Lewis County Sirens.com

Updated at 11:07 a.m.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Police searched without success last night after the attempted robbery of a customer who had walked up to a bank’s ATM machine in Chehalis.

Officers called about 9:15 p.m. to the TwinStar Credit Union on the 1500 block of South Market Boulevard found the victim, a 42-year-old Chehalis woman, was uninjured, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

She said she was approached by a male who wanted money from her,” Deputy Chief Randy Kaut said. “The victim replied she didn’t have any cash, she only had a check; he took her cell phone.”

He was wearing a black and white bandana over his face, according to police.

No weapon was displayed, but she saw something in his waistband she thought was the handle of either a gun or a knife, Kaut said.

Kaut said it appeared from the officer’s report a relative of the woman’s was with her, but still in their car.

The subject was described as in his early to mid-20s, heavyset and about 5-feet 6-inches tall, wearing a black hoody, Kaut said.

The report also labeled the male as Hispanic, but said he didn’t speak with any kind of an accent. No hair or eye color were noted.

Police were told he ran toward the opposite side of the bank, where a car was heard speeding away; the victim saw headlights going down a side street.

A police dog attempted to track him, but nobody was found, according to Kaut.

Brenda A. Wing looks on as her lawyer John Crowley, center, confers with Senior Deputy Prosecutor Will Halstead in Lewis County Superior Court.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS –  The mother of three, accused with her husband in the death of a toddler who was staying with them in their Vader home appeared in court this afternoon, as lawyers continue to map out a path to her trial.

Lewis County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Will Halstead told the judge that Brenda Wing’s attorney was asking to postpone her trial a week, as her husband Danny Wing recently pleaded guilty in the case.

“That kind of changes things a little bit,” Halstead said.

The couple were arrested in November, a month after 3-year-old Jasper Henderling-Warner died from what the coroner calls battered child syndrome.

Prosecutors charged them with homicide by abuse or, in the alternative, first-degree manslaughter; each of the two were charged as either the principal or accomplice.

The autopsy found abrasions, bruises, facial trauma, healing fractures that were described as weeks-old injuries.

Danny Wing pleaded guilty last Thursday to first-degree manslaughter and assault, and as part of the deal, is expected to be a cooperating witness for the prosecution.

Lewis County Superior Court Judge Nelson Hunt agreed to move the trial to the week of May 18.

The lawyers set a date of April 30 for a hearing where they typically file a document that includes the expected length of the trial and other particulars. Today, they estimated it could last a week and a half, or up to three weeks.

Seattle-based defense attorney John Crowley said he needs the extra time, to review materials he expects won’t be available until after next week when the state conducts a taped interview with the husband.

Danny and Brenda Wing’s three children, between infancy and age 6, were all taken into custody by Child Protective Services the day they were arrested. Both Wings remain held in the Lewis County Jail.

No details alleging how Jasper sustained his injuries are included in prosecutor’s charging documents.

Yesterday Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer said they’d like to know what happened. Today, Halstead said he wouldn’t answer reporters’ questions about the facts in the case.

Whether Brenda Wing’s trial actually takes place remains to be seen.

Outside the courtroom, Halstead sidestepped the question if he is attempting to work out a plea deal with Crowley for Brenda Wing.

“We’re always working to resolve our cases,” Halstead said.
•••

For background, read “Prosecutor expects plea deal will help reveal answers about Vader toddler’s demise” from for Wednesday March 25, 2015, here

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS –  Danny A. Wing has pleaded guilty in the death of the 3-year-old boy he and his wife were taking care of at their Vader home, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s the one who killed the child.

And it doesn’t mean his wife is exonerated, or that she’s necessarily the one who killed the toddler either.

Danny Wing

Authorities say Jasper Henderling-Warner died from ongoing child abuse and charged both Danny Wing, 26, and Brenda Wing, 27, last November in Lewis County Superior Court.

Charging documents in the case lay out facts that describe a variety of week’s old injuries and conflicting statements from the married couple whose home Jasper lived in. His 21-year-old mother had asked the couple that summer to take him for a year, while she was homeless and looking for work out of state, according to authorities.

The criminal investigation began the night of a 911 call on Oct. 5 from Brenda Wing that Jasper was unconscious at their home on the 400 block of Main Street in Vader. He was transported by ambulance to Providence Centralia Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

The Wings were arrested and charged a month later with homicide by abuse or, in the alternative, first-degree manslaughter. The two crimes have widely different penalties. Each of the two were charged as either the principal or accomplice.

Brenda Wing

Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer said Danny Wing pleaded guilty last Thursday to first-degree manslaughter and also to assault.

It came out of a plea agreement, in which prosecutors will recommend Danny Wing be sent to prison for 16 years and four months, according to Meyer.

The hearing took place without being noted on the court’s regular calendar, because the defense attorney from out of town was here, and the deputy prosecutor and the judge found time to just go ahead and do it, according to Meyer.

Danny Wing admitted he didn’t properly care for Jasper, Meyer said.

But what exactly took place and who did it is still not clear.

“That’s one of the things we all want to know,” Meyer said. “What happened.”

The autopsy found abrasions, bruises as well as healing fractures and labeled the cause of death as chronic battered child syndrome. Jasper was suffering from skin infections that were found to be secondary to his cause of death.

Meyer indicated part of the deal is Danny Wing must cooperate and share some information.

Jasper Henderling-Warner

“We’re anticipating we’ll learn more, as part of the agreement,” he said today. “It’s also fair to say, additional investigation will take place, now that he’s pled guilty.”

While the specifics are still unknown, Meyer said he still believes they both are responsible for the death.

“We’ve always alleged they both had a hand in it,” he said. “We’re not changing our position at all.”

