Lewis County Sirens.com

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – An attempt was made to settle their differences through mediation but instead, Lewis County and the family of the unarmed man fatally shot by a deputy in Napavine two and half years ago will meet up in federal court.

The trial is on track to begin the end of this month in Tacoma in the case involving Lewis County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Matthew McKnight and the death of 33-year-old Steven V. Petersen.

Steven V. Petersen

An attorney representing Petersen’s family claims that despite the fact backup was mere seconds away, the deputy made a reckless decision to engage in an unnecessary confrontation.

The attorney representing the county and McKnight called the claims baseless when the lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in October 2012. Michael A. Patterson stated McKnight made the split-second decision to shoot out of fear for the safety of himself and neighboring residents during a rapidly unfolding situation.

It happened on June 20, 2011 in Napavine, when police and deputies responded to an approximately 2 a.m. call that Petersen left stab holes in the door of his ex-girlfriend’s mobile home while trying to get inside and then left on foot.

Deputy McKnight found Petersen a few blocks away, got out of his patrol car and after Petersen refused to take his hand out of his pocket and began to charge McKnight, the deputy fired four shots, according to the account given by local authorities. Petersen had no knife.

The Napavine resident left behind a 10-year-old son.

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

Lewis County RIsk Manager Paulette Young said the two sides met with a mediator in early January in an attempt to avoid a trial. The effort was mandated by the court, according to Young.

Still to be decided by a judge is a motion for a summary judgement which, if the county prevails, would mean dismissal of the case.

“We’re moving forward as if there is going to be a trial, because we have to prepare for it,” Young said yesterday.

It’s scheduled to begin Feb. 24 and run for seven to 10 days.

McKnight, who had been with the sheriff’s office a little more than four years, was cleared by an internal review and the county prosecutor concluded his use of deadly force was justified, based on an investigation conducted by outside law enforcement officers.

Last year, McKnight took a job with the Chehalis Police Department.

Yesterday, Young approached the Lewis County Board of Commissioners to request the county pay his wages while he attends the trial because he has no time built up with the city.

The amount would go toward the county’s deductible for its liability insurance with Washington Counties Risk Pool, she said.

The suit names Lewis County and former Deputy McKnight. It was filed by the father of the deceased, Steven O. Peterson as representative of the estate and on behalf of the younger Petersen’s son.

The plaintiffs are represented by John R. Connelly Jr. of the firm, Connelly Law Offices in Tacoma.

The Seattle law firm of Patterson, Buchanan, Fobes, Leitch and Kalzer represents the defendants.

Patterson said in a news release previously that McKnight properly complied with sheriff’s office policies and procedures, which provided adequate guidance.

Attorneys for the Petersens said when the suit was filed their investigation would focus on the sheriff’s office training, supervision and decision-making in the field when using deadly force.

They called it a ‘shoot first and ask questions later’ approach to law enforcement.

The jury trial will be presided over by U.S. District Court Judge Ronald B. Leighton.
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For background, read “Multi-million dollar lawsuit coming in deputy-involved shooting in Napavine” from Wednesday June 6, 2012, here

The Guardian now sits outside the Lewis County Law and Justice Center on Main Street in Chehalis.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Some 200 individuals gathered despite a light rain at the courthouse entrance yesterday to witness the unveiling of a memorial to local law enforcement officers who have died in the line of duty.

“I’m honored and feel very privileged to dedicate this to the seven officers who lost their lives,” Lewis County Sheriff Steve Mansfield said. “Also to the families who’ve sacrificed and to the police officers who now and the future work to protect us.”

Its creator, local artist Jim Stafford, named it The Guardian. He removed a black drape to reveal the bronze statue depicting an officer, a little girl and a K-9.

Centralia Police Department Chief Bob Berg made note of the efforts made by those shepherding the project, the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office Association and others.

Berg and Mansfield read the names which each are engraved on the granite base, and laid a red rose for each one.

The widow of the most recent officer to die carried a rose to Deputy Brady Taylor who placed it in memory of Deputy Stephen Mike Gallagher Jr. Gallagher was killed after his patrol car struck an elk on his way to a call to assist Brady in east Lewis County four and half years ago.

