Suspect arrested in Rainier stabbing

A Thurston County judge set bail at $250,000 for a 30-year-old man suspected of stabbing another man at a Rainier home.

Jeremiah W. Bell was arrested Wednesday by Thurston County Sheriff’s deputies, who found him hiding under the mobile home. He appeared before Judge James Dixon in Thurston County Superior Court on Thursday afternoon. Dixon found probable cause for a first-degree assault charge.

According to court documents, deputies responded to a mobile homeon the 400 block of Reflection Lane SE in Rainier on Tuesday evening after a woman reported that her boyfriend had been stabbed. The man had been stabbed in the armpit, and was transported to Providence St. Peter Hospital. He was treated and released early the next morning.

The victim told deputies that he and his girlfriend had been visiting a friend at the mobile home when he attempted to break up a fight between Bell and another man. He said that Bell pulled out a pocket knife and tried to stab him, so he decided to leave.

As the victim was leaving, he saw Bell approach him while holding a large hunting knife and a metal club, according to court documents. The victim told deputies that Bell was “going crazy” and trying to stab him. He fell to the ground, and Bell stabbed him in the armpit and hit him several times with the club, he said.

By the time deputies arrived at the scene, Bell was gone.

Deputies returned to the home Wednesday morning in an attempt to locate Bell. One of the residents told them that Bell’s girlfriend resided in the home, and that she and Bell were locked in a bedroom. The resident said Bell had a friend lock him in the bedroom with a padlock.

Deputies obtained a search warrant and entered the room. They found a large metal club in the room, but Bell wasn’t there, according to court documents.

They returned several hours later, and a man at the scene told them that Bell was hiding under the mobile home. Bell’s girlfriend told deputies that Bell had cut a hole in the floor so that he could hide underneath the home. She had pushed a bed over the hole to cover it and prevent Bell from leaving.

Bell eventually came out and was arrested on suspicion of assault and on an outstanding state Department of Corrections warrant.

Court documents show that Bell has 20 prior criminal convictions, with the earliest dating back to 1997. He is also a registered sex offender.

This story was originally published August 7, 2015 at 4:14 PM with the headline "Suspect arrested in Rainier stabbing."