Lewis County Sirens.com

Lewis County Fire District 2 Firefighter Hadly Blankenship helped his three boys – Oliver, Kayden and Noah – into a brush truck.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

NAPAVINE – First responders.

The people on the front lines and behind the scenes when emergencies arise and someone calls 911 for help.

Representatives from Lewis County public safety agencies and organizations spent yesterday under sunny skies in a sort of show-and-tell.

For kids, it included invitations to climb behind the wheels of fire trucks, the sheriff’s office’s 48,000 pound armored SWAT and rescue vehicle and even into a shiny black and white 1940 Ford patrol car.

“These are all the people you would see if there was a large scale disaster here,” Lewis County Sheriff Rob Snaza said as he motioned toward those with the booths and vehicles that formed a horseshoe in the parking lot alongside Interstate 5.

The event, called First Responders Day, was held outside Bethel Church of the Assemblies of God in Napavine.

Newaukum Valley Fire and Rescue, formerly known as Lewis County Fire District 5, had their extrication tools on display and hope next year to do an actual demonstration of cutting into a vehicle to get to the injured.

Lewis County Fire District 6 handed out plastic fire helmets and pencils reminding about the importance of smoke detectors. The state patrol gave out junior trooper sticker badges.

Among the demonstrations, were Sheriff’s Cmdr. Dusty Breen zapping a paper silhouette of a man with a Taser, and answering questions about how very thin wire and prongs make the connection when used.

The crowd got to watch a simulated police pursuit, complete with the “suspect” getting grabbed by a police dog after bailing out and running across a field.

Two search and rescue dogs, plus one in training, with the Lewis County-based Cascade Dogs were on hand.

Other participants included Human Response Network, the local Red Cross and the relatively new Lewis and Mason County Crime Victim Service Center. And more.

Lewis County Crime Stoppers was there to promote their program, and put together free ID kits for parents.

That was the first booth Leslie Hill of Toledo visited with her children, ages 6 and 4.

“I always get these updated every year,” Hill said, as she waited for photo identification cards, DNA swabs and fingerprints to take home.

Centralia Police Department’s SWAT team laid out the various tools of their work, including newer-style spike strips that would flatten a tire slowly if a suspect drove over it.

The four-hour event was winding down when a Life Flight helicopter and its three-person crew arrived from Longview.

“I’m pretty happy with the turnout,” organizer sheriff’s Sgt. Fred Wetzel said. He said he and other already have more ideas for next year.

A somewhat similar gathering is planned for Tuesday evening, with the Centralia Police Department’s National Night Out.

The department has traditionally participated in the nationwide annual community-police awareness-raising event by caravanning to various neighborhood Block Watch group gatherings.

This year, the department is inviting folks to come see them at Washington Park on Pearl Street from 6 p.m. until 9 p.m.

Centralia police plan to offer opportunities to drive a golf cart wearing goggles that simulate drunk driving, and say there will be face painting, a balloon artist, a bounce house, live music and free hot dogs.

Lewis County Sheriff’s Office Cmdr. Dusty Breen demonstrates use of a Taser for attendees at First Responders Day in Napavine.

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See lots more photos from the day on Lewis County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page

Crews work to extinguish fire on Southwest Bonnie Lane  /  Courtesy photo by West Thurston Regional Fire Authority

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

West Thurston Regional Fire Authority reports five acres burned but the flames have been extinguished with no loss to structures.

Crews were called around 11:40 a.m. to the area along Southwest Bonnie Lane near School Land Road in Rochester.

They were joined by departments from as far away as Tenino.

Six homes, outbuildings and vehicles were threatened, according to the department’s post on Facebook moments ago.

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By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A 24-year-old who robbed a potential drug customer of $1,000 in Centralia last month – and kept the bag of salt he pretended was ecstasy – was sentenced today to just shy of 10 years in prison.

McRae D. Armstrong was in Lewis County Superior Court, where he pleaded guilty as charged a week after his arrest.

The incident at the end of June took place inside a car in the parking lot at Safeway on Harrison Avenue.

The Centralia Police Department had provided the money, as the buyer was a confidential informant and officers were conducting surveillance during the transaction. A short police pursuit ensued but Armstrong wasn’t located that day.

He admitted he used a firearm, and told the buyer-turned victim to get out of the car.

Armstrong pleaded guilty to first-degree robbery, attempted eluding, second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm and  possession with intent to deliver an imitation controlled substance.

His lawyer Don Blair asked the judge for a mid-range sentence, noting his client accepted the deal basically within a day of getting the offer from the state.

“And the fact that he is here taking responsibility, literally within a week of court,” Blair said.

Pacific County Prosecutor Mark McClain recommended Armstrong be given 116 months on the first count – the top of the standard sentencing range – and lesser amounts for the other offenses to be served concurrently.

McClain was asked to handle the case, because of a potential appearance of a conflict. Armstrong’s father is a private investigator who often works on cases in Lewis County.

Lewis County Superior Court Judge James Lawler gave Armstrong nine years and eight months.

