Lewis County Sirens.com

Updated at 10:20 p.m.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Detectives are on the scene investigating a shooting in Salkum that sent a 28-year-old Salkum man to Providence Centralia Hospital tonight.

Stowell Road is currently closed between Gore Road and Salkum Road, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

It happened about 8:10 p.m. at the 200 block of Stowell Road, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said in a news release.

The suspected shooter is being questioned. He is a Salkum resident as well, according to Brown. The victim’s condition is unknown, Brown stated at about 9:30 p.m.

Initial information is it was a dispute between neighbors, Brown stated.

Lewis County Fire DIstrict 8 was called to the scene but told to wait at their station until deputies arrived and could make sure the area was secure.

Fire Chief Duran McDaniel said he was on his way home from another call and had already turned the corner so he parked at the Salkum Super market, about a half block from the victim.

“That’s the hard part, having to stage, because we could have an active shooter,” Fire Chief Duran McDaniel said.

Firefighters and medics found the victim in a front yard and took care of the patient, performing CPR all the way to the hospital, McDaniel said.

Brown indicated further information will be released as it becomes available.

Updated at 12:53 p.m.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Centralia police made three more arrests yesterday after moving aggressively up the food chain to combat heroin overdoses and deaths in the community.

Officers raided a home about 9 a.m. on the 1000 block of Yakima Street and took two men and their mother into custody, but only found small amounts of a variety of suspected narcotics, according to the Centralia Police Department.

“Our primary suspect was in the bathroom flushing the toilet,” Centralia Anti-Crime Team Sgt. Jim Shannon said.

Among the drugs seized – found mostly in the shower area – were suspected heroin, Oxycodone, methamphetamine, hash oil and a prescription drug called Tramadol, Shannon said. About $460 cash was confiscated.

Sebastian Haller, 36, and his brother Arthur Haller, 32, were arrested on charges involving the distribution of meth and heroin to Centralia residents, according to police.

Fifty-nine-year-old Kathy Challender was arrested for maintaining a building for drug purposes, an offense she has been convicted of in the past, according to Shannon.

Police have served several warrants for felony narcotics at the same address over the past decade; the city is reviewing the case to determine if the property might be subject to seizure and forfeiture as a drug nuisance, according to police.

The search warrant served yesterday resulted from undercover buys, Shannon said.

The action is part of an undertaking that began in March targeting street-level and mid-level heroin suppliers because of the increase in the number of heroin and opiate related deaths over the past year in Lewis and southern Thurston counties, according to police.

Centralia police detectives are currently investigating at least two deaths that have been caused by heroin, Shannon said.

“There’s different types of heroin out there,” he said. “There’s tar and there’s powder, which seems to be more potent and is causing deaths.

“Aberdeen has a huge problem with it.”

What police care about is saving lives, Shannon said.

The most important thing Shannon wants members of the public to know today, is if a person is with someone who overdoses, they should get help immediately.

“I don’t want anyone to be afraid to call 911 because they think they’re gonna get busted,” he said. “That’s someone’s son, someone’s daughter. Sometimes you wouldn’t even know that person was addicted to opiates.”

Shannon referenced a recent case in which a boyfriend and a girlfriend were partying and he overdosed and she called 911.

“We got Riverside Fire Authority and they were able to administer a substance that counteracts it and he woke up,” Shannon said.

Officers didn’t arrest anyone, they just documented the incident and made sure there were no more drugs present, he said.

He himself has had to help save a life.

“It’s no fun doing CPR on somebody and waiting for aid to come and give them Narcan,” he said. “I mean, these people are dead. And AMR and Riverside brings them back.”

A lot of times, such an event is is a huge wakeup call prompting the person to get the help they need, he said.

It’s much worse for a witness of an overdose event if the subject dies and they didn’t call 911, Shannon said. Centralia police have successfully prosecuted controlled substance homicide in the past, he said.

Since mid-March, Shannon’s team has made 11 arrests for delivery. A small number more are expected out of the current investigation, he said.

Shannon said he wants to get the word out about the use and the arrests for drug dealing because it’s time now for others besides police to work on the problem.

“The police department is trying as hard as we can to do something about it,” he said. “The community also needs to think about what to do as well.”

Arrests of street level suppliers began in April.

On April 14, aid and police responded to to a residence on the 300 block of North Diamond Street and saved the life of a 26-year-old woman. The Anti-Crime Team investigated and arrested  Christopher C. Lee, 25, of Rochester, for delivery of heroin as well as possession of methamphetamine.

