Lewis County Sirens.com

The audience rises to its feet as Sheriff Snaza speaks of detective Tom Callas’s career and retirement during an awards presentation at Bethel Church.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

NAPAVINE –  Lewis County Sheriff Rob Snaza honored two officers with an award for portraying the guardian spirit.

Corrections Officer Bill Wood was recognized for his heroic actions when he pursued and apprehended a just-convicted defendant who fled a courtroom last October.

“Basically he got into a fight,” Snaza said, of the chase that began on the fourth floor of the Lewis County Law and Justice Center, continued down a back stairwell and out onto the street in Chehalis.

Snaza spoke of Wood’s tenacious attitude when he presented him on Thursday with the Guardian Award.

“He wasn’t gonna let that guy go,” he said.

The high praise was offered during a gathering of members of the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office at Bethel Church in Napavine. The annual meeting is held to recognize outstanding work by employees.

A second Guardian Award was given to detective Gene Seiber, a person Snaza said had gone unrecognized for too long.

Seiber was part of the command staff under former Sheriff Steve Mansfield. After Snaza was elected sheriff, he moved Seiber into a newly created position, a detective focusing on the east end of the county.

Snaza spoke of Seiber’s consistent dedication and outstanding performance in the daily execution of his duties.

“Exceptional service with an excellent attitude,” he said.

Numerous honors and awards were presented, including a Distinguished Service Medal for detective Tom Callas whose retirement began that afternoon. Callas started at the sheriff’s office in 1988.

Snaza, with Undersheriff Wes Rethwill assisting in the ceremony, called three civilians to the stage as well.

Cameron Church, accompanied by his girlfriend Skyler Grimes, was given a Citizen Service Medal.

On Nov. 14, when a senior citizen drove her car onto a flooded Forest Service Road 25 south of Randle, Church put aside his own personal safety and rushed in to pull  her from her water-filled car.

“They then kept her warm while waiting for aid to arrive,” he said.

Snaza then gave a certificate of bravery and courage to Aiden Readman, a young man who called 911 when his mother was being assaulted, and helped protect his mother and sister.

The sheriff spent some time during the meeting sharing the office’s priorities and goals during his first year in office and also for the coming year.

His list for 2016 contains 47 items.

“When I thought of running for sheriff, I want to make sure you guys are taken care of,” he said, his voice breaking with emotion.

In closing, the sheriff told the employees, there’s no “I” in their organization.

“I cannot be successful without you,” he said. “We can be successful together.”

Among the awards presented were also, Employee of the Year, which went to:

• Field Operations Bureau – Deputy Justin Rodgers
• Corrections Bureau – Corrections Sgt. Joyce McCoy
• Corrections Bureau Support Technician – Ramona Romine
• Services Bureau – Support Technician Debra Hensley

The light blue Mazda pickup and yellow Jeep rest on state Route 6 near Adna. / Courtesy photo by Washington State Patrol

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The cause of the collision on state Route 6 yesterday remains under investigation but the Washington State Patrol reports the pickup truck carrying two individuals who died was T-boned in its passenger side by the Jeep Wrangler.

Both vehicles had been traveling in opposite directions, about two miles west of Chehalis, according to the state patrol.

Firefighters from Chehalis and Lewis County Fire District 6 responding to the approximately 4:50 p.m. call near Highway 603 found the man and woman deceased and the driver – and sole occupant – of the Jeep in serious condition, according to authorities.

Glennon G. Stinson, 69, from Rochester, was transported to Providence Centralia Hospital.

The state patrol identifies the driver of the 1989 Mazda B2200 pickup as Joseph A. Schwartz, 23, of Pe Ell. His passenger was Katharina M. McKenna, 27, from Chehalis.

The investigating trooper describes the incident as Schwartz traveling eastbound and for whatever reason, he lost control of his truck and slid across the centerline into the westbound lane. The front of the westbound Jeep struck the passenger side of his truck, according to the state patrol.

The roadway was closed for nearly four hours, according to Trooper Will Finn.

All three individuals had been wearing seat belts, according to the state patrol.

It’s unknown if drugs or alcohol were involved, according to the initial information. No charges are expected.

Both vehicles were totaled, towed and impounded.

This might look a little bit like an ugly fishing lure, but it’s almost two feet long. / Courtesy photo by Pe Ell Marshals Office

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS –  The Washington State Patrol Bomb Squad was called to Pe Ell yesterday evening after a large military mortar was found under a chicken coop.

