Bond has been set at $100,000 for a 21-year-old Centralia man who has been charged in connection with a fire that destroyed a Centralia home on September first. Joshua Benjamin of South Cherry appeared for the first time in court Monday for alleged participation in meth manufacturing. The charge accused Benjamin of attempting to produce meth and contributing to the cause of serious bodily injury to another person. Centralia Police could not initially find Benjamin after the fire at 624 Cormick, but were told by witnesses he was seriously burned. When he showed up at the hospital a few days later police elected not to arrest him because he was going to be transferred out of town for treatment at a burn center. When Benjamin became a suspect in an alleged burglary where pain medication was stolen from a relative over the weekend, Centralia Police picked him up on the original methamphetamine charge. Benjamin had the public defender appointed to represent him. He was ordered to abstain from alcohol and drugs if released on bond. - http://goo.gl/sBVxc