The sentence also includes three years under the supervision of the state Department of Corrections when he is released and a requirement the defendant be evaluated for drug and alcohol abuse and follow through with the recommended treatment.

An 18-year-old Olympia woman has been charged in the case, as she was allegedly with Armstrong when it happened. A second male has been charged with rendering criminal assistance for allegedly helping Armstrong hide from police, according to McClain.
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For background, read “Teen driver for ecstasy drug deal-turned robbery booked” from Saturday June 27, 2015, here

Chandra M. Munsey consults with a temporary defense attorney during her bail hearing on Monday afternoon.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A 22-year-old arrested on Thursday was charged yesterday in Lewis County Superior Court with two counts of second-degree child assault, in a case involving her boyfriend’s toddlers.

The two little boys were taken into protective custody after their father called police and the children were checked out at Providence Centralia Hospital and then Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital, according to their father Casiano Baldovinos.

Baldovinos is standing by his girlfriend, Chandra M. Munsey, and attended her bail hearing yesterday afternoon.

“I know that Chandra’s innocent,” Baldovinos said outside the courtroom.

Authorities have revealed little about the case, saying the investigation is ongoing.

Munsey was brought before a judge on Friday afternoon, when a prosecutor asked to have the documents detailing the allegations sealed. Judge James Lawler granted the request.

Lewis County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Will Halstead indicated he wasn’t ready to file charges, and asked that Munsey continue to be held in the jail at least until another hearing after the weekend.

Munsey was brought before the judge again yesterday afternoon, after the criminal charges were filed, where defense attorney Joely O’Rourke asked the court to consider releasing her with an unsecured or co-signed bond.

“She has absolutely no felony history, and has a stable residence in Chehalis with her boyfriend,” O’Rourke said.

Judge Lawler set her bail at $50,000.

Baldovinos said his boys, ages 2 and 3, live with him in rural Chehalis. He’s cared for the oldest one nearly all his life, and last year at this time, got the court to make their mother’s family turn the youngest over to him.

He and their mother are not together, he said.

The boys’ grandmother, Rebecca Torres of Centralia, said she’s been warning authorities something bad could happen, since the day police came to take the youngest from her home.

“I’ve been trying for a year to keep them safe,” Torres said, sobbing.

Their mother is in prison, serving a sentence of a year and day for something Torres called petty. Jessica Schroeder, 27, should be getting out next month, her mother said. But Schroeder signed her youngest over to her mother when he was five months old, Torres said.

Exactly what happened remains under investigation, but photos shared by Torres and her 17-year-old daughter on social media last week show the two-year-old with a black and swollen eye. His brother’s picture shows marks on his face as well.

Baldovinos said the children stayed a couple of nights early last week with his girlfriend’s parents, in rural Centralia. When he picked them up, Munsey’s father told him the children scuffled, and one gave the other a black eye, he said.

But he didn’t believe that, he said, and he called police.

The court document filed yesterday that charges Munsey, indicates prosecutors believe the assaults occurred between Monday and Wednesday of last week.

Second-degree child assault is a class B felony, with a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and/or a $20,000 fine. The offense involves recklessly inflicting substantial bodily harm upon a child younger than 13 years old.

Munsey’s arraignment is scheduled for Thursday in Lewis County Superior Court.

Larry N. Bemrose waits in the jury box for a corrections officer to take him down to the Lewis County Jail following his sentencing.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A 66-year-old Toledo resident who thought he was protecting his neighborhood when he pointed a shotgun at an 8-year-old boy and then the boy’s mother was sentenced yesterday for two felonies.

Larry N. Bemrose was arrested after the Nov. 7 incident  in the area of North Fifth Street in the South Lewis County town and charged with two counts of first-degree assault.

The woman, Finola Erickson, told police she’d just left a relative’s house in the area of Middle Crest Road and when she came to the stop sign, a pickup truck pulled a U-turn in front of her and blocked her, according to charging documents. She said a man she’d never seen before got out, approached with a rifle and pointed it at her son who was sitting in the passenger seat, and then walked around her side of the car and pointed it at her, charging documents relate.

Erickson took off in her yellow Neon and parked near Toledo High School, where she turned off her headlights to hide from the man and called 911.

It was an unfortunate incident of mistaken identity, Lewis County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Will Halstead told a judge yesterday.

Halstead, the defendant and the defendant’s lawyer were in Lewis County Superior Court after striking a plea deal.

Prosecutors reduced the charged to two counts of second-degree assault, to which Bemrose pleaded guilty earlier this past spring.

“Unfortunately for him, it was a mother with her child in the vehicle,” Halstead said.

Centralia defense attorney Don Blair said his client was witness to what he thought was a burglary to a neighbor’s home and when he approached what he thought was the suspect vehicle, they “threw it in reverse” so he went and retrieved his gun.

“Unfortunately for the woman and her son, the vehicles looked similar,” Blair said.

According to charging documents, Bemrose admitted to police at the time to confronting a sport utility vehicle and a Lincoln, but denied contacting the yellow Neon.

Blair told Judge Richard Brosey that when Bemrose first learned it was a different party, he broke down and cried in Blair’s office, realizing what the woman and her child must have gone through.

