Bail is set at $50,000 for a man accused of assaulting a man who tried to lock him inside a Mossyrock garage on Wednesday.
The victim reported he tried to lock the suspect, Christopher Shane Church, 30, of Mossyrock, in his garage after Church, who the victim said “has a history of stealing items from his residence,” entered the garage and “made a comment about borrowing a chainsaw,” according to court documents. The victim had locked his front door and attempted to lock the garage door before Church allegedly entered the garage.
The victim reported he “attempted to shut the door and lock Church in while he contacted law enforcement, but Church was able to exit” and allegedly punched the victim in the face, according to court documents. Church then allegedly got behind the victim and “(placed) him in a headlock, with his arm around (the victim)’s neck.”
The victim reported “he was not able to breathe for approximately 15 seconds and had physical reactions from the strangulation.
Church allegedly “ran off with his moped” after releasing the victim.
A responding deputy with the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office was unable to locate Church in the Mossyrock area on Wednesday, but reportedly saw him “pushing his moped” in Chehalis on Thursday, Oct. 5 and arrested him.
“Church’s only mention of the assault was claiming that he had a broken collar bone from being assaulted by (a relative),” according to court documents.
Church has since been charged with one count of second-degree assault, which is a class B felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
Arraignment is scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 12.
