A Centralia woman faces felony charges after she allegedly threatened a man by brandishing an orange rubber-ball gun while inside her vehicle.
“You want a piece of this?” the woman allegedly said, according to the victim.
Minta A. Harrington, 52, is charged with one count of felony harassment, a Class C felony punishable by up to five years in prison and $10,000 in fines.
Harrington made a preliminary appearance in Lewis County Superior Court Monday. Judge Joely Yeager set Harrington’s bail at $10,000 cash or bond, as requested by the state, saying some bail was warranted given the circumstances.
Yeager indicated she would’ve likely set the amount much higher if Harrington had any criminal history.
The judge granted a no-contact order on behalf of the alleged victim, as well as an order for Harrington to surrender any firearms or dangerous weapons within her possession.
Before the judge’s ruling, Chief Deputy Prosecutor William Halstead said Harrington presented a “threat to society” and the alleged victims.
Defense attorney Rachael Tiller said Harrington had been “quite forthcoming” and cooperative with law enforcement, and highlighted the defendant’s lack of FTA history.
An FTA, or failure to appear in court, is one of the factors judges consider when setting bail.
According to a probable cause affidavit, Centralia police on Sunday responded to a reported harassment with “what appeared to be a firearm.”
The responding officer spoke to the victim, who described the gun as orange.
“He said he first thought it might be a toy gun, then thought it was a flare gun,” the affidavit said.
According to the victim, the suspect had “rolled her car window down part way and brandished the gun,” according to the affidavit.
The victim said the suspect’s vehicle then began following his vehicle, frightening him and his passengers.
The man told the officer the suspect’s license plate number. Police located the vehicle and Harrington, along with the orange gun.
Police determined the gun uses carbon dioxide to shoot rubber pellets and “hits hard enough to break bones, fracture ribs or rupture internal organs at close range,” according to the affidavit.
“Harrington admitted to brandishing her orange rubber ball gun because (the man) had almost collided with her,” the affidavit said.
Harrington allegedly admitted to following the man’s vehicle “to confront them.”
“The whole argument started hours before when Harrington's daughter and some other girls got into a fight over a posting on social media,” the affidavit said.
The affidavit did not disclose any further details about the argument.
Harrington is scheduled for an arraignment on Thursday.
