The two teenage boys arrested alongside a third subject after a seven-hour standoff in Chehalis on Tuesday have been identified as suspects in the violent beating of a man in Chehalis on March 1.
Micah Elijah Nobach, 19, of Centralia, and Roberto Tomas Romero Bower, 17, of Chehalis, each had a preliminary hearing in Lewis County Superior Court on Wednesday, April 2, for one count of first-degree assault with accomplice liability.
Both subjects are being charged as adults.
The charges allege that Nobach and Bower “acted as the principal and/or as an accomplice of another person in commission of the crime” and that their respective “conduct during the commission of the current offense manifested deliberate cruelty to the victim,” according to court documents.
The charge against Bower was filed March 25, with a judge issuing a $1 million warrant for his arrest that same day. Nobach was charged on April 2.
Lewis County Superior Court Judge Joely Yeager ruled Wednesday to maintain bail at $1 million each for Nobach and Bower.
“This presents as one of the most significant threats to community safety I’ve seen in a while,” Yeager said during Nobach’s preliminary hearing, referring to his alleged involvement in both the March 1 assault and Tuesday’s standoff.
“A standoff such as that … is an incredible threat to community safety, could have put a lot of lives in danger,” Yeager said.
Nobach, Bower and two additional codefendants, 19-year-old Jamal George West and 16-year-old Aiden Riley Smith, have been charged in Lewis County Superior Court for allegedly taking part in a violent attack on a man who was walking by them in the 300 block of Southwest Third Street on March 1, according to previous Chronicle reporting.
Video of the incident reportedly shows the suspects “taking multiple roles in the attack to include kicking/stomping on his head, strangling him, punching him in the face and body, and dropping (a) retaining wall brick over his head,” according to the affidavit of probable cause.
In surveillance footage of the attack, the suspects can also reportedly be heard threatening to kill the suspect and making statements regarding a gang.
The victim was transported to Capital Medical Center for treatment of multiple lacerations, an orbital hemorrhage, broken teeth and strangulation, according to court documents.
Nobach, Bower and Smith each have arraignment hearings scheduled for April 3. West has pleaded not-guilty and his trial is scheduled to begin May 5.
One unidentified juvenile is also reportedly facing charges in Lewis County Juvenile Court related to the incident. Juvenile court records are not public record in Washington state.
Yeager ruled Wednesday to have Bower held in the Lewis County Jail rather than the Lewis County Juvenile Detention Center, where Smith and the unidentified juvenile codefendant are being held.
Yeager cited Smith’s age, criminal history and gang affiliation as reasons for holding him at the adult facility.
In addition to the charge stemming from the March 1 assault, Bower is facing unrelated charges in Lewis County Juvenile Court related to the dispute that started the standoff with law enforcement on Tuesday, according to the Chehalis Police Department.
Chehalis Police Department officers and Lewis County Sheriff’s Office deputies were initially dispatched to a report of a “dispute involving a firearm” in the 1600 block of Southwest Grandview Avenue at approximately 5 a.m. on April 1, according to a Chehalis Police Department news release.
Once they arrived, they developed probable cause to arrest Bower on two counts of second-degree assault with a firearm, according to the Chehalis Police Department. Officers also learned about the $1 million outstanding warrant for the unrelated first-degree assault charge out of Lewis County Superior Court, according to Chehalis police.
While at the residence, officers also learned that Nobach, who was also identified as a suspect in the March 1 assault, was inside the residence, according to the news release.
“After multiple attempts to have the subjects exit the residence went unanswered, Thurston County SWAT and Washington State Patrol SWAT responded to assist,” the Chehalis Police Department said in a news release Tuesday afternoon.
Following a seven-hour standoff, Chehalis police said, “four subjects peacefully exited the residence to include Nobach and the 17-year-old male. There were no reported injuries during the incident.”
Also arrested after the standoff was Larisa Boyd, 19, of Chehalis, who was charged April 2 in Lewis County Superior Court with one count of first-degree rendering criminal assistance.
Boyd is accused of exiting the Grandview Avenue residence shortly after the SWAT teams arrived and falsely telling police that neither of the wanted subjects were inside the house.
“After a short period of time, one of the wanted subjects exited the residence. This subject stated he was asleep in the residence and said the other wanted subject may have been in the laundry room,” the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office stated in an affidavit of probable cause filed against Boyd.
The second wanted subject exited the residence about two hours after the first, according to court documents.
The incident was resolved by about 12 p.m. on Tuesday.
Boyd’s bail was set at $10,000 on Wednesday. Arraignment is scheduled for Thursday, April 10.
