- Lewis County Sirens.com - https://lewiscountysirens.com -

Prosecutor: Scary ER incident with man grabbing at baby not a candidate for felony charge

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A 36-year-old Chehalis man who allegedly tried to take someone else’s baby at the emergency room at Providence Centralia Hospital last week won’t be charged with attempted kidnapping but may face a lesser charge for the incident.

William M. Eaton was out-of-his-mind high and didn’t demonstrate any intent to actually abduct the six-month old girl so although police detained him for attempted kidnapping, prosecutors declined to file that charge, Lewis County Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher said.

Meagher said he sent the case to Centralia Municipal Court, where a prosecutor there might consider fourth-degree assault, an offense that includes unpermitted touching.

The little one was with her parents and still strapped in her car seat, when Eaton came into the ER about 8 p.m. last Wednesday and tried to take her out of the carseat, according to authorities. He got her blanket off, Meagher said. Hospital security personnel and a police officer who happened to be there for a different reason intervened.

Police said Eaton believed it was his child when he was questioned. Meagher suggested perhaps he was thinking, in his altered state, he ought to take her home or something.

He was not arrested and remained at the hospital being treated for unspecified reasons.

The alleged facts outlined in the police reports didn’t amount to a felony, but possibly a misdemeanor, according to Meagher.

Eaton is a Lewis County Drug Court participant, and has mental deficiencies, Meagher said. Drug use compounds that, he said.