The Wings remain held in the Lewis County Jail.

Brenda Wing’s trial is scheduled for  trial in May.

Meyer said he doesn’t know when Danny Wing’s sentencing hearing will be held, but expected it would not take place until Brenda Wing’s case is finished.

Separately, the Lewis County coroner has initiated a court action to ask a judge to settle the question of which funeral home he should call to pick up the body from the coroner’s office to be cremated.

On Jan. 28, Coroner Warren McLeod was freed from the prosecutor’s hold on the body, and tried for two weeks to get unified direction from the unmarried parents before filing the civil action on Feb. 11.
•••

For background, read “Coroner: Ongoing physical abuse led to Vader toddler’s death” from Friday November 7, 2014, here

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A 44-year-old Chehalis-area woman escaped with her life after her boyfriend reportedly fired repeatedly from a rifle towards her as she ran down her driveway following an argument.

Deputies called to the 700 block of state Route 508 found the suspect had already given up his gun, was very intoxicated and emotional, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

“He said he didn’t want to make any statements, but told the deputy he should probably take him to jail,” Chief Deputy Stacy Brown said this morning.

Todd H. Bergfalk, 44, of Tacoma, was booked into the Lewis County Jail for first-degree assault, according to the sheriff’s office.

Brown said the incident took place about 5:20 p.m. on Saturday.

What the disagreement was about, she didn’t say, but indicated at one point the girlfriend locked Bergfalk out of the trailer but then eventually let him back in.

When he began to load a Remington 22 long rifle, she tried to leave but he wouldn’t let her, according to the sheriff’s office. He fired off about four rounds inside the trailer, Brown said.

The woman finally went outside and he followed, firing approximately 10 rounds as she fled, according to Brown.

She didn’t know where the bullets were going and was very afraid she would be shot, Brown said. Evidence showed some were fired in her direction, according to Brown.

“She wasn’t hit, thankfully,” Brown stated.

Bergfalk is tentatively scheduled to appear before a judge at 4 o’clock this afternoon.

Firefighters finally get their patient out of the marsh and to an ambulance. / Courtesy photo by West Thurston Regional Fire Authority

Updated

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

A motorist pulled over for speeding last night ran off into the dark and ended up spending more than 12 hours stuck in a marshy area along the Black River outside Littlerock.

The individual was stuck chest deep in the swampy backwater of the river, and crews had to blaze a path through brush with chainsaws to get to him, according to West Thurston Regional Fire Authority Chief Robert Scott.

The rescue operation for the 44-year-old man took all night, according to the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office.

“The dive team was called, and put on their dry suits and walked out to him,” Lt. Cliff Ziesemer said. “But they were unable to bring him back out because he was so hypothermic.”

Fire Chief Scott said part of the reason it took so long was because they were waiting for daylight, but also because of the composition of the ground, partially quicksand like.

The dive team deputy waded through waist deep water and very thick brush for about two hundred yards to reach the man.

“It took an hour and 20 minutes just to move him 50 yards,” Scott said. “Every time the deputy would go to move him, the deputy would sink.”

The temperature overnight got down to about 37 degrees, according to Scott.

Responders were able to ferry out some items to keep the man’s body temperature from dropping further, according to Scott, such as blankets, heat packs and glucose.

“If it wasn’t for us getting that stuff to the deputy, the outcome would have been much different,” he said.

The patient, James A. Mueller, was finally brought out to waiting medics about 11 o’clock this morning, put into an ambulance and taken to the hospital, according to Ziesemer. Mueller is a Thurston County resident.

The lieutenant said it began about 7:15 p.m. when a deputy tried to stop a car along Littlerock Road south of Tumwater for speeding, and the driver fled on foot.

Around 12:45 a.m., they got a 911 call about someone screaming for help in the swampy area, roughly 200 yards off the road near 110th Avenue Southwest.

They requested assistance from helicopters from both the Air Force and King County, but neither could help because of the fog, he said.

Chief Scott called it a very manpower intensive operation, with nearly 25 firefighters from four other departments joining them.

Ziesemer said the man had felony warrants.

Update: Mueller was released from Providence St. Peter Hospital in Olympia a few hours later and then booked into the Thurston County Jail for warrants. No charges or ticket is planned for the speeding incident, according to Ziesemer.

Oak, a new court therapy dog, patiently poses for a snapshot at the Lewis County courthouse.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office has expanded its staff by one; one four-legged furry volunteer whose primary job is to help put people at ease.

His name is Oak, and he started coming to the office last week.

The two and a half year old pup is a court therapy dog, and the idea is he can sit with witnesses or victims before trials, to maybe make them less nervous, according to one of his three handlers.

He’s not getting paid, he was offered by the woman who trained him, originally as a seeing eye dog.

Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer, or one of his staff, picks him up from her home in the morning, and returns him there each night.

It’s not an entirely new idea, there are other counties that use court therapy dogs, Meyer said. In Thurston County, one is used at Monarch, the child sexual assault center, for example.

Meyer said he’s spoken with the judges about Oak, and maybe even one day he could accompany a witness into the courtroom, for comfort. But that’s not something he’s expecting anytime soon, because of various logistics, he said.

Oak’s first big assignment was going to be yesterday, to sit with a teenage victim during a sex case trial. But the defendant took a plea deal before the jury was seated.

When Oak on the clock, and wearing his vest, he’s just a lovable animal, Meyer said.

“He’ll come up to people and let them pet him, or he’ll just lay there and hang out with them,” he said.

And when the vest comes off, he just runs around and plays like a regular puppy, he said.

Meyer said he plans to share more details with the public about Oak next week.