. Strophy opted to set bail at $25,000 and schedule Jensen’s arraignment hearing for Oct. 9.
