Lewis County Sirens.com

Robert Hicks is shown his seat in Lewis County Superior Court.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The man arrested yesterday for hit and run in connection with a head-on crash in Winlock that left another driver seriously injured allegedly showed up at a Winlock woman’s home that morning looking a little beat up with blood on him, asking for a ride to Kent.

The woman told detectives Robert A. Hicks told her not to tell anyone, and also left blood on her passenger seat, according to court documents.

The early morning wreck on July 24 left 50-year-old Mechelle Crosse with broken bones in her face and elsewhere. Her sister-in-law said she was just released from the hospital on Tuesday.

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“She’s still in a lot of pain,” Carla Ladino said. “She’s got no teeth, she just got off a feeding tube, she has a broken back and broken feet

“It’s going to take some time for her to heal, and I hate seeing her in so much pain.”

Hicks, 28, was arrested hours after the story and his photo gained region wide attention, through Washington’s Most Wanted.

When he was brought before a judge yesterday afternoon in Lewis County Superior Court, his temporary defense attorney said it was his understanding all the media attention prompted Hicks to contact police.

Lewis County Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher asked bail be kept at the $500,000 amount listed on the arrest warrant.

“We’re very concerned he’d be a flight risk and take off,” Meagher said.

Defense attorney Shane O’Rourke said it appeared Hicks’ income did not qualify him for a court appointed lawyer, as he earns about $4,000 a month as an electrician. But if he’s held  in jail and can’t work, he has no other source of income so he probably could not afford an attorney, O’Rourke indicated.

Judge Nelson Hunt set bail at $250,000.

Hicks, who recently moved to Winlock, was charged with vehicular assault plus hit and run.

Charging documents in the case state that detectives concluded the 2007 Acura four-door Hicks was driving was traveling south along the 200 block of North Military Road when it crossed the centerline and hit Crosse’s pickup truck.

Detectives suspect he was texting or talking on his phone.

Crosse told deputies that after the collision, a male asked her if she could move, tried once to open her door, and told her he was going to call for help.

He left walking south, and five to 10 minutes later, a motorist came across her and called 911.

The investigation led to his ex-girlfriend in Kent, the owner of the car, who Hicks reportedly told the car was stolen, but also told her he was texting, according to charging documents.

Lewis County sheriff’s detectives have obtained cell phone records for Hicks’ phone, which reportedly show texts and phone calls to two Winlock women between 5:11 a.m. and 5:52 a.m. that day.

Crosse, who resides in Winlock, was on her way to work at Safeway in Chehalis that morning, and the 911 call from the passerby came in at about 5:26 a.m.

Ladino attended the court hearing, and left feeling empathy for the man accused of leaving her injured sister-in-law alone on the road.

She said she suspects the reason he ran off is because he was scared.

“At first I was pissed, but today I’m feeling sorry for the guy, cause he’s so young,” she said.
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For background, read “Update: Wanted driver who allegedly fled Winlock accident scene arrested” from Wednesday August 10, 2016, here

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A 17-year-old boy accused of stealing the Chehalis police chief’s patrol car, knocking down a trooper who tried to stop him and leaving two damaged vehicles in his wake as he fled onto Interstate 5 could be tried as an adult.

The un-named juvenile from Lacey was arrested yesterday afternoon, captured by a police dog after a nearly hour-long track in the tree line just north of Chehalis, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

The chief’s unmarked Chevrolet Impala had been abandoned along the freeway near milepost 81, with a damaged front tire, according to a department spokesperson.

A detention hearing was scheduled this afternoon in Lewis County Juvenile Court and a “decline hearing” will be held in the next couple of weeks, according to the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office.

Lewis County Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher said if a person is 17, and commits this type of crime, the court has the discretion to move the case to adult court.

The suspect’s name was not released by police because he is a juvenile.

According to Chehalis Police Department spokesperson Linda Bailey, the string of events began with troopers attempting to make a traffic stop of a vehicle speeding on Interstate 5.