Those memorialized are:

• Marshal James C. A. Parsons, Centralia Police Department, end of watch: June 30, 1903

• Officer William H. Smith, Centralia Police Department, end of watch: Dec. 23, 1910

• Deputized Civilian John A. Haney, Lewis County Sheriff’s Office, end of watch: Nov. 15, 1919

• Deputy Seth “Riv” Jackson, Lewis County Sheriff’s Office, end of watch: April 7, 1937

• Deputy Ernest Runke, Lewis County Sheriff’s Office, end of watch: Sept. 19, 1957

• K-9 “Ward”, Lewis County Sheriff’s Office, end of watch: Oct. 15, 1985

• Deputy Richard A. Snider, Lewis County Sheriff’s Office, end of watch: Feb. 8, 1986

• Deputy Stephen “Mike” Gallagher Jr., Lewis County Sheriff’s Office, end of watch: Aug. 18, 2009

The monument sits atop brick work which includes messages, names and dedications from individual donors.

Katrina Bowen consults with her lawyer after the judge asks her to describe specifically what she did to commit first-degree theft.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The employee accused of helping herself to as many as $2,500 worth of lottery tickets a day from the Flying K store and gas station in Toledo admitted to a judge yesterday what she did; she pleaded guilty.

It was only eight days ago when Katrina M. Bowen went before a judge to hear the charges filed against her.

Bowen was fired in September after the owners discovered the source of their increasingly severe cash flow woes, analyzed their books and confronted her. The loss is estimated at more than $175,000.

She said she was keeping track of her ticket purchases in her head.

Gordon and Tonya Lovell said they’ve struggled for almost 20 years to grow their business, working six and seven days a week and this summer had to borrow money to keep afloat.

The Flying K at the 100 block of Cowlitz Street includes a Napa Auto Parts store and is the base for their Toledo Towing.

“At the end of August, we just came up against a brick wall,” Gordon “Rick” Lovell said.

Bowen, 37, of Winlock, had worked for them eight or nine years and became not only a trusted employee, but like family to them, the couple said.

When Police Chief John Brockmueller interviewed Bowen, she reportedly admitted to pocketing money from beer sales and to playing as many as 500 $5 tickets each day during the previous six months.

She cried, told the chief she had a gambling problem, had never been given a pay raise and needed money to live, according to charging documents.

Bowen was charged with first-degree theft on Jan. 3, and summonsed to appear in court on Wednesday of last week. That afternoon, a judge appointed her a public defender and allowed her to remain free pending her trial. By Friday, her lawyer indicated she would plead guilty.

On Monday, the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office upgraded the charge, to include a so-called aggravating factor that it was a major economic offense, meaning a judge would be free to lock her up for as long as 10 years if convicted.

Bowen came to court alone yesterday for arraignment, and answered the judge’s questions in a nearly imperceptible voice.

There was no plea deal. There was no promise of recommending leniency. Bowen is represented by Centralia lawyer Don Blair.

Judge Richard Brosey advised her of the rights she was giving up and asked if she understood he could, if he chose, sentence her to a decade in prison.

She responded affirmatively.

Brosey asked for her plea. She said guilty.

He asked what she did that made her think she was guilty.

Bowen told him what she’d told the police chief: She was taking scratch tickets at work and thought she was keeping track of them, but wasn’t. She admitted 500 per shift.

“I assume you were looking for winners?” Brosey asked.

“Yes,” she replied.

According to Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Eric Eisenberg, Bowen has no felonies in her past. The standard sentencing range for a person with no criminal history and without the aggravator for first-degree theft would be zero to 90 days in jail.

Blair, Eisenberg and the judge agreed Bowen could return to court on Feb. 20 when they will schedule a sentencing date.

Eisenberg said he doesn’t yet know how much time he will ask for when she is sentenced.

How much restitution she will be ordered to pay remains unknown. And how quickly or how much money the Lovells could expect to be reimbursed will depend upon the extent to which she can pay it back, Eisenberg said.

It was less than four years ago when another Winlock resident was caught stealing lottery tickets at a local grocery store where he was a longtime trusted employee and store manager. Benjamin C. Macy was given 14 months in prison. The losses to Cedar Village IGA were said to be close to $1 million.

The state lottery commission has agreed to supply the Flying K with an automatic lottery dispenser. They didn’t have one before because their level of ticket sales didn’t qualify them, the Lovell’s said.

“We’re getting a machine within two weeks,” Tonya Lovell said. “So no employee will ever touch a ticket again.”

Centralia home is consumed by fire. / Courtesy photo by Kendra Lynch

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Investigators this morning are sifting through what’s left of a single-story house in Centralia to learn what caused a fire last night.

Firefighters responding just after 7 p.m. yesterday to the 700 block of South Silver Street found the structure fully involved in fire, according to Riverside Fire Authority.

