New owners have taken possession of the Old Toby building — up until Tuesday a cannabis dispensary located along National Avenue in Chehalis — after the company that says it was not paid in full for the construction of the building purchased it at a sheriff’s auction last week.
Officers and deputies with the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office and the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board arrived at the building around 9 a.m. on Tuesday.
Staff members and one coowner of the cannabis shop were attempting to pack belongings into moving trucks as officials attempted to remove them from the property when The Chronicle arrived around 1 p.m.
According to Lewis County Sheriff’s Office Special Services Chief Gabriel Frase, he and other members of law enforcement arrived with a court order to remove the original owners from the property.
A family member of a staff member said staff were not warned ahead of time.
Frase confirmed that law enforcement is not required to provide under the court order and after the official foreclosure and sale of the property to new ownership.
“This was a court order that came out yesterday that was immediate, and we don't actually give anybody any notice,” Frase said. “We showed up and talked with the two employees that were here, and they called, you know, additional people.”
Frase added that Liquor and Cannabis Board (LCB) officials arrived at the scene in order to take possession of cannabis, which the new owners are not licensed to sell or possess in bulk.
LCB Communications Director Brian Smith confirmed all action by the board was related to the legal proceedings surrounding the building.
“Everything that was being done here was because of the civil action between two parties,” Smith said.
Waymaker Developments LLC, owned by Aaron and Cassondra Fuller, purchased the building in a sheriff’s auction on Friday morning after Lewis County Superior Court Judge Joely Yeager ordered the foreclosure and sale of the building to satisfy debt judgments and a construction lien against the property and its owners.
Those judgments stem from a lawsuit filed by Waymaker at the beginning of last year alleging the owners of the building, Dash and Jerrie Paine, operating as Castleberry Associates LLC, had failed to make the final payments for the construction of the building.
According to the Lewis County Parcels website, the Paines purchased the property in 2021 for $250,000, with no significant improvements or buildings on the nearly 2-acre plot.
The Paines established Old Toby at a different location in Chehalis in 2015, becoming the first recreational cannabis shop in Chehalis after such operations were legalized by the state.
The Fullers also own local design firm Fuller Designs and Engineering. Aaron waited in a car just outside the property and entered shortly after the original owners and staff of the dispensary exited.
The sale of the Old Toby building four days prior on Friday went quick, with Waymaker entering the first and only bid on the building in the amount of $804,908.48. That sum is identical to the debt judgment against the owners resulting from an original lien filed against the property in 2024 in the amount of $281,723.58, as previously reported by The Chronicle.
A total $218,451.55 of the final judgement against the owners of the building is for attorney’s fees in a lawsuit that started in early 2025 resulting from the unpaid lien.
According to legal documents, the Paines allege they overpaid Waymaker by more than $3,000; however, Waymaker has repeatedly prevailed in court thus far.
The auction itself was quiet. Even with people packed into the entry way of the Lewis County Courthouse and three groups registering to bid on the property, no one challenged the initial bid by Waymaker.
The action came in the days and moments leading up to the sale of the building.
Ahead of the auction, the Paines attempted to stall the sale of the building while they appealed the ruling on their property. They filed a lis pendens, latin for “suit pending,” on Wednesday, Oct. 14, which would notify potential buyers that the property was the subject of ongoing litigation. It does not necessarily halt a foreclosure sale, but could potentially dissuade buyers.
On Friday, Dash Paine, who was present at the auction, alleged a conflict of interest on the side of Judge Yeager and her personal connections to Waymaker and their legal representation. Dash said he was confident an appeals court would rule in his favor.
The lis pendens was short-lived, however, as Judge Yeager heeded a motion from Waymaker’s attorneys and expunged the lis pendens on Thursday, Oct. 15. In doing so, the judge cited the failure by the defendants, the Paines, to post a bond required to move forward with a legal appeal. The Washington State Court of Appeals upheld the action roughly a day after the ruling.
Teena Williams, an attorney representing Waymaker, attempted to clear the air during the auction, reading a court ruling aloud to auction attendees and announcing that the lis pendens was not valid.
“Absent a court-ordered stay, the sheriff has full legal authority to sell the property today,” Williams announced. “Summary for the bidders: the expunged lis pendens does not halt this auction and does not create a cloud on the title.”
Dash Paine followed up with comments of his own disclosing the appeal related to the legal battle, which the Paines initiated in August.
“Please be advised that the property of bidding on is subject to an appeal and will be overturned,” Dash Paine said.
The sale of the building comes with an eight-month redemption period, which allows the former owners to continue a legal appeal.
Immediately after the sale of the building on Friday, Fuller said he did not “take any pride” in the lawsuit or purchase of the building, referring to it as likely the livelihood of the Paines, who originally owned the property.
He and Williams said they had hoped another individual would purchase the property and added that Waymaker planned to wait out the redemption period and legal proceedings before attempting to sell the property.
