[1]A corrections officer prepares to take Nelson R. Berquist back down to the Lewis County Jail, even though the prosecutor recommended release.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – A 77-year-old resident of a Centralia retirement home questioned by police about a small baggie of methamphetamine he told them he had in his room, said he puts it in his coffee in the morning.
Nelson R. Berquist was arrested after the confession he gave at Cooks Hill Manor and then booked into the Lewis County Jail.
The Centralia man who lives on social security was brought to court in a wheelchair yesterday, charged with two felonies.
Lewis County Prosecutor Paul Masiello was prepared to allow Berquist to be released pending trial on a $10,000 signature bond, saying he had no real criminal history. Masiello called it sort of an unusual case.
Temporary defense attorney Joely O’Rourke told the judge she’d never before recommended her client stay in custody, but the assisted living facility had informed her that due to state regulations, they would not allow him back.
“I certainly don’t want to turn him out on the street,” O’Rourke said. “But he’s diabetic, he can barely walk and he needs his medications.”
According to charging documents filed yesterday in Lewis County Superior Court, Centralia police were called to the 2000 block of Cooks Hill Road on Monday for a report a resident was delivering meth to other residents.
Detectives spoke to a woman, not identified as to whether she was a resident or an employee, who told them Berquist met her in a common area, gave her the drug and told her to give it to her son.
They interviewed Berquist, told them why they were there and advised him of his Miranda warnings.
“Berquist admitted to giving Fletcher methamphetamine and he had more in his room,” the documents relate.
Police obtained a search warrant and found a small baggie in a wicker basket.
He said he gave half to her and that was the other half, according to the court documents.
Berquist told the detective he puts meth in his morning coffee, a detective who noted the arrestee seemed to be under the influence of the drug.
The senior citizen is charged with one count of delivery, an offense with a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and one count of possession, which could bring as much as five years of incarceration if he were convicted.
Lewis County Superior Court Judge Nelson Hunt queried the two lawyers yesterday afternoon.
“If he leaves the jail, where does he go?” Hunt asked.
O’Rourke advised the judge she’d also spoken to her client’s son, and her client couldn’t stay there either.
“What about adult protective services? Cascade Mental Health?” Hunt said. “There’s got to be some resource.”
The seeming predicament ended with Hunt reluctantly signing a no-bail hold – meaning a possible second night in lockup – and the lawyers agreeing to make some phone calls together.
Judge Hunt advised them as soon as they found someone to take the defendant, they could come back before him so he could set bail.
O’Rourke said later last night, she’d found there was a social worker – whether from the nursing home or the Department of Social and Health Services, she didn’t know – who planned to hold a debriefing about Berquist today.
Berquist was found to qualify for a court-appointed lawyer and his arraignment was scheduled for a week from tomorrow.
He was released today from the Lewis County Jail, according to its online roster.