As they were headed to the scene, they were told by dispatch of calls from individuals who had seen and smelled smoke in the area for as long as an hour, Firefighter-Paramedic Jennifer Ternan said.

When they arrived, its roof had already burned off, according to Ternan.

“So probably the reports it had been burning for an hour were accurate,” Ternan said.

Ternan couldn’t say for sure why it went undetected for so long. It is in a neighborhood with other homes, but did sit back on its property behind another house, she said.

The man and woman who lived there were out for the evening, but arrived while crews were still on the scene, according to Assistant Chief Mike Kytta.

They are insured and the Red Cross was summoned to assist them, he said.

Kytta said it appeared the worst-burned area was a family room built onto the rear of the home. The home and its contents are likely a total loss, according to Kytta.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

A Winlock household is without a home after an overnight fire but working smoke detectors awoke the two adults and two small children who escaped without injury, according to Lewis County Fire District 15.

Four fire departments responded just after 1:30 a.m. to the double-wide mobile home on the 100 block of Evergreen Lane just north of town, according to Assistant Chief Kevin Anderson.

Crews found heavy fire inside the attached garage which had spread into the home itself, according to Anderson.

The blaze was under control just before 3 a.m. but had already caused extensive damage to the structure and its contents, Anderson said in a news release.

Firefighters rescued an adult dog, which is in good condition, he stated.

The cause is under investigation and the Red Cross is assisting to provide the family with temporary shelter.

The little ones are both under two years old, according to Anderson.

Ricky A. Riffe listens to his lawyer during a court hearing yesterday.

Updated

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Ricky A. Riffe is finally off to prison today, nearly two months after he was sentenced to 103 years for the 1985 kidnapping, robbery and murders of Ed and Minnie Maurin.

Riffe, 55, has remained in the Lewis County Jail as he still faces charges that he raped and molested his then-9-year-old step-daughter in the mid-1980s.

The trial was set for next month, but yesterday a judge approved postponing it because of defense attorney John Crowley’s conflict with another trial.

A new date in April was chosen, but Riffe waived his right to a speedy trial all the way into September, so that if any further delays are requested and granted, he would not have to be transported back to Lewis County for a hearing.

The former Mossyrock man who was extradited from his longtime home in King Salmon, Alaska in mid-2012 denies any sexual contact with the alleged victim and is appealing his November conviction in the Maurin case.

He appeared before Lewis County Superior Court Judge Nelson Hunt yesterday for a status review of the child molestation case.

Lewis County Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher said he opposed the continuance, because of how long the matter has been pending. Prosecutors filed the new charges in the old case while Riffe was preparing for the murder trial which subsequently lasted more than six weeks this past fall.

An order was entered yesterday in which lawyers estimate the molestation trial will last four days.
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For background, read “Battle continues between Ricky Riffe, Lewis County prosecutors” from Friday January 3, 2014, here

And, “Attorneys dispute statute of limitations rules on surprise child sex charge for Maurin double murder defendant” from Saturday February 23, 2013, here

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A Toledo convenience store employee blamed for a large drop in revenue at her workplace reportedly admitted to police she may have scratched as many as 500 lottery tickets during each shift without paying for them all.

Katrina M. Bowen was fired at the end of September. This week, she was summonsed to Lewis County Superior Court where she faces a charge of first-degree theft.

The loss is estimated at more than $175,000.

An investigation began on Oct. 1 when the owner of the Flying K store and gas station on the 100 block of Cowlitz Street contacted Police Chief John Brockmueller. Gordon Lovell said over the previous few months he and his wife had noticed a loss in sales and upon further analysis, he found a large number of lottery tickets had been played but not paid for, according to charging documents.

When he confronted Bowen, she told him she was keeping track of her ticket purchases in her head, charging documents state.

When confronted by the police chief, the 37-year-old Winlock woman cried, said she had a gambling problem, had worked there for nine years without a pay raise and needed money to live, according to the allegations.

Bowen estimated that during the previous six months she went through about 500 $5 tickets each day, the documents state. And, she allegedly admitted to pocketing money from beer sales.

Bowen went before a judge on Wednesday afternoon where she was allowed to remain free pending trial with a $10,000 unsecured bond.

It was less than four years ago when another Winlock resident was caught stealing lottery tickets at a local grocery store where he was a longtime trusted employee and store manager. Benjamin C. Macy was given 14 months in prison. The losses to Cedar Village IGA were said to be close to $1 million.

Bowen’s arraignment is scheduled for next Thursday.