A man accused of giving acid and meth to two juveniles in Centralia on Sunday, leading to one of the juveniles overdosing, now faces six felony charges related to the incident.
“The court has grave concern for community safety and for the alleged victim,” Judge Joely Yeager said of the case during a preliminary hearing for the suspect, John Raymond S. Gladue III, 44, of Chehalis, on Tuesday.
While the prosecution asked for bail to be set at $100,00 and the defense asked for a significant bail reduction, Yeager opted to set Gladue’s bail at $250,000 given the “extreme risk to community safety,” she said Tuesday.
Gladue was arrested after officers with the Centralia Police Department and medics responded to a report of a possible overdose in the 700 block of South Pearl Street just after 9:05 p.m. on Aug. 25, according to police call logs.
According to the reporting party, a female juvenile had “started smoking from a device she thought contained marijuana but was actually methamphetamine.”
After interviewing four juveniles at the scene, officers learned that the female juvenile and a male juvenile had taken acid and smoked meth that Gladue allegedly gave them.
The girl and the boy, whose father is Gladue, were reportedly at Gladue’s residence — a tent set up on Woodland Avenue in Centralia — on Aug. 25 when he allegedly “gave each of them acid and then ‘peer pressured them into smoking methamphetamine, saying that smoking methamphetamine would ‘even things out,’” according to charging documents filed in Lewis County Superior Court.
The other two juveniles “said they were present with the other two the whole day and did not use controlled substances,” according to court documents.
The four juveniles reportedly traveled from Gladue’s tent on Woodland Avenue to a residence on Pearl Street. When they arrived at the Pearl Street residence, the girl reported she “thought she was overdosing, so they called 911,” according to court documents.
The girl was ultimately transported to Providence Centralia Hospital for treatment.
Officers soon obtained a warrant for Gladue’s tent on Woodland Avenue. He reportedly arrived at the tent while officers were executing the warrant and was arrested, according to court documents.
When questioned, Gladue allegedly admitted the juveniles were at his tent earlier that day “but denied giving them controlled substances, saying he did not know what they were doing behind his back,” according to court documents. He allegedly admitted to possessing controlled substances, which were seized by law enforcement.
Among the items seized was a pipe matching the description from the juveniles as the pipe they smoked meth from. The pipe “had a white and brown residue that was consistent with methamphetamine,” according to court documents.
Lewis County Jail records indicate Gladue was booked into the jail at 3:25 a.m. on Aug. 26.
He was charged Aug. 27 in Lewis County Superior Court with four counts of distribution of a controlled substance to a person under the age of 18 and two counts of distribution of endangerment with a controlled substance.
Arraignment is scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 5.
An anti-harassment no-contact order protecting the girl is in place.
