Lewis County Sirens.com

A Centralia area man walking his dog yesterday discovered a partial skeleton on property off Little Hanaford Road. / Image by Google maps

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Detectives are investigating skeletal remains discovered in a wooded area east of Centralia, suspected to have been dumped there.

A call to 911 was made at approximately 5:23 p.m. last night from a resident in the area who located the partial human remains while walking his dog, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

The property near the 2800 block of Little Hanaford Road is wooded, close to the roadway, and owned by Trans Alta, according to the sheriff’s office.

Search and rescue teams are assisting with an area search this morning, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown stated in a news release.

“It is believed by investigators, at this point, that the remains were dumped,” Brown states. Gender, age, and ethnicity of the remains are not known at this time, she says.

The remains will be sent to King County to be examined by a forensic pathologist who has expertise in identifying human remains.

Brown says detectives will await further information from the forensic pathologist and will then check missing person data bases.

More will be released as it becomes known, according to the sheriff’s office.

Rob Snaza addresses a large gathering this morning in Chehalis as fundraising begins in earnest for his campaign to be elected sheriff.

Updated at 9:24 p.m.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – While Deputy Sgt. Rob Snaza announced via Facebook nearly a year ago he was running for sheriff of Lewis County, his campaign kick off breakfast this morning attracted some 150 individuals.

Current Sheriff Steve Mansfield told the crowd he endorsed him; his twin brother Thurston County Sheriff John Snaza introduced him.

Snaza told those assembled at the Lewis County Veterans Museum in Chehalis one of his three focuses will be rooting out career criminals.

“I’m going to go after those individuals dealing drugs and committing burglaries,” he said.

Mansfield spoke of the sergeant’s passion for making felony arrests – having been involved in more of them than any other deputy during Mansfield’s time with the office, Snaza spoke of carrying out requests by the sheriff to track people down.

“I’ve had to tell these people, I do not want you in this community, if you don’t want to be a true comitter,” Snaza said.

Mansfield called Snaza a responsible, respectful, fair and caring person who has been preparing himself for the post. Mansfield said he’s already been sharing some of the ins and outs of the position with him. And he offered a thought about the role of the sheriff.

“People don’t really care how much you know in this job, they only want to know you care,” Mansfield said.

Snaza’s other areas of interest should he be elected will be continuing to provide a no-frills jail and community partnerships, wanting to be in the schools, in the neighborhoods and involved with business and community leaders, he said.

Snaza is the SWAT leader and also the supervisor of the  Lewis County Regional Crime Task Force. He’s also one of three elected persons on the board of commissioners for Lewis County Fire District 5 in Napavine, where he says he’s learned about budgeting.

Earlier this month, he was one of two deputies to be presented with Mansfield’s new Guardian Award.

“If you can find someone more passionate, I want to meet him,” Rob Snaza said.

Snaza is running as a Republican. His brother, who ran as an Independent in 2010 in Thurston County, is running now for a second term.

He asked for the support of those gathered. Mark Anders of the Lewis County Republicans asked for their contributions.

Records filed with the state Public Disclosure Commission indicate a little more than $6,000 cash raised on behalf of Sgt. Snaza’s candidacy since he registered last June.

Snaza is the chair of the Citizens to Elect Rob Snaza, his wife Jennie Snaza is the vice-chair and the treasurer is listed as Debbie Hamilton of Chehalis.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Authorities say the two individuals found dead inside their Napavine home are Cheryl Ausland, 50, and her 59-year-old brother Robert Collier, but they don’t know yet how they died.

An autopsy was set for today and this afternoon, Lewis County Coroner Warren McLeod reports the cause and manner of death won’t be determined until he gets the results of toxicology tests.

That can take eight to 10 weeks.

The sheriff’s office is still investigating, after two co-workers of Ausland went to her home on East Stella Street on Tuesday morning to check on her when she didn’t show up for work. They found the pair deceased.

There were no signs of a struggle or obvious lethal injuries, leaving detectives to wait for information from the autopsy.

A spokesperson for the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office says they haven’t ruled out anything.

“I wish toxicology test were instant, so we could say,” Cmdr. Steve Aust said. “Quite frankly, I think toxicology is going to answer those questions.”

Aust said the tests would basically be looking for alcohol, drugs or some other substance that could have led to the deaths, and that they aren’t suspecting poisoning.

When detectives believe the two died is something they won’t release, Aust said.

Ausland had been at work in recent days, and Collier was unemployed, according to Aust.

“We’re still investigating who was the last person to have seen him and when,” he said.

Two people are arrested when police visit home on South Pearl Street in Centralia. / Courtesy photo by Rachael Estrada

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Centralia police and their SWAT team served a search warrant looking for drugs yesterday afternoon at a house on the 800 block of South Pearl Street and arrested a resident for maintaining a building for drug purposes.

Rebecca J. Higgins, 41, was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to police. A second person was arrested for an unrelated felony warrant.

About a dozen officers descended on the home about 4:30 p.m., along with their armored rescue vehicle, according to police. Sgt. James Shannon.

The armored carrier is is used with all their SWAT operations, Shannon said, for an extra measure of safety because they never know who might be present. Shannon said there were about six people in the home, but described the events that unfolded as ordinary.

“We knocked on the door, asked them to come out and they did,” he said.

Detectives recovered a small amount of suspected methamphetamine during their search, according to Shannon.

Higgins was arrested for also for possession of meth and delivery of a controlled substance in a school zone, according to police. The delivery count is related to what police called a controlled buy conducted within the past week at the house, according to Shannon.

