Lewis County Sirens.com

Updated at 2:49 p.m.

MAN MUGGED IN DOWNTOWN CENTRALIA

• Police were called just before 2 a.m. yesterday to the 900 block of West Pear Street in Centralia where an intoxicated man said that he had been assaulted by a group of people as he walked home from a downtown tavern. The 26-year-old Centralia resident said he was punched in the face and believed the two females and three males took his cell phone, according to the Centralia Police Department. He said it happened by the railroad tracks, and the males were all 6-feet 2-inches tall, but police don’t have any good leads, according to Sgt. Kurt Reichert.

CLOSE CALL WITH TRAIN

• A pickup truck that was parked behind the Hub Tavern in Centralia and too close to the railroad tracks was “side swiped” by a freight train on Saturday night. Nobody was inside it at the time, according to the Centralia Police Department. Officers called just before 10 p.m. the area near East Locust noted the truck was dragged a bit and its back end significantly damaged, according to police.

OUT-OF-CONTROL PEDESTRIAN

• A 22-year-old homeless man who reportedly was threatening people with a metal water bottle, stopping traffic and trying to pick fights with random individuals on Saturday afternoon in downtown Centralia was arrested for disorderly conduct, according to the Centralia Police Department. Nathaniel R.H. Beyer, who comes from Hollywood, was contacted at the 100 block of North Tower Avenue and booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to police.

VEHICLE THEFT

• Police learned yesterday a pickup truck stolen from  I-5 Toyota in Chehalis turned up in Pierce County stripped and abandoned. An officer called about 1 p.m. on Friday to the dealership on the 1900 block of Louisiana Avenue was told the silver 2004 Ford 250 pickup vanished sometime between midnight and 7 a.m., according to the Chehalis Police Department.

POLICE CHASE

• Centralia police say Officer Ruben Ramirez and police dog Lobo were summoned just before 9 p.m. on Saturday to Alpha Way in the Onalaska area to help sheriff’s deputies track a suspect following a vehicle pursuit. The sheriff’s office said it was assisting the state patrol. Further details were not readily available.

POSSIBLE CURRENCY MANIPULATION

• Centralia police are investigating after a male tried to spend two $5 bills which had been cut in half and taped together in downtown Centralia on Saturday. The serial number on one end of the bill was different than the serial number on the other end, so the clerk denied the sale, kept the money and called police, according to the Centralia Police Department. Sgt. Kurt Reichert said if a person has only a portion of a bill – as long as they have more than 51 percent of it – they can turn it in to authorities to get a replacement bill, but it’s not okay to tape it yourself. Theoretically, a person could try to tape together two halves of bills that are each less than 50 percent, he said, which would be criminal.

VANDALISM

• Police called just after 6 p.m. yesterday about a tire slashed on a vehicle at an apartment complex in Centralia arrested a 32-year-old Napavine man. Police were told by a witness they had seen Daniel L. Fuchs do it the night before and when he showed up to the scene at the 2800 block of Russell Road, he was arrested for third-degree malicious mischief, according to the Centralia Police Department. He said the tire on his ex-girlfriend’s vehicle was bald and he didn’t want her driving on it, according to Sgt. Kurt Reichert.

WRECK

• A 43-year-old Morton man was cited for speeds too fast for conditions and failing to wear a seatbelt after a back road, nighttime wreck outside Randle in which he missed a corner on a gravel road and traveled off the roadway and down into a “big valley.” A deputy called about 6 a.m. on Saturday learned the man, whose forehead was cut when he stuck the windshield, walked until he was picked up by a passerby and taken to Taidnapam Park near Riffe Lake to get help, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said it happened on the 320-Line, off the 300-Line from the 108 Bridge sometime between 3 a.m. and 5 a.m.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, protection order violation;  responses for minor collisions, vehicle versus bicycle with no injuries (twice over the weekend), misdemeanor assaults, disputes, burglar alarms; complaints of kids playing in the middle of a street, kids throwing rocks, a male stumbling around urinating in public, complaints of noisy neighbors, noisy dogs … and more.

SPENDING SPREE ENDS HERE

• Three people were arrested last night for allegedly passing several counterfeit $20 bills in Centralia, currency that was produced with a copy machine, according to the Centralia Police Department. “They’re not very good copies,” Sgt. Kurt Reichert said. Officers were called just after 7 p.m. to a business on the 600 block of Harrison Avenue by a merchant who was victimized and provided a license plate number of the suspects, according to police. Subsequently located and booked into the Lewis County Jail for forgery were Jake Johnson Jr., 39; Patricia L. Mohar, also known as Patty Dukes, 42; and Tonya L. McNulty, 43; all of Centralia, according to police. Officers allegedly found three more fake bills in their possession. Reichert said the investigation is continuing into as many as four other similar instances in the area in recent weeks, including one in which someone used two phony twenties to pay their court fine.

‘HOT’ WHEELS FOUND AT BORST AVENUE

• A random check of a license plate just after 6 a.m. yesterday led police to contact five people at a Centralia home and arrest one for being in possession of a stolen vehicle, according to the Centralia Police Department. At least one other person was arrested for an outstanding warrant, police said. Officers got a search warrant for the house on the 2500 block of Borst Avenue to look for the vehicle’s keys, according to Sgt. Kurt Reichert. Gabriel Escamilla, 19, who rents a room there was booked into the Lewis County Jail because of the vehicle which had been stolen from Thurston County, Reichert said.

ATTEMPTED BREAK-IN

• Police were called about 5:50 p.m. yesterday to  house on the 1000 block of Woodland Avenue in Centralia where someone had apparently tried to remove the knob from the front door. It didn’t appear they got inside, according to the Centralia Police Department.