While investigating further, the team arrested four more Centralia residents. They are Tyler Geist, 28; Sarah McCutcheon, 34; Jarrin Smalley, 21; and Brittany Cary, 25, according to the Centralia Police Department.

With information gained, the team began going after mid-level sources of heroin. Throughout, several search warrants have been served in Centralia and in south Thurston County.

On April 17, the team was led to the 17100 block of Sargent Road in Grand Mound, where they seized more than one quarter pound of heroin and about an ounce of methamphetamine, according to police.

Three individuals were arrested; they are Andrew T Field, 29; Alaina Normand, 24; and Terry Nelson-Rone, 44, according to police.

Field was under the supervision of the Washington State Department of Corrections and was sent directly back to prison in Shelton to serve time revoked for the new offenses, according to Shannon.

Then yesterday, the team, detectives and other Centralia officers went knocking on the door at Yakima Street, where they arrested the three.

Sebastian Haller was found guilty earlier this year for unrelated heroin charges and was out of custody awaiting sentencing, Shannon said.

If charged, the trio will appear before a judge in Lewis County Superior Court this afternoon.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – It appears there will not be a trial in the case of Keith Birdwell, charged last year along with his wife with major theft in connection with their used car business.

The 48-year-old from Toledo was in Lewis County Superior Court today when attorneys told the judge they are working out the details of a plea deal. His trial was set to begin on Monday.

Keith and Lorrine Birdwell

Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Eric Eisenberg asked the judge to set aside time at 9 a.m. Monday for a hearing in which Birdwell would enter a plea.

“I’m confident we’ll be proceeding,” Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Eric Eisenberg said when the judge pondered advising potential jurors to show up on Tuesday instead of Monday, just in case.

Eisenberg said he also still needs to get input from the victim in the case, Security State Bank.

Birdwell and his wife Lorrine D. Birdwell are alleged to have used various deceptions to avoid paying back the bank on loans for the vehicles at Birdwell Brothers Auto Sales. Prosecutors have contended the unrecovered losses to the bank are in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Neither Eisenberg nor Tacoma lawyer Keith McFie would reveal what the agreement consisted of, but McFie said he will be asking for sentencing to take place about a month later.

He also said, and Eisenberg confirmed, the plea deal is tied together with an arrangement to be worked out with Lorrine D. Birdwell and her attorney.

Her trial is on the calendar for later this year.

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For background, read “Centralia used car lot owners appear in court on criminal charges” from Wednesday January 23, 2013, here

Tyler C. Abair, seated at table, looks on as defense attorney Bob Schroeter represents him during a bail hearing in Lewis County Superior Court.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Bail was set at $250,000 today for the Chehalis area father accused of shaking his 4-month-old daughter, causing a bruised brain.

Tyler C. Abair, 23, was arrested yesterday following an investigation that began after last month’s incident at the Koontz Road home he shares with his ex-wife with whom he is reconciling and their twins, a boy and the girl.

The infant is recovering at home with her mother and Abair remains in the Lewis County Jail, where he is serving time for identity theft and second-degree theft, according to authorities.

A doctor found signs of retinal hemorrhaging and a subdural hematoma in her brain at Marybridge Children’s Hospital in Tacoma, where the baby was transported after the April 13 call to 911, according to charging documents.

The doctor said the baby “exhibited classic signs of Shaken Baby Syndrome and while not severe, the child would have been shaken somewhat violently to cause these injuries,” charging documents state.

Abair acknowledged that he shook her.

According to charging documents, Abair told a detective he was trying to bring her back because she had a “dead look” about her after choking on formula; that he was terrified and may have had a little anger in him when his daughter threw up on him.

He told Lewis County Sheriff’s Office detective Jamey McGinty he didn’t know CPR.

Abair was charged today in Lewis County Superior Court with  first-degree assault of a child.

Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Mark McClain told a judge this afternoon the offense carries significant potential sentence of 10 to 15 years when he appealed for the high bail.

Judge James Lawler signed an order prohibiting him from contact with any witnesses, his ex-wife, his daughter and any children.

Abair doesn’t work, but stayed home and took care of the twins while his ex-wife worked; he qualified for a court-appointed attorney.

His arraignment was scheduled for May 15.

The upstairs is ruined by fire but both occupants were sleeping downstairs. / Courtesy photo by Grays Harbor County Fire DIstrict 1.

Updated at 6:55 p.m.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Two bedridden Oakville area residents survived an overnight fire that seriously damaged a two-story home.

The rescue was initiated by neighbors and a Chehalis tribal officer, according to Grays Harbor County Fire DIstrict 1.

