A 46-year-old Chehalis man made a swift return back to the Lewis County Jail just over an hour after he was released Wednesday.
He was released at approximately 5:45 a.m., yet he didn’t even get to watch the sunrise that morning as he was booked back into jail at 6:53 a.m.
Quincy Edward Lavar Burton was charged Thursday in Lewis County Superior Court with second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm after he allegedly directed a woman to store a Glock 27 .40 caliber pistol in her residence in Chehalis for him until he returned from jail.
Burton’s bail was set at $50,000. He was previously arrested in April following a Joint Narcotics Enforcement Team (JNET) investigation in which he was investigated for drug trafficking and the unlawful possession of firearms. Stemming from that incident, he pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm, and he was sentenced on Aug. 13 to two months in the Lewis County Jail followed by two months of electronic home monitoring.
On April 23, while in custody following his arrest, a relative told Burton on a jail phone call, “You’re glad they didn’t go into your car,” according to an affidavit of probable cause filed by the prosecutor.
During the original investigation, detectives recovered a video from Burton’s phone showing 10 firearms, including five rifles, one shotgun and four pistols. Detectives recovered the shotgun, two pistols and four rifles. Based on the conversation on the jail phone call, detectives believed the other firearms were in his car during the warrant service. While Burton was serving the jail portion of his sentence, Detective Andrew Huerta listened to a jail phone call between Burton and his girlfriend on Aug. 21. Burton allegedly directed her to give a neighbor his bag, his “piece” and money, according to court documents. Based on Huerta’s training and experience, he determined that “piece” is a common term for a firearm.
During a second phone call on Aug. 21, the neighbor confirmed she was given Burton’s backpack, wallet and “the silver thing,” court documents state. During the initial investigation, one of the depicted firearms had a silver slide and black lower receiver. Based on the investigation, Huerta believed Burton was directing the neighbor to store the firearm at her residence in Chehalis.
On Sept. 29, Burton contacted the neighbor and told her he was going to get out of jail at around 5:30 a.m. on Oct. 1. He asked her to pick him up a pack of cigarettes and told her his intention to be home by around 6 a.m. Huerta obtained a search warrant for the neighbor’s residence and property removed from there by Burton.
At approximately 5:45 a.m. on Wednesday, Burton was released from the Lewis County Jail. JNET surveilled him and observed him in possession of only a plastic jail property bag as he walked to the neighbor’s residence, per court documents. Burton was observed meeting with the neighbor and her husband and acquiring a bag from the residence. Huerta observed they had moved from one apartment to another, and he obtained an amended search warrant.
After departing the apartment, Burton got into a car with two other males. Another detective conducted a traffic stop on the vehicle, and Burton was detained. Burton gave Huerta permission to obtain the bag from the vehicle, and he claimed he got it from the neighbor and that he did not know what the contents were. Huerta searched the bag and observed a Glock 27 .40 caliber pistol with nine rounds loaded in the magazine.
Burton was booked back into the Lewis County Jail at 6:53 a.m. Wednesday, exactly one hour and eight minutes after his release. Burton’s criminal history includes convictions for second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm in 2025 and two counts of the same crime in 2021.
Strophy met the state’s request for $50,000 bail, citing Burton’s “rapid recidivism.” Burton’s arraignment is scheduled for Oct. 9.
