A man reported to police for cutting open boxes of merchandise in the Chehalis Walmart on Sunday is facing multiple felony charges after he allegedly assaulted and tried to flee from a responding Chehalis Police Department officer and was Tased twice.
The man, identified as David Francisco Yanez, 28, of Puyallup, is also accused of giving officers a false name to avoid arrest on a community custody violation.
An officer with the Chehalis Police Department was dispatched to the Walmart in the 1600 block of Northwest Louisiana Avenue just after 9:55 a.m. on April 7 after the business reported a male subject was using a razor blade to cut open packages of merchandise, according to the Chehalis Police Department.
The suspect, who was later identified as Yanez, was reportedly still in the store when a Chehalis officer arrived.
When contacted, Yanez allegedly “denied the accusation” that he was cutting open packages, but “turned to leave” when the officer informed him he’d been caught on the store’s security cameras.
Yanez allegedly ran when the officer told him to stop, according to court documents. The officer reportedly “caught the male, who resisted arrest” and allegedly tried to flee again when he “slipped out” of the officer’s hold on his sweatshirt.
“Since the male assaulted (the officer), (the officer) deployed his Taser to keep the male from escaping,” the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office stated in charging documents filed in Lewis County Superior Court on Monday.
Yanez reportedly dropped the razor blade when he fell to the ground after being Tased.
“After the Taser cycled, the male again resisted arrest and tried to stand up to get away,” court documents allege. “(The officer) was the only officer on scene, so he deployed his Taser again to get control of the male,” according to court documents.
The officer was reportedly able to handcuff Yanez after the second Taser deployment.
Yanez was arrested and booked into the Lewis County Jail at 10:50 a.m. on April 7, according to jail records. He was charged Monday, April 8, with one count each of second-degree burglary, second-degree identity theft, third-degree assault, second-degree retail theft with special circumstances, third-degree theft, escape from community custody and resisting arrest.
Bail is set at $25,000. Arraignment is scheduled for Thursday, April 11.
