A 19-year-old homeless Centralia man has been charged with aggravated battery in a public place, aggravated battery to a police officer, and resisting arrest after he was asked to be removed from the Centralia Home and Community Expo over the weekend.
Centralia Police Lieutenant Steve Whritenour was at the show when he was alerted to James VanScoy allegedly causing issues with some of the vendors.
VanScoy went outside and then ran when Whritenour identified himself as a police officer and told him to stop. A marked squad car arriving on the scene cut VanScoy off and he allegedly struck Whritenour in the head before Whritenour was able to get him to the ground. He was then taken into custody and transferred to the Clinton County Jail at Carlyle to await a first court appearance.
