Lewis County Sirens.com

Officers collect evidence from outside a home on Southwest William Avenue.

Updated at 5:22 p.m.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Police have recovered the handgun they believe was used in this morning’s shooting incident and arrested two people for “aiding and abetting” but are still trying to track down their suspect.

Officers responded to the 600 block of Southwest William Avenue after receiving multiple calls just before 3 a.m. from people hearing four or five gunshots following an argument outside a small house.

Nobody was struck and nobody was hurt but one bullet lodged in the railing along the front porch, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

Department spokesperson Linda Bailey said the individual with the gun was outside when the shots were fired.

Several people reside there, but Bailey said she doesn’t know how many of them were home at the time. The suspect and victim or victims were acquaintances, she said.

Bailey said she doesn’t have information this afternoon about a motive.

Next door neighbor Sharon Edwards said she didn’t know what was going on, but stayed put after hearing gunfire.

“I didn’t get up, I was frozen on the couch,” Edwards said.

When daylight came, she saw detectives outside, placing as many as 10 yellow markers, she said.

Officers recovered only the one round, according to Bailey.

The suspect police are looking for is 36-year-old Andrew C. Skyberg, his whereabouts are unknown, according to the police department.

Bailey said she didn’t know where the .380 handgun was found, but it had recently been stolen in a vehicle prowl.

Arrested today for aiding and abetting and booked into the Lewis County Jail are Bryan K. Butts, 32, from Cinebar and Felicia D. Lane, 28, of Chehalis, according to the police department. Bailey had no specific details about whatever help they are alleged to have provided.

Skyberg is described as a white male with very short hair, 5-feet 10-inches tall and weighing 175 pounds. He has tattoos on both arms.

Anyone with information about Skyberg’s location or information about this incident is asked to call 911 or, to remain anonymous, call the Thurston County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
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For background, read “Argument leads to multiple gunshots in south Chehalis” from Friday October 7, 2016 at 7:26 a.m., here

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Chehalis police prepare to leave the crimes scene on William Avenue this morning.

Hillary Harader, far left, faces Judge Nelson Hunt while her husband, in red, speaks with his attorney.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – With almost two dozen family members, friends, co-workers and even their pastor and employer occupying the row of benches behind them, a Centralia couple pleaded guilty to their roles in an incident which included a bullet ending up lodged in the side of the Dairy Bar on Chehalis’s Main Street.

Both entered into plea deals with the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office.

Matthew W. Harader, 27, admitted he fired a shot toward an occupied pickup truck.

Hillary M. Harader, 23, admitted she subsequently took the gun from her husband and helped destroy it.

The couple went before a judge yesterday afternoon in Lewis County Superior Court in connection with the events that occurred around 3:15 a.m. on Aug. 28.

Chehalis police responded to the area of the gas station at the 600 block of Main Street, to a report of a shooting. The clerk said two men and a woman had been inside the store there, although they arrived in separate vehicles, according to court documents. She then saw what looked like one male outside who appeared to fire toward a pickup truck heading westbound, court documents related.

When police spoke to the two men from the truck, they indicated they’d left the store and one of two men there began to yell and chase them, before firing a weapon.

Nobody was injured. Police recovered two .45 caliber casings at the scene.

Lewis County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Will Halstead told the judge his office has not heard back from the victims. He revealed there actually were four people inside the truck.

He said he watched the surveillance video from the Jackpot the following day, and saw of them inside the store, but didn’t see any contact between them.

“Something happened outside,” Halstead said. “We believe words were spoken from the victim towards a female.”

He said obviously it was a spur of the moment crime that occurred, that Matthew Harader was probably high on meth.

Matthew Harader pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree assault and one count of second-degree assault.

The standard sentencing range for his offenses is between 111 months and 147 months, and Halstead asked for 147.

His lawyer Katherine Gulmert said her client is extremely remorseful

Judge Nelson Hunt agreed to the prison term of twelve years and three months. He said the three years of community custody following release should include a drug treatment program.

When it came time for Hillary Harader to plead guilty to second-degree rendering criminal assistance and tampering with evidence, the judge volunteered he knew her well.

“I’ve known her since she was a child, she was a good friend of my daughter’s,” Hunt said, adding she was also involved in recovery court.

He asked Halstead and her lawyer if either objected to him presiding. They didn’t.

Halstead said when the vehicles left the gas station, Matthew Harader got out of the vehicle he was in and ran back to the car his wife was in, giving her a handgun to dispose of.

Her attorney Robert Brungardt told the judge that his client authorized him to approach prosecutors the very day of her arraignment.

“She knew she had a duty to acknowledge and accept the consequences,” he said.

The two sides recommended to the judge that Hillary Harader serve 60 days, with the option of doing it on electronic home monitoring. And also that $6,000 worth of fines be suspended provided she has no law violations.

