Lewis County Sirens.com

Fire investigators and the coroner’s office are working at the scene at the two-story house this morning.

Updated at 11:07 a.m.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CENTRALIA – Investigators with three agencies are examining the scene of a fatal Centralia house fire this morning in which three children perished.

“My wife noticed lights flashing in the driveway about 1 o’clock this morning,” neighbor Jay Pannette said. “She said it’s my son’s friend’s house; she came back and said ‘Oh my God, the kids aren’t out yet’.”

Firefighters and police responded to the 12:46 a.m. call to the two-story home on the 900 block of Ham Hill Road at the north end of town.

Police said the mother made it out, but the juveniles did not.

One police officer was injured when he attempted to get inside, breaking a window, detective Patricia Finch said. He was taken to the hospital, she said.

This morning, command vehicles crowded the narrow street and next door neighbors sat on their front porch with a chaplain.

Most of the windows observable from the street are missing, one side of the roof partially collapsed. Some rabbits huddled in hutches near the driveway.

Finch said they know the fire started within about four feet of the front door, just inside.

The family rents the home, she said. The children’s father doesn’t reside with them, she said.

The joint fire investigation team is comprised of members of Riverside Fire Authority, the Centralia Police Department and the Chehalis Fire Department.

The Centralia School District has been informed the three attend Centralia schools, district spokesperson Ed Petersen said.

They’ve made additional counseling resources available at two schools, which he wouldn’t identify.

“I know teachers are talking to their classes,” he said at mid-morning.

“It was a tragedy,” Pannette said.

He said the family with two boys and one girl moved in about a year ago.

“We’re waiting for a pastor to come talk with my son,” he said. “He doesn’t know anything yet.”

A press conference is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Riverside Fire Authority’s main station, when more information is expected to be released.

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A fire investigator examines the area around the front door to the home.

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Police and fire investigators work at the home on Ham Hill Road this morning.

Thomas L. Pleasant waits his turn to go in front of a judge this afternoon in Lewis County Superior Court.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The suspect in a robbery and rape of a woman working alone at night at the Chehalis Subway shop from almost eight years ago appeared in Lewis County Superior Court today, to finally face the charges against him.

Thomas L. Pleasant, now 50, was transported from Stafford Creek Corrections Center in Aberdeen where he is serving a sentence of life without parole.

In 2008, Pleasant was convicted of three first-degree robberies in Cowlitz County, as well as second-degree assault with a deadly weapon and first-degree burglary there, according to Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer.

He also has a first-degree robbery conviction from 1989, according to Meyer.

While he was still in jail in Cowlitz County, he requested to talk with detectives and confessed to the July 16, 2008 hold up in Chehalis, saying he tied up the female worker with an electrical cord and put her in a walk-in cooler, according to charging documents.

He denied sexually assaulting her.

Lewis County prosecutors filed charges of first-degree robbery and first-degree rape on Sept. 9, 2008.

It’s not clear why he wasn’t brought to Lewis County sooner than now, Meyer said, other than the wait until after his Cowlitz cases wrapped up. Meyer didn’t become prosecutor until 2011.

“This is kind of an insurance policy,” Meyer said, suggesting the possibility of appeals in the other cases.

He said he has interviewed the victim and she indicated she was willing to go forward.

Pleasant, whose court documents from 2008 show a Centralia address for his residence, was brought before a judge this afternoon for a brief hearing.

Temporary defense attorney Joely O’Rourke said her client had no income and qualified for a court-appointed lawyer. His arraignment was scheduled for next Thursday.

Court documents describe the details Chehalis police learned from the victim.

She said she was preparing for closing about 10:44 p.m. and was alone as another employee had just left, when a male came in through the back door and told her to look down.

She dropped to her knees, saw a gun that looked like a long .22 with a silencer, she said. The male demanded money, smashed the wall phone, took her cell phone and $22, she said.

She said she crawled to the cash register and gave him about $320.

He then asked her if she wanted to live, and with a gun to her back, raped her, according to her statement.

