The “possibly armed and dangerous” man local law enforcement searched for and arrested in Napavine on Monday made his initial appearance in Lewis County Superior Court on Tuesday.
The man, identified as Scotty Devonte Lee, 20, was arrested at about 3 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 18, in the 500 block of Second Street Northwest after a citizen reported he was lying in her backyard, according to the Napavine Police Department.
He was booked into the Lewis County Jail just before 3:30 p.m. on Monday and was charged Tuesday with two counts of second-degree assault and one count each of attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle, possession of a stolen vehicle and obstructing a law enforcement officer. Bail is set at $100,000.
Lee, who is associated with an alleged armed robbery out of Seattle, was first seen in the Napavine area at approximately 11 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 17, after he was involved in a vehicle accident in the 100 block of Hamilton Road, according to the Napavine Police Department.
A responding officer with the Napavine Police Department processed the license plate for Lee’s vehicle and found it had been reported stolen out of Seattle. The search result for the license plate also came with a “caution flag … that advised the occupant may be armed,” according to court documents.
The officer reportedly saw Lee exit the driver’s side of the stolen vehicle and walked to the back of the vehicle. In a report that was referenced in Lewis County Superior Court documents, the officer noted Lee “appeared to be shaking and twitching uncontrollably,” which led him to believe “Lee may be under the influence of controlled substances.”
When the officer exited his patrol vehicle and started walking toward Lee, however, Lee allegedly got back into the driver’s seat of the stolen car, locked the door and ignored the officer’s commands to stop.
The officer stated he saw Lee place the vehicle into gear “and it appeared he was going to flee,” prompting the officer to back away from the vehicle, according to court documents.
Lee then allegedly backed the vehicle toward the officer, “who had to move out of the way to avoid being struck,” according to court documents.
The officer stated he “believed had he not moved, Lee would have made contact with him and caused a serious, substantial injury.”
The officer pursued Lee’s vehicle from Hamilton Road to the 1200 block of Rush Road, where Lee reportedly crashed the vehicle into a ditch. The officer commanded Lee to exit the vehicle, which he did, but Lee allegedly ignored commands to get on the ground and fled westbound “into the shrubs and brush.” Officers gave chase on foot, but were not able to find him at the time.
Deputies with the Lewis and Cowlitz county sheriff’s offices and officers with the Centralia, Chehalis and Winlock police departments aided Napavine officers with the search for the subject Sunday night.
The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office and the Centralia Police Department aided in the continued search on Monday, which involved K9 tracking and use of a drone.
The Napavine School District went into lockdown on Monday while the search for Lee continued.
The lockdown was a “precautionary action” due to reports that Lee was possibly armed, according to a Napavine School District staff member. No threats were made against the schools and no incidents inside the school buildings were reported.
After Lee was arrested, he allegedly “made statements that he no longer wanted to be in the country and said he was en route to Mexico,” according to court documents.
Those particular statements were a cause of concern for state prosecutors, according to Deputy Prosecutor Scott Jackson, who asked Judge James Lawler to set Lee’s bail at $100,000 on Tuesday.
“The facts that are alleged here give concern for community safety. I find that he is a threat to community safety,” Lawler said of Lee on Tuesday, granting Jackson’s bail request.
Arraignment was scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 21.
