A man accused of threatening employees at a business in downtown Centralia, throwing items at passing vehicles and hitting a Centralia Police Department officer with a plastic logger’s wedge on Wednesday is now facing felony charges in Lewis County Superior Court.
His preliminary hearing was initially scheduled for Thursday afternoon but it was rescheduled to Friday because the defendant, Brian D. Ames, 56, of Chehalis, refused to come to court.
According to jail staff, Ames has shown “no compliance” with the jail since his arrest Wednesday morning, to the point of “remaining nude,” “refusing to get dressed” and urinating in inappropriate places.
A video of Ames’ arrest in Centralia recorded by a witness and posted to their Facebook page on Wednesday had garnered over 23,000 views as of Thursday afternoon.
Officers with the Centralia Police Department first contacted Ames on Wednesday when the officers responded to a 911 call from a business in the 100 block of West Pine Street placed just after 10:55 a.m.
A male subject, who was later identified as Ames, had allegedly “come inside the building … brandishing (a) logger’s wedge above his head as if he was going to hit one of the employees,” according to court documents. He was reportedly “screaming at employees inside the business” and told them not to call 911.
“It was clear to the employee that Ames was threatening to use the wedge as a weapon if he did not comply with his demand,” according to court documents.
When officers arrived, dispatch advised that Ames had left the building and ran into traffic, where he was allegedly “throwing items at vehicle traffic.”
A responding sergeant reportedly told Ames “to sit on a nearby bench so they could determine what was going on” but when Ames saw another officer walking across the street, he reportedly “stood up and began walking from the sidewalk and into the road,” according to court documents.
“Concerned that Ames was walking into traffic,” the officer “grabbed ahold of Ames’ jacket to prevent him from walking away and told him to stay put,” according to court documents.
Immediately, Ames allegedly “turned toward the officer and began hitting his left hand with a large plastic logger’s wedge that he was holding.”
Ames then allegedly continued trying to pull away from the officer, bringing both of them into the roadway.
The officer then reportedly told Ames he was under arrest, but Ames allegedly “did not listen.” The officer then reportedly “grabbed Ames and swung him to the ground,” where Ames allegedly continued to resist as the officer and sergeant handcuffed him.
A small glass pipe with burnt residue and a baggie containing suspected methamphetamine were seized upon Ames’ arrest.
Ames was charged Thursday with one count each of third-degree assault, harassment, violation of the uniform controlled substance act, use of drug paraphernalia and resisting arrest.
Ames will be held at the Lewis County Jail without bail until his preliminary hearing on Friday.