Law enforcement caught up with the car in the parking lot of Riverside Golf Course, on the 1000 block of Airport Road in Chehalis, but it’s driver fled, according to Bailey.

The passenger, a 15-year-old girl, was taken into custody and booked for a probation violation, according to Bailey.

As officers searched for the driver, the suspect driver got into the unmarked police car, Bailey said.

As officers approached the car, the suspect put it in reverse, striking a trooper with the open door, Bailey said.

“From what I understand, the trooper was knocked down, knocked down to the ground,” Baileys said.

The trooper was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Then the suspect sped away, headed over the Chamber Way overpass to enter northbound I-5,  and struck two civilian vehicles along the way.

Bailey said an occupant of one of those vehicles complained of back pain and went to the hospital as well.

Chehalis Officer Warren Ayers and his partner Reign were summoned shortly before 1 p.m. and eventually found the suspect, according to police. The suspect was taken to the hospital for a dog bite, before booking at the Lewis County Juvenile Detention Center.

Bailey said Chehalis police were looking at charges of first-degree assault and eluding as well as hit and run, but other agencies could have other offenses to add.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The last time Mindy D. Nogues was convicted of first-degree theft for stealing from her employer, she was given a sentence of 30 days.

This time, a judge gave the former manager at Jeremy’s Farm to Table six months.

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Lewis County Superior Court Judge James Lawler said his inclination was to make her sit in jail, but he acquiesced to her attorney’s request she be allowed to serve her time on work release.

The judge said he didn’t want to deprive the victim of the chance for her to pay him back.

Nogues, 32, appeared in Lewis County Superior Court today to be sentenced, after pleading guilty last month to first-degree theft.

She worked at the Chehalis restaurant on West Main Street from May until October of last year, and was arrested in January following an investigation by the Chehalis Police Department.

She was also ordered today to repay former owner Jeremy Wildhaber $9,232.29.

Charging documents alleged she pocketed hundreds of dollars per shift, using various schemes to attempt to cover it up.

The Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office initially worked out a plea agreement with Nogues in which they would recommend she serve only four months in jail if she paid $2,500 of the restitution by the end of July, according to Deputy Prosecutor Melissa Bohm.

Her lawyer, Jakob McGhie, told the judge this morning she didn’t willfully fail to meet that obligation, but she did fail.

His client hadn’t been working regularly until July, he said, when she took a job at National Frozen Foods.

“She was in a long term relationship, and in the past couple of weeks the relationship ended,” McGhie said. “Her partner completely drained their shared account and took off.”

Judge Lawler imposed the top of the standard sentencing range, which the two attorneys agreed upon in their recomendations.

“The fact that you’ve stolen from an employer, you’ve done this twice, now that’s shocking to me,” Lawler said. “I don’t know what’s going on with that business, I’m not sure if it’s going to make it; but I’m sure that didn’t help.”

The judge ordered Nogues to report to the Lewis County Jail by next Tuesday.

It was June 2013 when Nogues pleaded guilty to first-degree theft, in a case involving the Travel Lodge in Centralia where she had worked as a manager. She served her time on house arrest, also known as electronic home monitoring, according to court documents.

The judge in that case ordered her to pay restitution to the business in the amount of $52,187.05.
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For background, read “Manager at Jeremy’s restaurant charged with stealing thousands of dollars” from Tuesday March 15, 2016, here

Ford pickup truck and 2007 Acura at scene of early morning wreck, July 24, 2016. / Courtesy photo by Lewis County Sheriff’s Office

Updated at 8:08 a.m.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Authorities yesterday sought a nationwide arrest warrant for the man believed to have walked away from a head-on collision that left a Winlock woman severely injured last month.

A passing citizen who came upon the two-vehicle wreck on the 200 block of North Military Road in Winlock called 911 about 5:30 the morning of July 24, a Sunday.