As many as five individuals were on the scene, using a chainsaw to cut an opening in the front of the house because one man had to be brought out in his hospital bed and an older woman in her power wheelchair, Fire Chief Kevin Witt said.

“Me and another firefighter were first in, and they were well on their way to cutting the wall and cutting the studs by the time we got there,” Witt said. He called their work heroic.

The calls came about 2:15 a.m. to the residence on the 2300 block of South Bank Road, from the owners who woke up as well as from several neighbors who saw flames, according to Witt.

Members of fire departments from Elma, Rochester and Centralia responded to assist in battling the blaze which left the upper floor heavily damaged, and the first floor with smoke and water damage, he said.

The male occupant  – described as middle aged – was transported to Providence St. Peter Hospital in Olympia, because of his previous medical condition, Witt said.

The woman was checked by medics and arrangements were made for her to stay at the Eagles Landing Hotel, he said.

West Thurston Regional Fire Authority Lt. Lanette Dyer praised the extraordinary efforts when she viewed the scene today.

“In the light of the day I’m standing here in ‘awe’ over the extraordinary feat that the tribal police, neighbors and firefighters did to save lives,” Dyer stated in a news release. “To see what effort they did to rescue people who were unable to rescue themselves. This is what communities do.”

Witt said the pair were alerted by working fire detectors.

Firefighters remained on the scene until about 5:30 a.m.

The home is on the Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis reservation and the cause is under investigation by the tribal building official, Witt said.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Detectives yesterday arrested a 23-year-old Chehalis area man for allegedly shaking his infant girl causing severe injuries.

The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office says Tyler C. Abair was alone with his 4-month old child when it happened and told deputies he only shook her when she began choking while drinking a bottle.

It happened at the 700 block of Koontz Road last month, and detectives were waiting for medical reports to confirm their suspicions, according to a news release.

The baby is now recovering at home with her mother and Abair remains in the Lewis County Jail, where he was already in custody serving time for unrelated crimes, according to the sheriff’s office.

The case shares several commonalities with a 22-year-old Mineral man arrested last fall for allegedly seriously injuring by shaking his former girlfriend’s 4-month old. Kyle Davison told the sheriff’s office told authorities that baby was choking and not breathing.

Like Davison, Abair is facing a charge of first-degree assault of a child.

The sheriff’s office said when the baby girl stopped breathing on April 13. Abair called the baby’s mother who was nearby at work, instead of calling 911 himself.

“The mother had someone call 911 immediately, responded home, and began CPR,” Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown stated in the news release.

Abair reportedly initially denied injuring or shaking the infant.

The child was transferred to Marybridge Children’s Hospital in Tacoma and doctors reported the infant had suffered retinal hemorrhaging and a brain injury consistent with Shaken Baby Syndrome, according to Brown.

Brown said doctors also found old brain injuries which appeared to be caused in the same manner.

•••

Read also, “Lawyer seeks second opinion on brain trauma in Morton child assault case” from Monday April 14, 2014, here

Updated

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The mother who left an angry voice message at White Pass school after finding her son was dropped off a school bus in a strange neighborhood was convicted today of two felonies.

Cheryl A. Strong, 48, of Packwood, was arrested in early March after the phone call that prompted a lockdown at the school when it was heard the following morning. She told a deputy she didn’t mean what she said.

“Sorry Chris, but I’m going to f****** shoot everybody that goes to your f****** school, works there,” was the statement listened to by Christy Collette, the school secretary and Rebecca Miner, the district superintendent.

The trial in Lewis County Superior Court began yesterday, with Strong taking the witness stand this morning.

The jury deliberated about two and half hours before finding Strong guilty of one count each of felony harassment, threats to kill, regarding Collette and Miner. The jury also made special findings the crime affected more than the two individuals named.

The family moved or was in the process of moving from one residence on U.S. Highway 12 to another the High Valley neighborhood.

Strong’s boyfriend  James Taylor said when the 7-year-old didn’t get let off the bus, they drove around looking and found him wandering in the High Valley, seven miles away.

The offense carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

Judges in Washington are constrained by the 1981 Sentencing Reform Act to imposing sentences within a fixed standard range, which is based upon the seriousness level of the crime and the particular person’s criminal history – which in in this case would be 33 to 43 months in prison, according to Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Mark McClain.

However, because the jury made the special findings regarding the so-called aggravators, the judge will be free to hand down the maximum if he chooses, McClain said. For Strong, the possibility exists of two five year sentences to be served consecutively, he said.

Strong remains free on bail until her sentencing, set for May 19 at 1 p.m.
•••

For background, read “Police: Angry mom’s message said she would shoot everyone at the grade school” from Friday March 7, 2014, here