Bail is set at $50,000 for a man charged with second-degree assault for allegedly hitting another man in the head with a tire iron at a Winlock bar on Friday.
The victim reported he was at a bar on First Street in Winlock the night of Sept. 20 and got into a fight with a man who has since been identified as Kyle Donavon Gusdal, 36, of Chehalis, according to charging documents.
The victim reported he “took his shirt off to show someone his tattoos” which “offended a man known as ‘Kyle,’ who asked (the victim) to go outside,” according to court documents.
Gusdal reportedly locked the door to the bar after the victim left, prompting the victim to insult Gusdal. After letting the victim back in, Gusdal again challenged the victim, and both parties went outside.
While the victim was walking toward Gusdal, Gusdal allegedly “pulled out the handle to a floor jack and struck him across the face with it,” then punched the victim repeatedly before fleeing the scene.
The blow from the tire iron reportedly “caused visible bleeding injuries to (the victim) and caused two of (the victim’s) front teeth to become loose.”
Multiple witnesses recounted the incident to responding Lewis County Sheriff’s Office deputies on Sept. 20.
“Extensive attempts to locate Gusdal that night were not successful,” according to court documents.
Deputies did locate Gusdal’s vehicle parked at his address in Centralia on Sept. 22 and questioned him on the phone about the Sept. 20 incident.
When questioned, Gusdal allegedly “said that he was in a ‘scuffle’ with (the victim) and that he had been attacked, so he fought back,” according to court documents.
At the end of that phone conversation, Gusdal reportedly exited his residence and was arrested.
Lewis County Jail records indicate he was booked into the jail at 3:10 p.m. on Sept. 22.
He was charged Monday, Sept. 23, in Lewis County Superior Court with one count of second-degree assault with a deadly weapon.
Gusdal’s criminal history includes resisting arrest, harassment and third- and fourth-degree assault convictions stemming from a September 2021 incident where Gusdal grabbed two men by the neck inside a Napavine bar after he was asked to leave the business for disorderly conduct, then attacked and threatened to kill deputies who arrived to arrest him. In that case, he was sentenced in October 2021 to 90 days in jail, with credit for 48 days already served, followed by a year on probation.
“He certainly does appear to have a significant problem with alcohol,” Lewis County Superior Court Judge Joely Yeager said of Gusdal during his preliminary hearing on Sept. 23.
Given that these allegations also involved alcohol use, and that his only felony history stems from that 2021 case, Yeager set Gusdal’s bail at $50,000, below the prosecution’s $100,000 request.
“That should be sufficient to get Mr. Gusdal to appear in court as ordered and protect the community,” Yeager said of $50,000 bail.
To further mitigate community safety risk, Yeager added a provision to Gusdal’s conditions of release requiring him to be equipped with a SCRAM device, which monitors alcohol content, if he is released.
Arraignment is scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 26.
A no-contact order protecting the victim is in place.