The victim said she eventually was able to free her tied hands and trip the store’s alarm.

The Subway is at the Twin City Town Center on Northwest Louisiana Avenue.

Court documents go on to describe the investigation that followed.

Chehalis police reviewed video surveillance footage from Wal-Mart and saw a vehicle described as a light colored truck with a canopy or a long sport utility vehicle, in which a person got out and went into the Movie Gallery.

About two weeks later, Chehalis detective Rick McNamara saw a robbery bulletin from the Longview Police Department with a photo of a similar truck.

Another officer thought it resembled a truck he’d pulled over a few days earlier and a check of its registration showed it was owned by Pleasant.

Within a few days, Castle Rock police located the vehicle, and Pleasant was soon apprehended.

When Pleasant was interview by McNamara, he said the gun he used was the same one he used in the Longview robbery; he said it looked real, like a .357 and he threw it away because it got him in trouble.

Carl E. Griffith Jr. is brought before a judge in Lewis County Superior Court for a bail hearing.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Bail was set at twice what prosecutors requested for the Salkum man who reportedly aimed a cross-bow at his 24-year-old niece and told her he would kill her if she returned to his mother’s residence.

Carl E. Griffith Jr. was arrested Wednesday and then charged yesterday in Lewis County Superior Court with second-degree assault and harassment.

The incident came to the attention of law enforcement on Tuesday when a mental health provider at Valley View Health in Toledo reported Griffith had come in for a session, in an emotional and extremely agitated state.

According to court papers, Griffith, 45, told the provider about how much he hated his niece, Miranda Griffith, because of her lifestyle and described what he had done.

He said she was at his mom’s home doing laundry when he  began yelling at her, grabbed the bow, placed it in full draw and pointed it at her, according to the documents. He said he then pulled her out of the house by the hair and threw her into the front yard, the documents state.

Authorities said the incident occurred on Feb. 7 at the 2100 block of Spencer Road where he lives with his mother and his fiancé.

Deputy Prosecutor Jessica Blye told the judge yesterday afternoon that she thought bail should be set at $50,000, citing past convictions of second-degree assault and witness tampering as well as four convictions for fourth-degree assault.

Defense attorney Joely O’Rourke said the allegations seemed out of character for her client and requested a $25,000 unsecured bond, co-signed by Griffith’s brother.

Judge James Lawler said the allegations were very serious.

“I can’t ignore that, these are just far too severe to have unsecured bail,” Lawler said. “I’m setting bail at $100,000, cash or surety.”

The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office said yesterday Griffith went into great detail about what he would do with his niece. He spoke of eviscerating her with knives and spoke graphically of what he would do with her corpse, charging documents allege.

Detectives interviewed the niece as well as an un-named individual who witnessed the assault, according to court documents.

When the residence was searched on Wednesday, deputies located a compound bow, a cross bow and numerous arrows.

His arraignment is scheduled for next Thursday.

O’Rourke also told the judge she believed Griffith would qualify for a court appointed lawyer, as his income comes from disability benefits.
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For background, read “Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup –  PLAN TO KILL, THREAT TO SHOOT WITH BOW AND ARROW  INVESTIGATED” from Thursday February 25, 2016, here

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A Portland area woman was sentenced to 60 days of house arrest this afternoon for a case in which prosecutors contended she made a false report of rape against a Centralia man when he wouldn’t pay for her services as an escort.

“She was working as an escort, he hired her, he never paid her, he said they didn’t have sex,” defense attorney Mike Underwood told the judge. “My client says that’s not true; she’s taken responsibility for what happened.”

Heidi L. Glick

Heidi L. Glick, 32, previous to today made Alford pleas, not admitting guilt, to malicious prosecution, to prostitution and to first-degree trespassing, in Lewis County Superior Court.

Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Sheila Weirth told the judge she believed 30 days in jail was appropriate.

“There’s a tape of her telling the victim if he didn’t pay her, she was going to call police and report he’d raped her; on tape she’s basically extorting him,” Weirth said. “When a police officer arrived, she described a full forcible rape, that he’d held her down.”