VANDALISM

• A pair of 15-year-old Centralia boys caught on Thursday allegedly stealing spray paint from a Harrison Avenue business are also in trouble after reportedly admitting numerous taggings throughout the city over the previous couple of days, according to the Centralia Police Department. The cases are being referred to juvenile prosecutors for evaluation, according to police.

NO TURN SIGNAL LEADS TO TROUBLE

• A 28-year-old Centralia woman who reportedly allowed someone with a suspended license to drive her car found herself jailed last night after the driver forgot to use a turn signal, got pulled over and police found a small baggie of suspected methamphetamine. Tasha R. Hernandez was arrested and booked into the Lewis County Jail for possession of meth after the contact with an officer about 6:40 p.m. yesterday at the 600 block of South Tower Avenue in Centralia, according to police.

• Spencer R. Barney, 25, of Centralia was arrested about 6:40 p.m. yesterday at the 600 block of South Tower Avenue in Centralia, for an outstanding warrant and also for being in possession of a dangerous weapon; a medium sized knife, according to the Centralia Police Department

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, driving with a suspended license; responses for misdemeanor assault, misdemeanor theft … and more.

HOUSE OF RISING SON OWNER BOOKED FOR ALLEGED DRUG SALES

• The woman who opened her Chehalis home to men transitioning out of prison was arrested yesterday in connection with an investigation into prescription drug dealing. Judy Chafin, 61, and Keith D. Williams, 48, were in a vehicle stopped for a traffic violation about 3:15 p.m. at Southwest Cascade Avenue and Seventh Street, according to the Chehalis Police Department. Deputy Police Chief Randy Kaut said officers were originally focused on Williams and sales of hydrocodone but came to believe Chafin was involved as well. The pair were booked into the Lewis County Jail for delivery of a controlled substance, Kaut said. Chafin owns House of the Rising Son in Chehalis and managed other similar homes, including one on Nix Road west of Chehalis that became the target of neighbors and the sheriff’s office who didn’t want multiple felons living together out in the county.

SOUNDS LIKE FICTION

• A 48-year-old Centralia woman was arrested for fraud after she allegedly tried to pass a fake $100 bill at several businesses and finally spent it at a coffee shop on the 100 block of South Tower Avenue yesterday afternoon. Geraldine R. Taylor was questioned and said she found it in a fairy tale book about two years ago, according to the Centralia Police Department. “That kind of story didn’t seem credible,” Officer Mike Lowrey said. Taylor was booked into the Lewis County jail, according to police. The Secret Service will be contacted and they may or may not be able to figure out who printed the phony currency, according to Lowrey.

CARIBBEAN CONTEST TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE

• A Centralia woman in her 60s contacted police on Wednesday after she fell victim to a scam in which she was told she had won thousands of dollars but she first needed to wire $400 to get it. It began with a phone call from someone in Jamaica, police were told. After she paid the money, she got another call asking for more, according to police. Officer Mike Lowrey said it’s a common scheme and folks need to know they should never have to pay anything to win something. Another red flag is being told you’ve won if you haven’t even entered a contest, Lowrey said.

SUPER BAD MANNERS

• A 29-year-old Centralia man was arrested yesterday after a woman spotted him, called police and said he was same man who days earlier pulled his vehicle over as she was walking, opened the car door and was sitting inside with his pants around his ankles. Javier Arias-Lara was arrested for indecent exposure and then released, according to the Centralia Police Department.

THEFT

• A deputy was called yesterday to the 700 block of Cousins Road west of Chehalis where sometime since Sunday someone had stolen a piece of equipment – a DR power grader valued at $1,000, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

• Sometime between 7 a.m. and 2 p.m. yesterday, a television and a box of pictures were stolen from a storage unit on the 3200 block of Ives Road outside Centralia, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

• A pair of women were arrested for organized retail theft at the Centralia Outlets on Wednesday afternoon. Roberta D. Olsen, 20 of Kent, and Alisha A. Johnson, 29 of Tukwila, were booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• A pair of 15-year-old Centralia boys were caught on surveillance video yesterday allegedly for stealing cans of spray paint from a store on the 1600 block of Harrison Avenue in Centralia. The case is being referred to juvenile prosecutors for evaluation, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• Chehalis police were called to a location on Northwest State Avenue on Wednesday morning about the theft of a hoist.

METH ARREST

• A 27-year-old Centralia man was arrested for possession of methamphetamine after he was contacted by police early yesterday morning inside city-owned property at the 1100 block of B Street in Centralia. Michael E. Bieker, a homeless person, was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department.

VANDALISM

• Police took a report regarding a variety of graffiti posted on a vehicle at the 900 block of South Pearl Street early yesterday morning. The obscene pictures and “inappropriate” words were left on the car with a washable pen, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• Centralia police took a report about 7:45 p.m. yesterday at the 500 block of North Tower Avenue regarding a right passenger side window of a vehicle getting shot out with a BB or pellet gun.

WRECK

• A 47-year-old Longview man was cited for driving too fast for conditions after he took a corner in the rain and spun numerous times into the oncoming lane before getting struck by another vehicle. It happened yesterday on the 1500 block of Bishop Road near Chehalis, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. He got a cut on his forehead and the pair of 60-year-olds from Chehalis in the other vehicle were not injured, according to the sherif’s office. His Pontiac Sun and their Toyota Matrix both sustained major damage though, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, driving under the influence, misdemeanor domestic assault, failing to register as a sex offender; responses for shoplifting and other misdemeanor theft, the discovery of a counterfeit $20 bill, possible fraud; complaints of loud music … and more.