Bail is set at $25,000 for a Centralia man accused of assaulting and strangling his 18-year old daughter with special needs on May 17.
Nick G. Flemetis, 41, is accused of choking and slapping his daughter, who does not reside with her father and lives in Raymond, according to charging documents filed in Lewis County Superior Court. The victim was taken to her father’s residence on May 16 and returned the following day. A relative of the victim was later interviewed by police and told officers that they saw bruises on the victim’s face and that the bruises looked like they were left by fingerprints, according to court documents.
The victim’s relative allegedly reported that her father had “choked her out” and that she had a black eye, bruising and fingerprints close to the part of her skull that had been removed due to a brain tumor, according to court documents. The victim allegedly told officers that she had said something that made her father mad and he began to choke her until she couldn’t breathe, court documents state.
When Flemetis allegedly was choking the victim, she asked, “Are you trying to kill me?” And he allegedly replied, “Yes,” according to court documents. The victim reported that Flemetis’ grip got “tighter and tighter around her neck” and that he later “slapped her across the face with an open palm.” She stated she had fingerprints on her neck after the incident, according to court documents.
Centralia police were forwarded the case from Chehalis police on June 13, and Flemetis was contacted on June 21. He told officers that the bruises reported on the victim’s neck and face were the result of her hitting her chin with a sippy cup, according to court documents. Flemetis said the other bruises may have happened when she was being transferred from a wheelchair.
Flemetis was arrested on June 21 and booked into the Lewis County Jail. He was charged in Lewis County Superior Court Monday with a second-degree assault charge involving strangulation.
Deputy Prosecutor Will Halstead requested Flemetis have no contact with the alleged victim and asked the court to enter a pre-trial no-contact order during Monday’s preliminary hearing. A designee on behalf of the victim appeared virtually at the preliminary hearing and told the court that the victim’s guardian wished for a no-contact order to allow telephonic communication.
Halstead and Judge Paul Strophy disagreed with allowing such communication. Strophy set bail at $25,000 and imposed the pre-trial no-contact order without exceptions, with bail coming between the prosecution’s request of $50,000 and the defense’s ask of $10,000.
“Based on the nature of the allegations, the legality factors involved with alleged strangulation, as well as the vulnerable status of the victim, I do believe that bail is appropriate,” Strophy said.
Flemetis told Strophy that his mother was “there right now” and asked if she could pay the bail, to which Strophy replied that the matter would be between her and the bail bondsman.
Flemetis will next appear in court on Thursday, July 3, for his arraignment.
