Man accused of stabbing in Centralia parking lot charged with assault
May 10—The man accused of stabbing another man in the back during an altercation in a Centralia parking lot on Thursday has been charged with one count of second-degree assault.
A witness reported the altercation in the back parking lot of Rite Aid on Harrison Avenue to 911 dispatchers at about 11:30 a.m. on Thursday, May 9.
When officers arrived, they saw one man walking away from the scene and another man still in the parking lot.
"The male that remained at the scene was bleeding heavily from his back," the Centralia Police Department said in a news release.
"Centralia officers and responding aid crews from the Riverside Fire Authority and AMR took quick action to stop the bleeding and the victim was quickly transported from the scene," the news release stated. He was later flown via Life Flight to a St. Joseph's Hospital in Tacoma and "is expected to survive his injuries," according to court documents.
One of the officers at the scene reported the wound on the victim's back was "consistent with being stabbed" and had gone through the victim's rib cage, according to court documents. The officer said he "saw an immense amount of blood dripping from the wound and pink foam, consistent with a lung injury."
The man who left the scene was "quickly detained" and has been identified as Leonardo Mendoza, 28, of Chehalis, according to the Centralia Police Department.
When asked by an officer if he had any weapons on his person, Mendoza reportedly "said he had a knife in his pocket but that he did not stab anyone with it," according to court documents.
He was arrested on several unrelated outstanding warrants. When searching Mendoza during the arrest, an officer located a cellphone, a black permanent marker and "a black folding knife that appeared to have blood on it," according to court documents.
When questioned, Mendoza allegedly said he had been sleeping when he woke up to the victim choking him, according to court documents. The officer reportedly "asked Mendoza if this was the first guy he ever stabbed," to which Mendoza allegedly said, "yeah."
Paramedics reportedly did not see "any evidence of trauma" to Mendoza's neck.
The witness who called 911 reported she was in the Rite Aid drive-thru at the time of the dispute. "She stated that the two subjects mostly fought out of her view, but that she could hear them fighting" and reported seeing the victim kick out at Mendoza at one point during the dispute. Mendoza reportedly "had something gold-colored in his hand" at the time.
Mendoza was arrested and booked into the Lewis County Jail just before 2:55 p.m. on May 9, according to jail records.
His preliminary hearing in Lewis County Superior Court was scheduled for 4 p.m. on Friday, May 10.
