A man accused of stealing and damaging a motorcycle, trying to break into a stranger’s house, hitting the occupant with a two-by-four and breaking into another stranger’s pickup in Centralia on July 24 pleaded not guilty Thursday to multiple felony charges stemming from the incident.
Michael Edward Caton, 40, of Tacoma was arrested and booked into the Lewis County Jail at 5:10 p.m. on Wednesday, July 24, after officers with the Centralia Police Department responded to a report of a disorderly male in the area of East Plum and South Buckner streets at about 4:30 p.m. that day, according to court documents and jail records.
Caton allegedly opened the unlocked door to an occupied residence in the area, but was chased outside by the owner’s dogs when he tried to enter, according to court documents. When the resident went outside to retrieve the dogs, Caton allegedly began “swinging a board at her while advancing on her, and she thought he was going to hit her with it,” according to court documents.
Two neighbors reportedly heard the commotion and came outside, at which point Caton allegedly began walking east toward an alley. Caton allegedly took a motorcycle in the alley that belonged to one of the neighbors and started pushing it further into the alley before pushing it over. He then allegedly began swinging the two-by-four at the two neighbors, striking one of them in the side, according to court documents.
Responding Centralia police officers found Caton walking into a yard in the 200 block of South Diamond Street. The officers reportedly saw Caton “squatting down under a 2001 Dodge Ram pickup, looking in their direction,” and saw Caton enter the pickup when an officer approached. He reportedly exited the pickup and complied with an officer’s order to get on the ground, according to court documents.
Caton was charged Thursday, July 25, with two counts of third-degree assault and one count each of theft of a motor vehicle, second-degree vehicle prowl, first-degree criminal trespass and third-degree malicious mischief. He entered not guilty pleas to all charges on Thursday, Aug. 1.
Bail is set at $200,000. Trial is scheduled to begin Sept. 16.