Found: Robert A. Hicks

The victim told deputies that before the other driver left, he tried once to open her door, asked her if she could move and said he would call police or an ambulance. The 50-year-old Winlock woman was airlifted to a Vancouver hospital with broken bones in her face and back.

Her Ford pickup and the 2007 Acura four-door, with Utah license plates, were both totaled. The car was impounded.

“She’s got a long road to recovery,” Lewis County Sheriff Rob Snaza said yesterday. “We want this guy bad.”

The sheriff’s office was looking for 24-year-old Robert A. Hicks.

Snaza met with David Rose yesterday of Q13’s Washington’s Most Wanted television show to talk about the case.

Hicks was located overnight by Olympia police, based on tips from Washington’s Most Wanted. He was arrested for vehicular assault plus hit and run, sheriff’s Cmdr. Dusty Breen said this morning.

They had reason to think Hicks may have been staying with someone in the Winlock area. He’s lived in King County and before that, in Florida, according to Snaza.

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For background, read “News brief: Victim found injured, alone at scene of two-vehicle collision in Winlock” from Monday July 25, 2016, here

Edward A. Power is brought before a judge in Lewis County Superior Court.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – He didn’t want to go to jail.

A  man who allegedly sped away from an I-5  traffic stop at speeds as fast as 100 mph, continued driving after spike strips flattened all four of his tires, exited his van and jumped a guard rail near Chamber of Commerce Way, was tased by a trooper and taken into custody early yesterday morning.

Inside his van, he had left behind six passengers, which included three young children.

Edward A. Power, 44, was booked into the Lewis County Jail and charged today in Lewis County Superior Court with attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle.

Lewis County Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher this afternoon asked a judge to set bail at $25,000, noting there was some confusion as to the man’s identity when he was arrested.

“It looks like he has criminal history in Georgia of theft and bail jumping,” Meagher said.

Temporary defense attorney Kevin Nelson appealed for a lower amount of bail, saying Power has an address on Mount Vista Road in Centralia.

While he’s self employed earning about $1,000 month, Nelson said, he supports his wife and six children on that income. Power qualified for a court appointed lawyer.

Judge Nelson Hunt set bail at $15,000.

The events began about 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday when a trooper approaching a construction zone on Interstate 5 near milepost 62 observed a northbound van passing vehicles on the shoulder, including the trooper’s, according to charging documents.

Charging documents continue, giving the following account of what transpired:

When pulled over, the trooper had him make arrangements for a licensed driver to pick up his vehicle, because neither he nor his adult female passenger produced a driver’s license, the documents relate. The trooper saw two teenage-looking children in the back seat.

The driver showed a plastic identification card from a Mississippi community college and eventually an ID card from Mississippi with the name Edward Power Jr.

The issue and expiration dates didn’t match information the trooper got back from that state’s department of licensing, and other information suggested Power was suspended in Pennsylvania.

When the trooper asked him to step out the vehicle, Power stated, “I am not going to jail,” put the van into drive and sped off.

A Lewis County sheriff’s deputy deployed spike strips near Chehalis’s Main Street interchange, and the van ran over them and slowed but didn’t stop.

The trooper, concerned about an upcoming second construction zone, performed a PIT maneuver, causing the vehicle to stop partly blocking one lane.

That’s when Power fled on foot. Charging documents indicate the trooper didn’t realize there were three young children in the far back seat during the initial encounter.

Power was transported to the hospital for unspecified medical clearance, before being booked into the Lewis County Jail.

His arraignment is scheduled for Aug. 11.

Firefighters from multiple departments battle grass, hay fire off Rice Road this afternoon.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Just two days after county officials enacted outdoor burning restrictions because of potential fire danger, flames tore through fields in south Chehalis southwest of Interstate 5.

Veronica Redl and relatives were just returning to her home on Rice Road from the store this afternoon when they saw billowing smoke behind her two-acre property.

“We were kind of awestruck ourself,” Redl said. “We saw a lot of smoke.”

