Centralia Standoff Suspect ‘Too Ill to Come to Court,’ Will Appear Monday

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The Centralia man involved in a standoff with law enforcement Thursday morning will be held at the Lewis County Jail without bail through the weekend pending a preliminary hearing in Lewis County Superior Court scheduled for Monday afternoon, a judge ruled Friday. 

The Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office filed charges against the man, Elias A. Galaviz, 26, Friday afternoon. His preliminary hearing was set over to Monday’s docket after jail staff informed the court Galavis was “too ill to come to court” on Friday. 

Galavis was arrested Thursday morning following a two-and-a-half-hour standoff with law enforcement in the 1300 block of Windsor Avenue in Centralia. 

Officers with the Centralia Police Department responded to a residence in the area just after 7 a.m. on Thursday after an unnamed party reported someone had hit a woman in the face with a gun, according to police call logs and documents filed in Lewis County Superior Court on Friday. 

When officers arrived, they contacted a subject who reported Galavis “was in the house with a gun” and had hit a woman “in the face with a firearm,” according to court documents. 

The woman in question then came out of the house and reportedly clarified the accusation, claiming Galavis had struck her in the face “with an open hand, not a gun.” 

She also reported an incident that occurred the day prior, where Galavis allegedly “placed his hands around her throat after getting mad at her,” according to court documents. She told law enforcement “she felt afraid that Elias would not stop squeezing her neck, but ceased after several seconds.” 

An officer reportedly observed “red marks on (the woman’s) neck” consistent with her account of the assault. 

By this point, other law enforcement officers had arrived and begun surrounding the house. 



Officers contacted Galvis by phone and, when he refused to exit the house, the Washington State Patrol SWAT Team was called in, according to court documents. 

It took several hours for officers to make contact with the man and begin negotiations, but when he did come out, he was arrested without injury to himself or the officers, according to previous Chronicle reporting. 

Galavis was in police custody by about 10:30 a.m. on Thursday. He was booked into the Lewis County Jail at 12:30 p.m., according to jail records. 

The Centralia Police Department executed a search warrant on Galavis’ house to find and secure the reported firearm. They did find a pistol in the house, hidden “just inside the attic access in the bathroom” inside a green Crown Royal bag, according to court documents. 

Galavis’ criminal history prohibits him from possessing a firearm. 

The firearm had “no visible serial number,” according to court documents. 

Galavis now faces charges of fourth-degree assault, first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm, tampering with physical evidence, and obstruction of a law enforcement officer. 

His preliminary hearing is scheduled for Monday, Feb. 6 at 4 p.m.