A man in custody at the Lewis County Jail for allegedly stealing a truck out of Winlock on Friday has been accused of tampering with the fire suppression system inside the Lewis County Jail, activating the sprinkler and breaking a couple pieces of surveillance equipment on Sunday.
Video surveillance from the jail reportedly shows Brandon Charles Smith, 21, of Chehalis, tampering with the fire suppression system inside his cell and peeling off a sticker and placing it over the camera, according to charging documents filed in Lewis County Superior Court on Monday.
The surveillance camera and HomeWAV monitors in the cell were both damaged by the sprinklers.
When questioned, Smith allegedly “stated he was only attempting to get attention by causing the damage,” according to court documents. He allegedly “stated he pulled on the sprinkler head until it started spraying water and then attempted to block the view of the camera by placing a sticker over it.”
Lewis County Jail records indicate Smith was booked into the jail for theft of a motor vehicle at 11:40 p.m. on June 29.
Smith is accused of stealing a truck from the 1400 block of Northwest Kerron Avenue in Winlock on June 29.
The vehicle’s owner reported he was in his trailer when he heard his vehicle rev up, but thought it was his roommate, who had permission to drive the vehicle. He realized a few minutes later that his roommate wasn’t in the vehicle and discovered the truck was missing, according to court documents.
The truck was described as a white Nissan pickup covered in splotches of dark paint.
Later, at about 6 p.m. that day, officers with the Chehalis Police Department responded to a report that a man had gotten out of a vehicle matching the description of the stolen pickup in the 300 block of McFadden Avenue and displayed a knife. The man reportedly fled the scene after the reporting party told him she was going to call the police.
While Chehalis officers were responding to that call, another citizen in the 1000 block of Northwest Prindle Street reported a vehicle matching the description of the stolen pickup was in her driveway and possibly had a flat tire.
When contacted by a Chehalis sergeant, Smith allegedly started “walking towards the pickup with a block of wood in each hand.”
When questioned, Smith allegedly said, “I walked up to this white Nissan truck and there were keys in there. I said ‘whose truck is this? Is anyone here? Hello?’ and nobody said sh-t,” according to court documents. He allegedly added, “I found an abandoned truck that I thought was abandoned and I drove away.”
Smith was charged Monday, July 1, with one count of first-degree malicious mischief for the sprinkler incident and with one count of theft of a motor vehicle for the incident with the pickup truck.
Smith is being held without bail until a preliminary hearing can be held on Wednesday, July 3.