“The homeowner was putting in a fence, dug in close to the chicken coop and noticed something hard and tapped it a couple times,” Pe Ell Marshal Mike Hartnett said.

It turns out the nearly two-foot-long object was live, he said.

“It’s firing mechanism was intact and its safety pin was gone,” Hartnett said. “One abrupt bump on the nose of that, could have set it off.”

The marshal said he understood it would have a “kill radius” of up to 50 meters.

One meter is a little longer than three feet.

Hartnett said two of his deputy marshals were on duty, and they evacuated a couple residents and blocked off the area. It was in the backyard of a residence on East Pe Ell Avenue, near the edge of the city limits, he said.

It was about 5:45 p.m. and the bomb squad came out and ended up putting it in their bomb trailer and hauling it back to Shelton to dispose of it, he said.

Hartnett said he was told it was an 82 mm mortar.

“Probably an old Vietnam-era mortar, is our best guess,” he said.

How it got a backyard in Pe Ell, they don’t know. It’s an older home, that’s had a few owners, he said.

“Either somebody brought home a souvenir, even off a military firing range and thought it was a dud,” he said. “Maybe someone didn’t want it anymore and poked it under the chicken coop.”

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Prosecutors yesterday charged 25-year-old Joel L. Kaech with multiple felonies in connection with weekend incidents involving alleged sexual assaults of a Longview woman.

The Salkum man was arrested on Sunday, brought before a judge on Monday and then made another court appearance yesterday afternoon.

Joel L. Kaech

Kaech is charged with two counts of first-degree rape, one count of first-degree kidnapping and one count of felony harassment. Harassment has a maximum penalty of five years, but the other offenses carry a possible life sentence.

The 32-year-old woman spoke with police on Saturday night near the Goodwill store in Centralia, saying she had run away from Kaech at the skate park across the street.

She spoke of she and a mutual friend being picked up by Kaech in Longview, and Kaech kicking the friend out of the car and then an unspecified period of time in which the two drove to several places in Lewis County.

Charging documents describe the events as occurring on or about and between Friday and Saturday.

On Monday afternoon, a Lewis County Superior Court judge ordered the defendant held in the Lewis County Jail and continued his preliminary appearance one day while prosecutors made a charging decision.

Kaech mouthed off the to the judge, and was held in contempt Monday afternoon. Judge James Lawler ordered a no-bail hold and gave Kaech 60 days lock up as a penalty for his behavior.

Yesterday afternoon at the start of his hearing Kaech apologized to the judge for his attitude the day before.

Lawler thanked him, told him he had been way out of line, and then decided to reduce the contempt time to 10 days.

Temporary defense attorney Joely O’Rourke said Kaech is unemployed and she believed he qualified for a court appointed lawyer. Chris Baum was set to represent him.

Lewis County Prosecutor Sheila Weirth requested and was granted a sexual assault protection order for the alleged victim

Kaech is being held on $500,000 bail. His arraignment is scheduled for tomorrow.
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For background, read “Rape investigation: Salkum man held with no bail, no charges” from Monday February 1, 2016, here

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Police and aid were called at 7 o’clock this morning to a stabbing at the Chehalis Avenue Apartments.

The victim, in her mid-20s, was conscious and alert, and taken to the hospital, according to the Chehalis Fire Department.

Chehalis Police Department spokesperson Linda Bailey said officers are investigating and she didn’t have many details yet.

“I know they brought the K-9 out,” Bailey said. “It didn’t seem as though it was a life threatening injury.”

The apartments are on the 300 block of Southwest Third Street.

Russell S. Foster is brought into Lewis County Superior Court this afternoon to see a judge.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Prosecutors today requested a $5,000 unsecured bond for the Chehalis woman whose property was searched yesterday morning following a visit by a SWAT team and an ongoing drug investigation.

Fifty-one-year-old Mary K. West, also known as Mary K. Craig, was charged today in Lewis County Superior Court with one count of possession of methamphetamine.

Police reported finding a pipe with residue and three ziplock baggies with an unspecified amount of meth in her bedroom, according to charging documents.

Mary K. West

Russell S. Foster, 46, who resides in a detached garage on the property on Southwest 10th Street was arrested as well and charged today with three counts of delivery of methamphetamine.

