[1]Seventeen-year-old Brian A. Carreon, looks over court documents as his bail hearing comes to a close in Lewis County Superior Court.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – A 17-year-old Centralia boy who took a video of himself trimming someone else’s medical marijuana plants told police he was pressured by two guys to take them to get some marijuana, and ended up part of a home invasion earlier this year in which a dog was shot.
The teen was arrested yesterday and charged today as an adult in Lewis County Superior Court.
Centralia police were called to a residence on the 1200 block of Marion Street on the night of Feb. 19, where the victim and his girlfriend said they’d just settled into bed when about three males barged through the door demanding money and weed, and fired numerous shots killing their pit bull.
[2]Marion Street, Feb. 19, 2015
Dustin Palermo said he had no idea who they were or why they came to his house, and speculated at the time it could have been related to him winning money at the casino the night before. The former Navy corpsman had a legal amount of medical marijuana plants growing inside, for himself and another patient.
Charging documents in the case don’t relate if anything was actually stolen, but state the intruders were inside for only about 45 seconds and that security video seemed to show one of them firing frantically at the dog as they were leaving.
When police arrived, the pit bull, Misty, lay dead on the sidewalk of a gunshot wound to her abdomen.
Lewis County Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher asked a judge this afternoon to hold Brian A. Carreon, 17, on $75,000 bail.
“The defendant has no criminal history, but was with two other individuals, one who was armed with a firearm,” Meagher said.
Defense attorney Joely O’Rourke suggested her client’s bail could be lower, as he has stable employment and community ties.
He’s a cook at the Rollerdrome, and teaches young kids to skate, O’Rourke told the judge, noting it’s a job he’s held for the past year and a half. He attends Calvary Chapel every Sunday and one of his roommates works at Green Hill School, she said.
Judge Richard Brosey left it at $75,000, as it was in the arrest warrant.
Meagher said the other two suspects have not been arrested, but after the court hearing, requested a $500,000 warrant for the person he says was the shooter. The judge signed the warrant.
Outside the courtroom, Meagher said Carreon’s sister was charged on Monday for rendering criminal assistance, as the Portland woman was believed to have been driving the car that night.
The deputy prosecutor had high praise for Centralia police, for having “really bird dogged this,” and following all kinds of dead end leads.
The 10-page affidavit of probable cause states that officers found nine shell casings and two bullet jacket fragments at the scene.
It also tells how Palermo posted a clip from his home security video onto Facebook – filmed with infrared cameras – asking for anyone who could identify the three figures to contact him.
Three different individuals told police they recognized Carreon and a pair of brothers who live locally, and the girlfriend Tina Bell picked one of the brothers from a montage, but said she wasn’t 100 percent sure, according to charging documents.
Meagher told the judge today the brothers were named in the documents, but he wasn’t sure they would be a part of the case.
“In all fairness, I don’t anticipate them being named as defendants,” Meagher clarified.
Charging documents offer some of the following details:
Carreon initially told police he was home the night it happened, and with his sister for a time, until 9 p.m.
A detective investigated the sister, and went to Portland to get a picture of her 1999 Honda, which Palermo felt certain was the same car that drove away from his home after the robbery.
Taina Duncan was arrested in Portland last week.
Duncan described a night in which she came to visit her brother, that he wanted to get some weed and that she didn’t know his two friends who went with them. Her daughter was in the car as well.
Carreon subsequently told detectives he’d taken a video of himself once when he went with an acquaintance to trim Palermos’ plants, and he’d shown it to someone else.
He said he was phoned by that person who said he knew he had a connection to get weed, and was headed up. He was pretty sure the two males drove up from Portland with his sister.
Carreon qualified for a court appointed lawyer. He is charged with one count of first-degree robbery.
His arraignment is scheduled for July 16.
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For background, read “Dog killed in Centralia home invasion” from Friday February 20, 2015, here [3]