Underwood said he hoped her sentence would be limited to the several days of time already served in the Lewis County Jail.

When police were called by Glick to Steven W. Flournoy Jr.’s Centralia residence on Nov. 7, they were told the “date” came out of her advertisement on Backpage.com.

Charging documents and the police report state that Glick refused to leave his home.

She told an investigating officer she was not a prostitute, she was an escort and that she charged for her time, but that sex was not part of the deal, according to the documents.

Flournoy told police he had a bad feeling about the conversation with Glick, so he recorded it with his phone, which she was aware of, the documents relate.

Charging documents indicate she declined an ambulance to the 911 call taker.

Officers arrested her for malicious prosecution and arrested Flourony for patronizing a prostitute and booked them both into jail. His case was handled in Centralia Municipal Court.

Lewis County Superior Court Judge Richard Brosey listened to both sides this afternoon and then imposed a 60-day sentence, which he said Glick could do on electronic home monitoring.

He gave her credit for five days already served and suspended the rest of the 364 days for two years.

Weirth asked the judge to further order Glick be prohibited from working as an escort during the probationary period.

Her lawyer didn’t oppose the recommendation.

“She’s advised me she has no interest in doing that type of work anymore,” Underwood said.
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For background, read “News brief: Two jailed following failure to pay prostitute in Centralia” from Sunday November 8, 2015, here

Marcelle J. Snodgrass consults with defense attorney Joely O’Rourke today in Lewis County Superior Court.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Bail was set today at $250,000 for the Centralia woman accused of stabbing her roommate in the chest with a large kitchen knife yesterday afternoon.

Marcelle J. Snodgrass, 45, was handcuffed and shackled at her waist and ankles when she was brought into Lewis County Superior Court this afternoon.

She was charged with first-degree assault, a class A felony that carries a maximum penalty of life in prison and a $50,000 fine.

Deputy Prosecutor Kevin Nelson asked the judge to hold Snodgrass on $500,000 bail, citing a threat to community safety and noting that when she was on electronic home monitoring on “the 16th” she tested positive for methamphetamine.

He said it he saw 11 convictions in Alaska for Snodgrass.

Defense attorney Joely O’Rourke in requesting bail of only $25,000 said she didn’t know anything about convictions in Alaska, but said other than a felony last year, her client’s most recent felony was 20 years ago.

The 26-year-old victim survived the injury which was described as deep but not life-threatening as it didn’t pierce any major organs. She was taken to the hospital yesterday evening and released by this morning.

The wound was just below her collarbone, according to court papers.

Charging papers and police indicate an officer called about 5:11 p.m. yesterday to a report of a stabbing victim contacted the woman near the intersection of North Washington Avenue and Park Street.

Brittany Ross told an officer Marci Snodgrass and she had been in an argument over rent money at the apartment on 200 block of North Ash Street and Snodgrass stabbed her with a knife that was long with a serrated blade and a black handle, according to court documents.

Ross said her friend Michael Mitchell was there and helped her out of the house. Mitchell corroborated her story, according to the documents.

When police went to the apartment and spoke with Snodgrass, she denied anything other than a verbal argument.

Detective Sgt. Carl Buster said this morning the victim and her friend ran, and she collapsed a few blocks from the apartment, but he didn’t have a phone and neighbors in the area called 911.

When officers searched the apartment, they retrieved a long, black-handled serrated knife hidden behind cookie sheets in the kitchen, with tissue and a substance on the first three inches of the blade, charging documents relate.

Snodgrass, through her lawyer, told the judge the woman hadn’t lived with her in a month, that she’d asked her move out because of drug use.

She indicated to the judge through sniffles that she was ill, didn’t have her medication and had suffered three seizures already while locked up.

O’Rourke said Snodgrass was unemployed, and living on SSI disability benefits and qualified for a court appointed lawyer.
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For background, read “Centralia woman stabbed, roommate arrested” from Monday February 22, 2016, here