The standard sentencing range for the offense is 12 to 14 months in prison. The two lawyers agreed to recommend Bemrose be sentenced to 12 months and one day.

Judge Brosey agreed, and gave Bemrose 11 days credit for time spent in the Lewis County Jail.

As Lewis County Superior Court judges customarily tell defendants when they are convicted of felonies, he explained to Bemrose he’d lost his right to possess firearms, and lost his right to vote.

When he is released, he will be under the supervision of the state Department of Corrections for 18 months.
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For background, read “Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup – FROM THE COURTHOUSE” from Monday November 10, 2014, here

Hennessy R. Turner-White, 22, from Portland, was represented by temporary defense attorney Joely O’Rourke at his bail hearing in Lewis County Superior Court.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The second of the three males believed to have barged in and shot up a Centralia residence demanding cash and weed earlier this year has been arrested.

Hennessy R. Turner-White was picked up in Clark County on a $500,000 arrest warrant.

The 22-year-old Portland resident will get his chance to make his plea tomorrow morning in Lewis County Superior Court.

Centralia police found nine shell casings and two bullet jacket fragments at the small home on Marion Street when they investigated the Feb. 19 incident. They also found one of the resident’s two dogs shot dead on the sidewalk.

Marion Street, Feb. 19, 2015

Dustin Palermo and his girlfriend initially wondered if it could have been related to winning money at the casino the night before, but the police investigation pointed to a local teen who once helped trim Palermo’s pot plants.

Palermo had medical marijuana growing inside.

Brian A. Carreon, 17, of Centralia, was arrested last week, charged as an adult and is being held on $75,000 bail.

Turner-White was brought before a judge earlier this week, who left his bail at $500,000.

Lewis County Superior Court Judge Richard Brosey noted police are still looking for the third suspect in Nevada.

The two currently housed in the Lewis County Jail are both charged with first-degree robbery. Turner-White is additionally charged with first-degree assault.

One of Carreon’s two sisters who live in Portland has been charged with rendering criminal assistance. Taina Duncan is accused of driving with the others to the house, but staying inside her car with her daughter.

According to charging documents, when Carreon was interviewed by police a second time told them he’d taken a video of himself once when he trimmed Palermo’s’ plants for him, and he’d shown it to Turner-White.

He said he was phoned by Turner-White who said he knew he had a connection to get weed, and was headed up.

“(When) they arrived at the Palermo’s residence, Hennessy pulled out a gun and said they weren’t going to buy the weed,” Carreon told police according to the charging documents.

Carreon told police they went to the door and he was behind them telling them to stop; that the third male kicked in the door, and that Turner-White shot the dog.

Charging documents in the case don’t relate what was actually stolen, but state they were only inside about 45 seconds based on Palermo’s security video.

Palermo described to police that one of the intruders was very tall, wearing a maroon hoodie and seemed to be in charge, doing a lot of the yelling. It appeared he had a black 9 mm or 45 semi-automatic handgun, according to Palermo.

Turner-White is Carreon’s other sister’s ex-boyfriend.

He grew up in Portland, according to his temporary defense attorney earlier this week. His mother was in the courtroom for his short hearing.

Judge Brosey appointed Centralia lawyer Don Blair to represent Turner-White.
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For background, read “Two arrested, two sought in February Centralia home invasion” from Thursday July 9, 2015, here

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – More than $1 million worth of checks left in an unlocked desk in an unlocked office at a Winlock business last summer disappeared. But they were returned a couple of days later.

However, according to prosecutors, one of them in which the payee line had been left blank was written out and cashed for more than $16,000 by an individual who worked for Jake’s Fireworks for a day and a half.

Jake’s is a distributor of wholesale fireworks and a fireworks retailer on Nevil Road in Winlock.

Carlos D. Linares, now 21, reportedly sent an email to the company within weeks, and admitted he took the check and used the money, according to the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office.

When law enforcement spoke with Linares this spring, he allegedly said he chose the one check because it was the only one not made out to someone, that he put his name on it and had a relative cash it for him.

Linares was summonsed into Lewis County Superior Court yesterday, where he is charged with first-degree theft and forgery.

He’s unemployed and lives in Chehalis, the judge was told. Lewis County Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher said Linares has no criminal history,.

Judge Richard Brosey allowed him to remain out of jail pending trial on a $5,000 unsecured signature bond.

Charging documents in the case state the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office was contacted on July 9 of last year by the fireworks company.

An employee said she’d been contacted by a girl who returned several two-party checks made out to Jake’s.

The girl said she found the stack of checks in an envelope inside a backpack in a park, charging documents say.

She was engaged to Linares, and said she found them on July 7 and that he would have had access to them before she returned them on July 9, according to the allegations.

The stack of checks totaling more than $1 million were believed to have disappeared on July 8, the same day Linares is believed to have come into the office to be paid, according to charging documents.

It wasn’t until August 11, that the discovery was made that one of them had not been returned, and had been cashed for $16,040.51, according to the documents.

Linares’s arraignment is scheduled for July 30.