The Lewis County Regional SWAT Team and the Joint Narcotics Task Force yesterday morning served a search warrant and turned up items in Foster’s dwelling such as digital scales, numerous empty small baggies and what prosecutors described in charging documents as a receipt book with notations such as “T-shirt” and “Half T-shirt” which detectives say refer to “teeners” or 1.5 grams of meth.

They also seized a plastic bag containing approximately two “teeners,” according to the documents.

Foster allegedly sold meth to a confidential police informant back in early 2014 and then twice more sometime during the month that ended yesterday, according to the documents.

Chehalis Police Department Chief Glenn Schaffer said in a written statement yesterday the residence has been “an issue” for police and for its neighbors.

While yesterday’s news release reported the home was on the 100 block of Southwest 10th Street, it actually is on the next block east of that, in between South Market Boulevard and McFadden Street.

Foster and West were booked into the Lewis County Jail. At least one other person present was arrested on an outstanding warrant. The court documents relate Foster has a girlfriend who resided with him, but no mention has been made of the woman being arrested.

Police yesterday reported a stolen generator turned up during the search, from a December burglary on Jackson Highway.

West, who works part time at Burgerville, qualified for a court appointed lawyer. Her arraignment was scheduled for Feb. 11.

Police yesterday booked West for endangerment with controlled substance and subsequently added a potential charge of maintaining a dwelling for drug purposes, but those criminal charges were not filed today by the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office.

Foster, who is unemployed and has prior criminal history about a decade old, was ordered held on $20,000 bail. Prosecutors had asked for $50,000. He is unemployed and likewise was given a court-appointed lawyer.

His arraignment is scheduled for Thursday.

Joel L. Kaech looks toward lawyers during his hearing in Lewis County Superior Court this afternoon.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Lewis County prosecutors held off on filing any criminal charges today against the Salkum man arrested yesterday for the alleged kidnapping and rape of a 32-year-old Longview woman.

Joel L. Kaech, 25, will be held with no bail at the Lewis County Jail at least until tomorrow when the state should be in a better position to make an informed decision, according to authorities.

The alleged incident came to the attention of police, who made contact with the alleged victim around 8:25 p.m. on Saturday at the Goodwill store in Centralia after she reportedly ran away from Kaech at the skate park across Harrison Avenue.

She told law enforcement officers Kaech earlier had picked up her and a mutual friend in Longview, but kicked the friend out of the car and said, “Now you are my hostage,” according to court papers filed today.

The alleged victim told of being driven to the Spiffy’s parking lot on U.S. Highway 12 and raped and then to Kaech’s home in Salkum where he would take a shower and pick up some clothing, telling his mother not to let her leave, according to the declaration of probable cause.

The document offers other details including the following:

The alleged victim told a sheriff’s deputy Kaech drove them to a state park where he wanted to pick up some hidden stolen items – which he allegedly wanted to sell to get money to buy drugs, but they were not found – and to a church parking lot to sleep. She reported she awoke to Kaech  breaking in to the building and he threatened he would kill her if she didn’t help.

She told the deputy he then drove to a secluded place off U.S. Highway 12 where he allegedly pulled her by the hair into the back seat and once again raped her. Then they traveled to the skate park in Centralia. She also said she was threatened with a metal pipe.

When found sleeping in his car on Stowell Road in Salkum yesterday and questioned, Kaech denied knowing the alleged victim.

In Lewis County Superior Court today, Kaech talked back to the judge, and was told he would be held in contempt for 30 days, and then 30 more days when he did it again.

Lewis County Prosecutor Sheila Weirth had asked for bail to be set at $500,000, but Judge James Lawler made it a no-bail hold after the first outburst.

His temporary defense attorney Joely O’Rourke said afterwards, Kaech hadn’t known the details of the accusations being leveled against him until he got into the courtroom this afternoon.

“He was frustrated, as you can imagine,” O’Rourke said. “He didn’t have an opportunity to read though the probable cause statement until he got to court.”

Deputies saw a metal pipe in his car and applied for a search warrant to look for evidence in the vehicle, according to the court papers. The documents also relate that the alleged victim was taken to Providence St. Peter Hospital in Olympia for evidence collection.

Prosecutors asked for and were granted the opportunity to keep Kaech in jail and bring him before a judge again tomorrow afternoon.
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For background, read “News brief: Kidnapping investigation leads to Salkum resident” from Monday February 1, 2016, here