A 19-year-old woman accused of injuring a man while trying to steal a package outside his Centralia apartment in October was arrested on an outstanding warrant over the weekend.
The defendant, Amaya M. Romero, of Centralia, had her preliminary hearing in Lewis County Superior Court on Monday.
Romero is accused of taking a package from an apartment building in the 700 block of H Street in Centralia on Oct. 11, 2022, then striking the package’s owner in the face when he confronted her, according to court documents.
The package’s owner told law enforcement he had received an email notification that a package was delivered but he didn’t see the package outside his apartment when he went to check. As he was returning to his apartment, he reportedly saw two females, one of whom was later identified as Romero, exit an apartment next to his. She was allegedly carrying a package matching the one the victim was expecting. When he told the two that he recognized the package, they reportedly fled down the stairs, according to court documents.
He reportedly followed them downstairs and confronted Romero, who allegedly struck him in the right side of the face while holding the package. She reportedly dropped the package shortly after and fled with the other female in a dark-colored sedan.
The victim reportedly retrieved the package, which contained various BMW parts, and confirmed it was his.
A short time after that initial incident, the alleged victim reported seeing a male exit a vehicle in a parking lot, approach him and say “you punched my girlfriend, now I’m going to punch you” before striking the victim “with some sort of object in the back of his head,” according to court documents.
Law enforcement reportedly contacted Romero’s father by phone shortly after the alleged incident. In the background, officers reportedly heard Romero state that her boyfriend wasn’t involved, claim the alleged victim punched her and mention having a package, according to court documents.
As of Monday, Romero was the only subject facing felony charges related to the incident.
She was charged with one count of second-degree robbery in Lewis County Superior Court on Dec. 1 and a $25,000 warrant for her arrest was issued that same day.
She was ultimately arrested on that warrant over the weekend.
While Deputy Prosecutor Scott Jackson asked Judge Joely Yeager to maintain that $25,000 secured bail amount set in the warrant, defense attorney Rachael Tiller asked Yeager to lower the secured bail amount or allow Romero to be released on unsecured bail.
Romero’s family was unaware of the warrant prior to Romero’s arrest and was present in court to support her on Monday.
Given that local family support and Romero’s lack of felony history, Yeager agreed to lower Romero’s bail to $10,000, but was unwilling to grant release on unsecured bail.
“I can’t ignore the significant threat to community safety here, this is a robbery in the second degree allegation,” Yeager said Monday.
Romero posted the $10,000 bail after her Monday hearing and was released that evening, according to jail records.
Her arraignment hearing is scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 26.