Judge Hunt agreed.

He ordered her to report to the Lewis County Jail by Oct. 25, or show evidence she’s on the home monitoring by then.
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For background read “Chehalis shooting: Firearm still missing, one round recovered from Dairy Bar” from Friday September 2, 2016, here

Dashaud D. Cummings, right, and his lawyer face a judge this morning in Lewis County Superior Court.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The teenager who stole a police chief’s car, knocking down a trooper as he drove away and was finally caught in the woods off Interstate 5 was given a 29-month sentence today.

Dashaud D. Cummings, 17, was charged in adult court for the events of Aug. 10 that began with a pursuit down Interstate 5 that reached speeds of 100 mph, reached a golf course in Chehalis where he climbed into the Chehalis chief’s car while law enforcement officers looked for him, according to prosecutors. After striking the trooper as he backed up, Cummings drove north on Interstate 5, hitting two cars along the way and finally ditching the unmarked patrol car on the side of the roadway.

His passenger told police he didn’t have a license; he told police he was running because he didn’t want to get arrested for a warrant, according to charging documents.

“There was no reason for it,” Lewis County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Will Halstead told the judge today.

Now Cummings has four felonies, he said.

The Lacey resident pleaded guilty this morning as charged, to second-degree assault, attempting to elude and theft of a motor vehicle as well as hit and run.

The trooper was hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries, having been hit with the side of the car because its wheels were turned and landing on his hands and knee, according to authorities.

A plea deal was struck in which both sides would recommend Cummings get the top of the standard sentencing range and pay restitution for all the damage he caused, whether or not it was charged, according to Halstead.

Defense attorney David Brown noted to the judge his client has been respectful and wants to make some changes.

Judge James Lawler agreed with the 29 months.

Cummings’ family members sat behind him in the courtroom in Lewis County Superior Court in Chehalis.

“I would encourage you when you get out to do things differently,” Lawler said. “You’ve got people here supporting you, but that’s not going to go on forever.”

He alluded to some defendants who eventually end up in criminal court alone.

“Family can only take so much,” he said.
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For background, read “Lacey teen gets adult court in theft of police chief’s car case” from Wednesday August 31, 2016, here

Richard D. Carlile faces a judge today in Lewis County Superior Court.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – When Richard D. Carlile spoke with a sheriff’s deputy as he tried to retrieve his dogs from the animal shelter on Friday, he believed they’d broken their chains and wandered away from the camp where he lived in the woods outside Morton.

The 29-year-old said he’d searched for them for about one day and then packed up and moved to another location, according to court documents. He told the deputy he was homeless and had been living in the woods for quite some time.

He asked the deputy where was his elderly pitbull Fat Man and was told the dog was collected by a good samaritan almost a week earlier and the deputy himself picked up the two now at the shelter the following day.

Carlile said he couldn’t understand, because all his dogs were present and accounted for when he was with them at the camp Monday and Tuesday, court documents relate.

Carlile was charged today in Lewis County Superior Court with one count of first-degree animal cruelty and two counts of second-degree animal cruelty.

The case began on Saturday evening Sept. 24, when a woman called the sheriff’s office to say she’d discovered a dog chained to a tree in the forest. She believed it was left to die there.

The elderly pitbull couldn’t walk and could barely lift its head, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

The following day, Deputy Ezra Andersen, with the woman, returned to the area because she’d heard other dogs barking. There were two vacant tents and four other pitbulls tethered to trees.

Andersen found one bag of dog food, but it had water in it and a a significant amount of mold, according to court documents.

One of the dogs, a white and tan pitbull whose name was later learned to be Harley, appeared to be malnourished, with exposed ribs on both sides and defined vertebrae down his back, according to charging documents. His chain was no more than 18-inches long and while there was a water bucket, it contained a myriad of algae and other debris, the documents relate.

A white female pitbull, whose name turned out to be Chronic, was very skinny and the four to six-inch lead from her chain barely allowed her just barely to move from a standing position to laying down, according to the documents. She had a a skin irritation and redness around her face and ears, with oozing fluid around her eyes, Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Joel DeFazio wrote.

She also had “copious” amounts of dirt on her spine,  causing her to lose some hair and a raw spot on her tail, he wrote.

A pail with water about six feet away was in the same condition as Harley’s, according to DeFazio.

The deputy put the two dogs in the back of his patrol car and took them to the Lewis County Animal Shelter. The other two couldn’t be collected at that time because of their agitated and aggressive behavior and when deputies returned the following day, were gone, according to DeFazio.

The camp was about six miles from state Route 508, on Forest Service Road 73.

The animal shelter posted about the two found dogs and got a response from someone who said they belonged to her brother and he would pick them up on Friday.

