By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – A bar fight between two women last night on Northwest Chehalis Avenue ended with one in the hospital with numerous knife wounds and the other in jail.
The victim, a female in her 20s, was conscious, but had significant injuries to her leg and abdomen, according to the Chehalis Fire Department.
Police and aid called about 1:30 a.m. today found her inside Paradise. The brawl occurred outside the nearby Garbe’s bar.
Booked into the Lewis County Jail for first-degree assault was Lena Castillo, 23, of Centralia.
Ashley Stewart was taken to Providence Centralia Hospital.
Jennifer Yocom, who was out dancing with Stewart and several other friends, said she didn’t know for sure what sparked it, only that the pair had some kind of previous disagreement.
Yocom said she had just left Garbe’s where she had checked on Stewart when she heard a friend say there was a fight.
The two women were in between parked cars next to the sidewalk, she said.
“I see hair pulling and stuff like that, like they were both standing and then they were down,” Yocom said. “I thought she was punching her.”
Yocom said she tried to shove the woman off her friend, because she didn’t want to hit her. Even though the woman was really small, it was really tough, she said.
“I ended up having to grab Lena by her hair and pull her off her,” Yocom said.
Yocom, who is 29, said she and her friends don’t get out together very often, because they all have children. But they ended up spending hours together at the hospital where they were interviewed by police.
Castillo was taken to Providence as well, with cuts to her fingers, according to Yocom.
She said she thinks a quick arrival by aid crews as well as three friends who kept pressure on the wounds helped Stewart’s prognosis.
“I don’t know if she gets to go home today or what,” Yocom said. “A lot of it was just stitches.”
Chehalis Police Department Officer Troy Thornburg said police were still investigating today.