The Chehalis Fire Department was called at 2:37 p.m. for a small amount of fire around a hay baler, with a couple of bales which had ignited. Fire Capt. Rob Gebhart estimated the piece of equipment was 400 to 500 yards behind the first house that sits across the street from Stan Hedwall Park.

“Then the wind kicked in, and it took off,” Gebhart said.

Chehalis Firefighter Steve Emrich said it took only two to three minutes before flames spread to more than 10 acres, heading south and west.

The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reported more than 30 acres burned, belonging to several different property owners.

Emrich this evening said he understood it was estimated at 100 acres.

They focused on protecting homes and outbuildings along the rural road.

“We tried to get in front of it with water, which we did,” Gebhart said. And someone with a dozer cut a fire line which was a huge help, he said.

Part of what burned was hayfield already cut, and fields with still tall hay and grass, he said.

They were assisted by crews from Lewis County Fire District 6, Riverside Fire Authority, Lewis County Fire District 5, Lewis County Fire District 1 and the state Department of Natural Resources. A brush truck from Toledo passing by even stopped and joined them, Gebhart said.

Rice Road was shut down from the park to Labree Road, and some residences were evacuated, according to the sheriff’s office.

Nobody was hurt. Fences and equipment were damaged, the sheriff’s office posted on its Facebook page.

The Chehalis Fire Department was back at the station by about 6 p.m. DNR personnel continued at the scene mopping up.

“We were lucky we were able to keep it out of a couple of super dry fields,” Emrich said.

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An estimated 100 acres were consumed; fences and equipment were damaged, but nobody was injured.

David Serrano Mosso is charged with kidnapping and assault in Lewis County Superior Court.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A judge ordered a 20-year-old Centralia resident held on $500,000 bail in connection with an incident in which a man was found beaten and bleeding in the parking lot of Providence Centralia Hospital.

On Friday morning, Centralia police described the initial details as someone was trying to make a 37-year-old Centralia man drive somewhere, he got scared, pulled into the lot and was pistol whipped.

Charging documents in the case describe the victim as meeting someone he’d sold some wheels to, in order to get paid, and two males getting into his car, one of them shoving a pistol into his ribs and them telling him to drive out to a wooded area.

He said he noticed a third male following them in a white Honda-style car.

When he refused, and turned into the hospital parking lot along South Scheuber Road instead, the two males struck him, according to court documents.

A person visiting a friend at the hospital found the victim bleeding from his head and face, stumbling through the lot and helped him into the emergency room, according to court documents.

Officers arriving after the 10:20 p.m. call from the hospital last Thursday night, were told security found the unoccupied vehicle running with the driver’s door open and a large pool of blood on the ground nearby.

Inside the car was a BB gun the victim said was not his his. A wallet and .22 caliber bullet were found nearby.

The victim, Juventino Barrera-Martinez, told police he didn’t know the names of the males in his car, but did know the front seat passenger worked at Taco El Rey and lived on Russell Road, Lewis County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Will Halstead wrote in court documents.

On Friday morning, David Serrano Mosso, 20, from Centralia, was arrested for consuming alcohol in violation of his 24/7 program with the Centralia Police Department. He was  booked into the Lewis County Jail.

Because he fit the description provided by the victim, Officer Buddy Croy questioned Serrano Mosso and found he worked at Taco El Rey and lived on Russell Road, Halstead wrote. He denied buying any wheels.

The victim picked Serrano Mosso from a photo montage on Sunday, as the individual in the front passenger seat of his car who had pulled the pistol on him, and assaulted him, according to Halstead.

Serrano Mosso was charged yesterday in Lewis County Superior Court with first-degree assault and first-degree kidnapping.

Lewis County Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher asked that he be held on $500,000 bail, and Judge Nelson Hunt agreed.

Centralia attorney Don Blair was appointed to represent him. Serrano Mosso’s arraignment was scheduled for this morning.