A Centralia man is in custody at the Lewis County Jail on $200,000 bail for allegedly threatening a man with a gun and then leading law enforcement officers on a high-speed chase Sunday morning.
Eliot C. Widmer, 21, is accused of twice threatening to shoot the alleged victim in the chest with a firearm at a residence in the 1000 block of North Tower Avenue. The victim later told law enforcement “he believed that Widmer would follow through and shoot him” and a witness reported “she was also scared and ran and hid in the yard,” according to court documents.
According to the victim, Widmer was possibly “mad that (the victim) had recently disposed of some of Widmer’s drugs.”
Officers with the Centralia Police Department responded to the incident just before 5:10 a.m. on Sunday, according to the department’s call log. Officers began following a car Widmer was driving, determined “Widmer was driving erratically” and attempted to conduct a traffic stop, but Widmer allegedly did not stop his vehicle, according to court documents.
Officers reported Widmer “was driving erratically and at a high rate of speed” within Centralia city limits, noting that he “cut off a vehicle at one point,” sped up to nearly 100 mph on Interstate 5 and later “was traveling fairly slow,” according to court documents.
“Based on Widmer’s driving, officers believed him to likely be intoxicated as well,” according to court documents.
Officers reportedly tried to use a precision immobilization technique, better known as a PIT maneuver, in which law enforcement personnel try to force a vehicle to abruptly turn 180 degrees, several times on Widmer’s vehicle without success.
Widmer did eventually exit his vehicle and flee on foot. He was eventually apprehended with the help of a K9, according to court documents.
Widmer was arrested and was booked into the Lewis County Jail at 10:50 a.m. on Oct. 16.
During the arrest, officers reportedly located a firearm in Widmer’s vehicle. Washington state law prohibits Widmer from owning a firearm due to a past attempt to elude conviction.
The Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office formally charged Widmer on Monday with one count each of second-degree assault with a deadly weapon, felony harassment threat to kill, second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm and attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle.
A judge set Widmer’s bail at $200,000 during a preliminary hearing in Lewis County Superior Court on Monday. The judge also issued an anti-harassment order protecting the alleged victim.
Widmer’s next court appearance is an arraignment hearing scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 20.