Higgins also has other controlled substance violations pending in Lewis County Superior Court.

Updated at 8:11 p.m.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The lawsuit against former Lewis County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Matt McKnight regarding the fatal shooting of an unarmed Napavine man was dismissed by a judge, meaning no trial will take place.

Steven V. Petersen, 33, died after a brief standoff on a city street on the night of June 20, 2011, when deputies responded to a report Petersen had tried to get inside a former girlfriend’s home and was armed with a knife.

A federal judge issued a summary judgment in favor of Lewis County and the deputy on Thursday. The Lewis County Board of Commissioners were notified this morning.

U.S. District Court Judge Ronald B. Leighton wrote that even though the reasonableness of McKnight’s use-of-force could not be determined at this stage in the litigation, McKnight is entitled to qualified immunity and all Petersen’s other claims fail as a matter of law.

McKnight was cleared by an internal review and the county prosecutor concluded his use of deadly force was justified in mid-2011. He has since gone to work for the Chehalis Police Department.

The civil trial however, had been set to begin at the end of this month in Tacoma, although it recently had been postponed.

The civil lawsuit was filed in October 2012 by Petersen’s father, on behalf of the dead man’s 10-year-old son. His lawyers called it a ‘shoot first and ask questions later’ approach to law enforcement, faulting McKnight for choosing to engage in a confrontation before backup arrived.

The attorneys representing the deputy and the county said it was a split-second decision to shoot out of fear for the safety of himself and neighboring residents during a rapidly unfolding situation.

It was about 2 a.m. when the deputy encountered Petersen near the intersection of West Vine Street and Second Avenue. The interaction lasted one minute and 11 seconds; the two were 20 to 25 feet apart, the judge wrote.

Petersen paced back and forth, ignored the deputy’s orders to take his hand out of his sweatshirt pocket and then refused to get on the ground.

It came to an end when McKnight shot him four times because he thought Petersen was charging towards him and was going to stab him, according to the judge. As it turned out, Petersen didn’t have a knife.

A summary judgement is appropriate when viewing the facts in the most favorable light to the non-moving party, there is no genuine issue of material fact which would preclude it as a matter of law, according to Leighton.

Judge Leighton writes an officer is entitled to qualified immunity unless the right he or she allegedly violated was clearly established at the time of the alleged misconduct.

“Plaintiff cited no analogous cases to support his assertion that the law was clearly established such that McKnight was on notice that his conduct would violate Steven’s (Fourth Amendment) rights,” Leighton writes.

Other claims that were dismissed as a matter of law, were the municipal liability, the child’s 14th Amendment right to the companionship of his father and negligence.

A counterclaim by the defendants of malicious prosecution was also dismissed, because Petersen had a good-faith basis for the lawsuit, according to Leighton.

The complaint sought an unspecified amount of damages, but the claim that preceded it asked for as much as $10 million.

Lewis County RIsk Manager Paulette Young told county commissioners this morning she thought the most that had ever been paid out on behalf of the county was a case involving about $365,000 many years ago.

Sheriff Steve Mansfield issued a statement calling the decision fortunate.

“I am pleased with the findings,” Mansfield stated. “Although I am truly saddened Mr. Petersen lost his life, the facts are what they are.”

Judge Leighton although he concluded he could not resolve a question of fact in his summary judgement outlined what a jury could have been faced with answering.

A reasonable jury could conclude it was unreasonable for McKnight to shoot the man that he thought was armed with a knife who was 20 to 25 feet away without first warning him he would be shot, Leighton wrote.

However, a reasonable jury could also conclude the McKnight reasonably perceived a threat to his own safety based on all the circumstances and that he had to react immediately before Petersen was close enough to attack, he wrote.

•••

Read the judge’s order granting summary judgement, here

For background, read “Lethal force case against sheriff’s deputy ready for trial” from Wednesday February 5, 2014, here

The sheriff’s office awaits a warrant to re-enter the home and begin investigating two deaths. / Courtesy photo by Teona Kinswa

Updated at 5:43 p.m.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office is on the scene this morning where two individuals were discovered dead inside a home.

Sheriff Steve Mansfield said a friend of the 50-year-old woman who resides at the house on the 100 block of East Stella Street came by to check because the woman didn’t show up for work.

She found the woman, and a man, 60 years old, deceased, he said.

“We don’t know what we have here yet, I can’t tell you if it’s a suicide or a homicide,” Mansfield said.

Deputies responded about 8:50 a.m. They are not out looking for any suspect, he said.

There were no signs of a struggle and nothing at this point to suggest the community is in danger because of what occurred there, Mansfield said.

Responders found no obvious signs of lethal injury or forced entry into the house, according to the sheriff’s office.

Across the street neighbor Teona Kinswa said the two moved into the house less than six months ago. She didn’t know them, she said.

Kinswa said she woke up about 9:15 a.m. and saw out her window 10 to 12 police cars and yellow tape around the property.

“A sheriff came and asked me if we heard anything last night or this morning,” she said. She didn’t.

Mansfield said arriving deputies checked inside and then stepped out to wait for a warrant to go back inside the premises. He wouldn’t say where in the residence the pair were located.

Detectives will be processing the scene and investigating to find out what happened, he said.

The home is inside the Napavine city limits, but the Napavine officer was not on duty, according to the sheriff’s office. Sheriff’s detectives are assisting local police by conducting the investigation because of its complexity, the sheriff’s office states.

Autopsies are scheduled for Thursday. Investigators will be waiting for their conclusions and the results of toxicology tests to determine the cause and manner of the deaths.

The names of the individuals have not been released, only that they are related and both lived in the home.