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Suspect asks officer if he’s a cop as two struggle over weapon

2017.0316.mark.grover.9351 [1]

Mark E. Grover is shown his seat in Lewis County Superior Court for a bail hearing.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Bail was set at $200,000 for the man who allegedly pointed what turned out to be a BB gun but looked like a 9mm pistol at a Centralia police officer who was chasing him on foot.

Mark E. Grover, 35, of Sequim, was charged in Lewis County Superior Court yesterday with second-degree assault and possession of methamphetamine.

Grover has no felony convictions in his past but has had misdemeanor driving offenses and has a pending case involving obstructing a law enforcement officer, Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Joel DeFazio told the judge.

DeFazio asked for the high bail, citing a threat to the community and a flight risk. He has three active warrants, DeFazio said.

Temporary defense attorney Rachael Tiller tried for a lesser amount and conveyed to the judge her client said he has broken ribs and something is “very wrong” with his back.

Grover told the judge the pain was making him nauseous.

Judge Joely O’Rourke told him to work that out with the jail.

According to charging documents and police, Grover wrestled with three officers for several minutes behind the Rite Aid store on Harrison Avenue in Centralia on Wednesday morning.

Centralia police were initially called about a suspicious person who seemed to be prowling vehicles in the Safeway parking lot and were then told a store manager confronted him and pulled him out of a vehicle, according to the documents.

The suspect ran, but saw one officer’s police car and changed directions, according to the documents.

Centralia police Sgt. Brian Warren spotted the suspect in the Rite Aid parking lot, exited his vehicle, identified himself as police and instructed the suspect to stop, according to authorities.

Grover ran, Warren chased him on foot.

Warren was outfitted in plain clothes and driving an unmarked car, according to the Centralia Police Department.

Warren continued to yell he was police and to stop and was three to five feet away from Grover, when Grover stopped, turned around and pointed what appeared to be a handgun at Warren, Lewis County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Will Halstead wrote in charging documents.

Rather then stop to pull his duty weapon, Warren continued forward and grabbed the gun with both hands, according to Halstead. Grover also had two hands on the gun and the two men struggled over it, he wrote.

Warren repeatedly told him to let go, but he refused, according to the documents.

“While struggling over the gun Grover asked Warren if he was a cop and Warren said he was and he needed to release the gun,”  Halstead wrote. “Grover stated numerous times, ‘you’re going to get shot.’ ”

Other arriving officers got the gun from Grover’s hands but spent the next several minutes trying to get Grover’s hands out from beneath his body as he lay on his stomach, according to Halstead.

Officers deployed the Taser numerous times, Halstead wrote.

When Grover was searched, officers found a substance that field-tested positive for methamphetamine on his person, the documents state.

Grover was  taken by ambulance to be checked out before being booked, according to police.

When the gun was examined, it was found to be a loaded, operational BB gun but appeared identical to a 9mm Smith and Wesson handgun, according to court documents.

Grover’s charge of second-degree assault includes an enhancement that alleges he was armed with a deadly weapon other than a firearm.

He was assigned a court appointed lawyer. His arraignment is scheduled for Thursday.
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For background, read “Centralia officer facing gun-wielding man goes hands-on” from Thursday March 16, 2017, here [2]