An 18-year-old Chehalis man is back behind bars about a month after he was released on unsecured bail for allegedly stealing Pokemon cards from a downtown Centralia toy store.
Peyton Perry Thome now faces four new felony charges and a misdemeanor for allegedly breaking into a different Centralia business and ramming a police vehicle that attempted to stop him before fleeing toward Interstate 5.
Thome made his initial appearance on the new charges in Lewis County Superior Court via a video feed from the Lewis County Jail Monday, Nov. 9.
He’s charged with second-degree burglary and first-degree malicious mischief, both Class B felonies punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine. He’s also charged with two Class C felonies, third-degree assault and attempting to elude a police vehicle, both punishable by up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. He faces one misdemeanor charge, third-degree theft, punishable by up to 364 days in jail and a $5,000 fine.
The Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office asked for his bail to be set at $50,000, noting his pending burglary case and the likelihood that his release from jail would present danger to the community and to himself.
Defense attorney Rachael Tiller, who represents most superior court defendants during their initial appearances, asked for bail no higher than $10,000. She noted he has family nearby who would provide support.
“He’s also very interested in Drug Court,” Tiller said.
Judge Joely Yeager, noting that she had just presided over a hearing related to Thome’s previous charges last Thursday, set bail at the $50,000 requested by the prosecutor’s office.
Thome will next appear in court for an arraignment and trial setting hearing on the new charges this Thursday.
According to the affidavit of probable cause filed by prosecutors, Centralia police were notified of a burglary in progress at about 12:18 a.m. Nov. 6 at Paradise Glass, located at 108 E. Bridge St. in Centralia.
“The reporting party advised a male just ran out of the store and that the alarm was going off,” the affidavit states. “The reporting party also stated the male ran to a four-door sedan parked in the parking lot by the basketball court.”
Two Centralia officers arrived in the area and located the suspect vehicle. One officer attempted to block the vehicle with his patrol car with his emergency lights activated.
Another officer gave commands to the driver, subsequently identified as Thome, who initially opened the car door before quickly shutting it. Thome then allegedly refused to comply, leading one of the officers to puncture the back tires of the vehicle in an attempt to disable it.
That’s when Thome allegedly started the vehicle, put it into reverse and crashed into the front of the officer’s patrol car, damaging the push bars and subsequently requiring that the vehicle be taken out of service.
Thome then maneuvered around the patrol vehicles and headed toward Harrison Avenue, with officers pursuing him. Thome allegedly ran a red light as he turned onto the Interstate 5 southbound on-ramp.
Thome's vehicle was reportedly fishtailing between the two lanes when, on a third attempt, an officer succeeded in disabling the vehicle using a PIT maneuver. His vehicle was then pinned in by officers.
Thome allegedly refused to exit the vehicle, leading an officer to break the driver’s side window and remove him with the help of other officers and deputies.
Three green pills were removed from Thome's left hand.
“Mr. Thome verbally identified himself and stated he took Kratom pills while in the vehicle and stated he took a lot of them,” the affidavit states.
Thome said he has been addicted to Kratom for approximately six months and was having severe withdrawals
“He stated he went to Paradise Glass and broke the window with a frying pan,” the affidavit states. “He stated he entered through the window and stole approximately 20 packages of Kratom before leaving in his vehicle.”
The frying pan was recovered at the scene.
Thome currently has pending charges for second-degree burglary and third-degree theft in Lewis County Superior Court.
He was arrested and booked into the Lewis County Jail in the 100 block of North Tower Avenue at about 11:49 a.m. Oct. 4. According to police, Thome allegedly went behind the counter of Let’s Play Something in downtown Centralia and stole over $700 worth of Pokémon cards.
Those charges are still pending after he was originally released from the Lewis County Jail on $10,000 unsecured bail.