Carlile went to retrieve them, and was arrested.

Carlile asked about Fat Man, the reddish, rust-colored male, and was told the woman who found him agreed to take care of him. He was emaciated, seemed to be suffering and had dirt and debris inside his mouth, DeFazio stated in court documents.

DeFazio wrote that Fat Man passed away two days after he was picked out of the woods. He suffered from slight malnutrition and dehydration as well as fleas an possible cancer, according to DeFazio.

In Lewis County Superior Court this afternoon, temporary defense attorney Joely O’Rourke described her client as living on social security disability payment, with no other income or assets.

As bail was discussed, the two lawyers noted he has no felony history, but had been arrested and convicted this year for driving under the influence.

Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Paul Masiello asked the judge to hold Carlile on $5,000 bail.

O’Rourke asked for a $25,000 signature bond, co-signed by Carlile’s father. Carlile would go to live with his father and sister in Onalaska, she said.

His arraignment is set for Oct. 13.
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For background, read “News brief: Dogs found chained to trees in forest outside Morton” from Monday October 3, 2016 at 10:01 a.m., here

Cody M. Cothran faces a judge in Lewis County Superior Court during a bail hearing yesterday.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Information from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children forwarded to a local detective led to a 15-year-old Lewis County girl who had uploaded images of herself to her Facebook account, showing her unclothed private parts.

Of particular interest to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office was a photo of the girl with a penis in her mouth, and Facebook text messages between her and a 21-year-old that suggested an intimate relationship.

Sheriff’s detective Jamey McGinty this week went to the girl’s address and spoke to a relative who said she hadn’t been home in two weeks, but had a boyfriend who lived in Onalaska.

McGinty found the girl there and interviewed her, learning she and Cody M. Cothran, 21, were boyfriend and girlfriend and that he allegedly took the picture in question, of the two of them, according to court documents.

She told McGinty that Cothran knew she was only 15, according to court documents.

“She said Cody told her to be careful who she told about their relationship and that he could get into trouble if their relationship was discovered,” court documents state.

McGinty placed Cothran under arrest and read him his Miranda warnings, Lewis County Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher wrote.

That was on Wednesday. Yesterday afternoon, Cothran was brought before a judge in Lewis County Superior Court.

He is charged with one count of sexual exploitation of a minor, an offense with a maximum penalty of 10 year in prison. He is also charged with third-degree rape of a child. That crime can bring as much as five years behind bars.

Charging documents don’t indicate if Facebook had lifted the photos from the girl’s account. They don’t state if the text exchanges between the two were viewable by the public, or if they were private messages that the detective somehow accessed.

There is no indication the girl is in trouble.

Temporary defense attorney Joely O’Rourke told the judge Cothran is unemployed and qualified for a court appointed lawyer.

Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Joel DeFazio said Cothran has no prior criminal convictions of any sort.

Judge Nelson Hunt allowed Cothran to remain free pending his trial, based on a $25,000 unsecured bond co-signed by his grandfather.

Judge Hunt ordered Cothran to turn over any computer he has to his newly appointed lawyer, David Brown by his arraignment.

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By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The final of four suspects in a Centralia heroin-related incident this summer that resulted in a fight inside a car with a box cutter and bear spray was sentenced yesterday to one year and a day in prison.

Kiana J. DeLaRosa, 18, of Chehalis, was convicted by plea of second-degree robbery, but didn’t show up earlier this month for her sentencing hearing.

She and prosecutors had a deal in place in which she would have gotten only six months in jail, given she had no criminal history.

Yesterday in Lewis County Superior Court, she pleaded guilty to bail jumping and the cases were combined for the longer sentence.

Prosecutors alleged a set up of a drug deal; the two victims told police of a request to get some heroin for DeLaRosa who claimed to be “drug sick.” It happened at the 1600 block of North Scheuber Road in Centralia at about 6:45 a.m. on Saturday, July 30.

A purse and a backpack were taken and two of the subjects admitted to finding a small amount of heroin and using it before they were contacted by officers.

DeLaRosa’s attorney Chris Baum told the judge his client made bad choices and compounded her issues by not coming back to court.

DeLaRosa told the judge she wants someone to help her with her drug addiction.

“I just regret my mistake that I made, and I take full responsibility for them,” she said.

Judge Nelson Hunt imposed the agreed upon recommendation of Baum and the prosecutor’s office.

Robert Plasencia, 29, of Napavine, got 22 months when he was sentenced last month for second-degree robbery.

Andrea Parker, 34, and Jon Parker, 32, of Chehalis, pleaded guilty soon after to conspiracy to commit second-degree robbery. He was sentenced to one year and one day in prison. She was given 50 months as her conviction was combined with four other cases from this year.
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For background, read “Bear spray, box cutter and heroin” from Friday August 12, 2016, here