Lewis County Superior Court has lowered the bail amount for a Tacoma woman charged for allegedly leading Centralia police on a 110-mile-per-hour chase back in September 2020.
The change is due to administrative issues regarding her court summons.
The court issued a $20,000 warrant for the arrest of Silvia Maria Villagomez on Jan. 26 after she missed a preliminary appearance on charges stemming from a Sept. 17 incident.
Villagomez is accused of attempting to elude a police officer and committing second-degree theft for allegedly fleeing a store in the 1300 block of Lum Road in a vehicle with duct tape over the license plate, running a red light onto the northbound ramp of Interstate 5 and driving north, exiting at Exit 88. She then got onto southbound I-5 and continued to drive north in the southbound lanes, turning around again, and reportedly running off the road and crashing into a tree in Thurston County.
Each charge carries a maximum sentence of five years incarceration and up to $10,000 in fines, but because the police chase threatened the safety of both the pursuing officer and civilians, the maximum sentence for that charge is increased by a year and a day.
According to defense attorney Rachael Tiller, Villagomez was in the hospital following the incident and had not been contacted by officers prior to her scheduled Jan. 26 preliminary appearance.
Villagomez said she did not receive a court summons in the mail, and Tiller confirmed that the address Superior Court had on file for Villagomez and the address Villagomez herself provided upon her March 23 arrest were different.
Given the circumstances, Judge. J. Andrew Toynbee lowered Villagomez’ bail from the $20,000 amount listed on the warrant to $5,000 cash or bond. Her next court appearance is an arraignment hearing scheduled for April 1.
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Chronicle crime reporter Emily Fitzgerald can be reached at emily@chronline.com.
