In May, a Centralia police officer approached the car of three suspects after he saw them hide their faces as he drove by a gas station.
Brody A. Rice, 27, of Toledo, allegedly gave a false name before attempting — and failing — to flee on foot. Rice was subsequently charged with first-degree criminal impersonation and resisting arrest.
When asked for her name, Andrea M. Fish, 21, of Onalaska, allegedly gave the name of another Fish. She was ultimately arrested on an active warrant and later charged with first-degree criminal impersonation and possession with intent to manufacture or deliver a controlled substance.
The driver, Eliot C. Widmer, 25, of Moses Lake, was also arrested on an active warrant. On June 8, prosecutors charged Widmer with one count of possession with intent to manufacture or deliver a controlled substance. A judge issued an arrest warrant with a bail amount of $25,000.
According to court documents, police searched Widmer’s car during the May incident and found a black purse containing several silicone containers that held fentanyl, a digital scale and two cell phones. Behind the driver’s seat, police reportedly found unused plastic baggies and two digital scales with a “white residue” on them.
On Aug. 14, Lewis County deputies arrested Widmer and booked him into the Lewis County Jail, according to jail records. He made a preliminary appearance in Lewis County Superior Court on Monday.
Widmer faces up to 10 years in prison for the Class B felony.
During the hearing, Prosecuting Attorney Jonathan Meyer requested a bail amount of $100,000 cash or bond, citing concerns for public safety and previous felony convictions for criminal impersonation, third-degree assault, unlawful possession of a firearm and attempting to elude a police vehicle.
While Meyer indicated Widmer had “no significant ties” to the area, defense attorney Rachael Tiller said Widmer “grew up here.”
Tiller asked that bail not be increased from the $25,000 set in the arrest warrant.
Judge Paul Strophy agreed to maintain the bail amount as previously set.
Widmer is scheduled for an arraignment on Thursday.
Fish also made a preliminary appearance in Lewis County Superior Court on Monday, after deputies arrested her on a no-bail bench warrant on Aug. 14. A judge issued the warrant following Fish’s failure to appear for an arraignment in June.
Fish now faces a new charge of possession of a controlled substance while in a county or local correctional facility after she allegedly tried to conceal Xanax and fentanyl during a strip search upon her booking into the Lewis County Jail.
On Monday, Tiller said Fish was already being held without bail and was serving time for a recently completed case in Lewis County District Court.
Strophy set Fish’s bail at $10,000 cash or bond for the new charge and scheduled an arraignment for Thursday.
