CENTRALIA MAN BOOKED FOR ASSAULT OF A CHILD
• A Centralia man was arrested yesterday for allegedly choking an 8-year-old boy with such force it left broken capillaries on the cheek beneath the child’s eye. Erwin B. Bartlett, 47, was arrested and booked for assault of a child in the second degree related to late April events when he was babysitting the boy, the son of his girlfriend, according to Centralia police. Officer Chris Fitzgerald said the child was only visiting his mother and was subsequently returned to his father’s home. A 14-month-old baby in the Centralia home was put into foster care, she said. Fitzgerald was told Bartlett was trying to get the boy to tell if any men had been at the residence, and when the child said no, Bartlett pushed his arm up behind his back, shoved him on the couch and choked him. The mother called 911 when she saw the boy’s injuries, she said. Fitzgerald waited until receiving a doctor’s report to make the arrest yesterday.
THEFT
• Centralia police were called yesterday morning to the 200 block of West Oakview Avenue about the theft of jewelry. There is a suspect, according to the Centralia Police Department.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter