Lewis County Sirens.com

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A 45-year-old Randle man was arrested for unlawful imprisonment after deputies found his 16-year-old girlfriend tied up inside his garage yesterday afternoon.

The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office was called around 4 p.m. about a dispute on the 100 block of McKay Street, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said this morning.

A deputy could hear a male and female shouting from the street and discovered the teenager in the open building with her hands tied behind her back with tape, Brown said.

The girl said Jeffrey S. Plaas had thrown her on the ground and would not let her go, Brown said.

Brown said it’s not clear exactly how long she had been there, but about 20 minutes earlier, deputies had taken a call about the pair walking past a Randle cafe, with the male pushing and shoving the female.

The 16-year-old told deputies he had over the previous 24 hours pulled her hair and slapped her, Brown said.

She had swelling on her face, including a bloody nose, Brown said.

Plaas was booked into the Lewis County Jail for unlawful imprisonment and fourth-degree assault, domestic violence, according to Brown.

The girl declined treatment and was returned to her parents in Ashford.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A pair of teenagers accused of stealing a half dozen guns and hundreds of rounds of ammunition from a Mossyrock resident who was out of town have pleaded not guilty to multiple charges related to a week-end long crime spree.

Eighteen-year-olds Anthony S. Depuisaye-Greene his girlfriend Dezarai B. Johnson are being held in the Lewis County Jail on bails of $250,000 and $150,000 respectively.

Police believe the pair and a 17-year-old girl burglarized a home on the 200 block of Court Street repeatedly beginning Friday July 22.

Charging documents and Mossyrock police allege the girls acted as lookouts while Depuisaye-Greene crawled through an upstairs window that was open and removed from its hinges a door to a secured room where some of the firearms were stored.

Depuisaye-Greene also allegedly stole a $3,000 diamond ring from a residence on East State Street, not far from the home where he had been staying.

The 18-year-olds fled in a stolen Toyota RAVE to Sequim, where Johnson lives, according to charging documents.

Johnson and Depuisaye-Greene were picked up by police in a convenience store east of Sequim and arrested without incident on July 25. The 17-year-old female was arrested in Mossyrock the day before.

Along with the six loaded pistols, other items stolen included a Bulova watch, gold dollars and several knives, according to charging documents.

One of the guns and the Toyota were recovered in Sequim. Police were told the ring was pawned in Chehalis, according to charging documents.

The 18-year-olds appeared in Lewis County Superior Court on Thursday and pleaded not guilty to the numerous charges.

A trial was scheduled for Depuisaye-Greene the week of September 26. A date has not yet been set for Johnson’s trial.
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Read “Ammo, half dozen guns stolen in Mossyrock break-ins” from Monday July 25, 2011, here

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

A farmer taking his cows to market lost some out the back of a trailer on Interstate 5 this afternoon south of Chehalis.

The Washington State Patrol said no vehicles were hit by the animals or vice versa.

Traffic slowed down when it happened, Sgt. Ted DeHart said.

Most of the cows got up and walked away and headed to the shoulder to graze, he said.

It happened about 1 p.m. in the northbound lanes of the freeway just south of the U.S. Highway 12 and Avery Road interchange.

DeHart didn’t know how many cows were involved for sure but said he thought it was less than five.

A latch to a door had broken and the driver of the truck pulling the livestock trailer was beginning to pull to the shoulder when it occurred, DeHart said.

No animals were hurt.

“All of them were fine, we’re in the process of getting the last one – that kind of got away – wrangled up as we speak,” DeHart said.

The sergeant didn’t expect a citation would be issued as it was purely an accident, he said.

Benjamin S. Alaniz confers with his lawyer yesterday afternoon in Lewis County Superior Court.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Bail was set at a half million dollars for a 26-year-old Chehalis man who allegedly tried to shoot an acquaintance inside a car in Centralia on Monday but was holding a pistol that malfunctioned and did not fire.

Benjamin S. Alaniz was charged in Lewis County Superior Court yesterday with first-degree assault and other related offenses, but prosecutors are considering charging Alaniz with attempted murder, according to Deputy Prosecutor Shane O’Rourke.

“Basically, the victim lucked out,” Centralia detective Sgt. Pat Fitzgerald said.

Police were called to the area near the Centralia Outlet Mall west of Interstate 5 on Monday afternoon, after the 20-year-old victim jumped out the vehicle as it was making a turn on a side street and crawled to a house where a woman called 911, according to charging documents.

According to charging documents, police were told the driver of the car picked up Nicholas J. George to go buy drugs and almost immediately after that, Alaniz jumped into the car, put the gun to George’s ribcage and demanded money.

George tried to get out, but Alaniz held him by the arm, slapped him in the face with the gun and then pointed it at George’s face threatening to kill him, according to the allegations.

“George said he was extremely scared and thought he was going to be killed and said ‘go ahead, just kill me’,” charging documents state.

Both George and the driver said they then heard the gun click several times as if being fired but no shots discharged.

George bailed out of the car and then Alaniz did the same a few blocks away, where a responding officer stopped and chased Alaniz to a trailer park on the 1200 block of Harrison Avenue, according to police.

Centralia police described the incidents as occurring in the 1400 blocks of View and Jensen avenues.

A subsequent search of the car turned up a loaded .22 caliber handgun tucked in a bandana near the center console along with ammunition in a bag nearby, according to charging documents.

A Centralia detective yesterday tested the firearm and found that sometimes when the trigger was pulled it fired and sometimes it did not, according to charging documents.

Deputy Prosecutor O’Rourke said yesterday afternoon he wanted to look over a transcript of the victim’s interview with police before making a decision about a charge of attempted second-degree murder.

Alaniz is currently charged with first-degree assault, first-degree attempted robbery, unlawful imprisonment, unlawful possession of a firearm and possession of methamphetamine.

When he appeared before a judge yesterday afternoon, defense attorney Bob Schroeter said he is a lifelong Lewis County resident, with a small enough income he qualified for a court appointed attorney.

Alaniz has previous felony convictions for burglary, possessing stolen property and unlawful possession of a firearm.

A small bindle of methamphetamine was found in his sock at the hospital when he was being treated for exhaustion from running form police, according to authorities.

The victim had $1,000 in his pocket, which he initially told police was money from his paycheck he had been counting as he walked down the street. He subsequently told officers he said that because he was going to buy drugs and was afraid he would get in trouble, according to charging documents.

Alaniz is scheduled to make his pleas tomorrow in Lewis County Superior Court.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Lewis County commissioners yesterday morning put an emergency moratorium in place on receiving applications for collective medical marijuana gardens.

A new state law went into effect on July 22 allowing up to 10 medical marijuana patients to grow their marijuana in a single plot, but county officials want to create land use rules to regulate the plantings.

The three commissioners suggested there are more questions than answers at this point.

The sheriff’s office and the prosecutor’s office are working on a proposal to put before the county planning commission, Lewis County Board of Commissioners Chair Ron Averill said yesterday.

A public hearing will be held on the morning of Aug. 15, to receive input from the public on proposed local rules, the commissioners said yesterday.

“We will probably opt for the most restrictive we can get,” Averill said.

On the same day, county commissioners plan to put a 60-day moratorium in place, according to Averill.

County Commissioner Bill Schulte described some of his concerns later yesterday morning.

Schulte worries about teenagers and criminals raiding the gardens and the security of crops only legal for certain people to cultivate and use.

A nightmare scenario is that which existed in northern California when he was stationed in the Coast Guard there in the late 1970s, early 1980s, he said.

Local law enforcement looked the other way somewhat when residents around Eureka grew marijuana and the plots drew armed bandits and shootouts, as in turn, marijuana farmers began setting booby traps, Schulte said.

The National Forest was so dangerous, members of the Coast Guard in Eureka were told not to hike there, he said.

Schulte wasn’t sure if the new state law allowed 45 or 99 plants per plot, but either would be very attractive to outsiders, he said.

