Man charged with assault and malicious mischief for allegedly spitting at a Centralia library employee, an officer and a police vehicle

Nov. 22 – A man is accused of spitting at a Centralia Timberland Library employee, spitting on an officer who contacted him and then continuing to spit in a police vehicle to the point where the vehicle crashed Tuesday had to be taken out of service for cleaning is facing a misdemeanor.

Anthony Hector Garcia, 33, was charged Wednesday, Nov. 20, in Lewis County Superior Court with both third-degree assault on a police officer and second-degree malicious mischief.

He was booked into the Lewis County Jail at approximately 10:40 a.m. on Nov. 19 after Centralia Police Department officers responded to a report of a disorderly man at the Centralia Timberland Library in the 100 block of South South, according to jail records. Silver Street.

The man, later identified as Garcia after refusing to give his name, allegedly caused “trouble for the staff and customers” and began “cursing and insulting the staff” when he was told to leave, according to court documents .

He allegedly approached a staff member and “spit directly at her, but missed, with saliva reaching the bottom of her feet” before library staff called police. He allegedly left the library on foot while the staff member was on the phone.

Officers found Garcia nearby and attempted to detain him, according to court documents. Officers reportedly took him to the ground after Garcia “struggled with the officers.” As he lay on the ground, a sergeant reportedly approached him and asked his name. In response, Garcia allegedly spit on the sergeant, “hitting her pants and jacket with his saliva,” according to court documents.

He reportedly refused to identify himself and continuously shouted racial slurs and other insults at officers during his arrest and transport to the hospital for medical clearance before booking.

While seated in the back of a patrol vehicle, Garcia allegedly “continued to utter racial slurs and made threats toward (an) officer” and “intentionally continued to spit inside the vehicle and on the partition while seated in the back.”

The arraignment is scheduled for Thursday, November 27.