The moratorium will give county officials time to find the best way to handle the gardens, he said.

Among the questions they have are would multiple plots be allowed on the same acreage, for example, he said. And, who will be responsible for protecting the crops, he asked.

“If you get ’em too clustered, they’re a bigger target,” Schulte said. “If you spread them out, they’re harder to police.”

The commissioner said they’d like to hear ideas from the public about how the county should deal with the gardens.

He agrees with Averill’s notion about making Lewis County unfriendly to potential collective cultivators.

“I’d like to make it difficult enough they grow it in Clark County, or Cowlitz, or Thurston County,” Schulte said.

The city of Centralia is expected to put a six-month moratorium in place as well.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

The death of a 54-year-old Lewis County man at Stafford Creek Corrections Center near Aberdeen this week appears to be a suicide, according to a spokesperson for the prison.

Daniel W. Johnson was found dead in his cell Wednesday morning with a plastic bag over his head, prison officials said.

Johnson began his prison sentence in 1993 after he was convicted of two counts of second-degree murder in Lewis County.

He was arrested in December 1991 after a man and a woman were found stabbed to death in a home on Elk Creek Road near Doty. The victims were the resident, Paul Pilz, and his friend Eleanor Warden.

Johnson, then 34, had grown up in the area, and stayed the night at the home after his truck became stuck in the mud a few miles away, according to court documents.

He had just been released from psychiatric treatment days earlier, and had a five-year psychiatric history, according to court documents.

Johnson was serving a 27-year sentence and had been at Stafford Creek since May 2010 when he was transferred from McNeil Island Corrections Center, according to the state Department of Corrections. He was living in a minimum security unit.

Prison spokesperson Sheri Izatt said Johnson was scheduled for release in March 2015 and hadn’t committed a serious infraction since 1994.

Preliminarily, the death appears to be suicide, Izatt said.

The Grays Harbor County Sheriff’s Office is investigating his death. The prison is conducting a separate investigation.

The Grays Harbor County Coroner’s Office said a determination of the cause and manner of Johnson’s death is pending toxicology results.

An autopsy was conducted yesterday and nothing suspicious was found, Deputy Coroner George Patrick said.

Court records from 1993 say Johnson was a father of two children and divorced.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Former Salkum-area Fire Chief Phillip McDaniel today lost his lawsuit claiming wrongful termination.

Lewis County Superior Court Judge Nelson Hunt signed an order this morning granting Lewis County Fire District 8’s motion to dismiss the case.

McDaniel was fired in August 2009 after almost three years as the paid chief for the volunteer department, following about 17 years of working in the same capacity as a volunteer.

His attorney contended a new trio of fire commissioners decided they wanted to go back to having a volunteer chief and terminated McDaniel without cause, even though his contract was still in effect.

Seattle lawyer Jon Rosen told the judge in a hearing this morning the criticisms only began after Sharon DeBuhr was elected to the board of commissioners.

“In fact, that’s what occurred,” Rosen said. “Mrs. DeBuhr’s husband became the volunteer chief.”

The lawyer for the fire district told Judge Hunt there really was no dispute McDaniel was fired for cause.

Seattle attorney Stephanie R. Alexander noted instances of personal work on the department computer and that McDaniel refused to turn over the password to the computer when asked by one of the commissioners.

Rosen said these were issues for a jury to decide, but the judge disagreed.

Hunt, when he announced his decision, said the insubordination related to the password stood on it own as a reason for the firing.

McDaniel was in the Chehalis courtroom today, but had no comment.

Fire District 8 operates with some 50 volunteer members and protects about 200 square miles in middle Lewis County. It’s annual operating budget is about $400,000.

McDaniels’s case was filed in Lewis County Superior Court in January of last year, and moved to U.S. District Court, until it was remanded back to Lewis County three months ago.

It initially included complaints for breach of contract, defamation and a civil rights violation as well.

Volunteer Fire Chief Dave DeBuhr has been replaced with Mayfield Village resident George Penzenik.