Lewis County Sirens.com

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The Lewis County Coroner’s Office says the man who was found dead laying on the ground next to a dumpster in Centralia is 49-year-old Michael S. Christin of Chehalis.

The preliminary autopsy results indicate his death was from natural causes – from the natural disease process – but a final determination has not been made, according to Coroner Warren McLeod.

Police were alerted to the discovery of Christin’s body next the Good Health Nutrition Center building on Harrison Avenue by a passerby about 7 o’clock on Thursday morning, according to police.

Centralia resident Chandra Shilley who conducts outreach to the less fortunate through the group Open Arms said Christin was living out of his truck, although she also knew him from several years ago through his job.

“He had a wife, a family, a home,” Shilley said of earlier times. “Like all of us, he was one paycheck away (from homelessness.)”

He was found about 25 feet from the sidewalk that runs alongside the strip mall parking lot that includes Centralia Goodwill, near the Skookumchuk Bridge.

McLeod indicated today the official cause and manner of death won’t be known until after getting back the results of toxicology tests. That can take up to 90 days.

Centralia police have said the death didn’t appear suspicious.
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For background, read “Centralia: Dead man’s identity, cause of death still not released” from Friday March 16, 2018, here

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Police say the man found laying dead next to a dumpster outside a Centralia business yesterday morning was still warm to the touch.

The 49-year-old’s body was discovered by a passerby, about 25 feet from the sidewalk along the 500 block of Harrison Avenue, a main arterial in town. Centralia police were alerted at 7:08 a.m., police Sgt. Tracy Murphy said.

Murphy said there were no obvious signs of foul play or trauma, but the cause of death is unknown.

“We just have to wait for the autopsy results to come back,” he said today.

His identity has not yet been released.

Police said yesterday the man has a Chehalis address. He has a couple of different addresses, one on his license and one from the law enforcement database, Murphy said.

He had a backpack on, but did not have a bedroll with him or any other bags of belongings that might suggest he was living on the streets, Murphy said.

Temperatures dropped to 30 degrees during the night previous.

Centralia resident Chandra Shilley, who with her husband Chris Shilley distributes meals every Wednesday afternoon at the Amtrak station, said she knows the man who died. He was living out of his vehicle, she said.

“It’s sad, it’s incredibly sad,” she said.

Shilley estimates there are easily 150 people locally living on the streets.

The body was released to the Lewis County Coroner’s Office for autopsy and formal identification.

Last winter, in mid-December, a homeless man was found dead of hypothermia after a night of freezing temperatures, with his backpack and all of his belongings at Rotary Riverside Park off Harrison Avenue. Jerry Allen Grimm was 57 years old.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS –  A 15-year-old boy was arrested yesterday for making threats at White Pass High School of going on a killing spree and hurting other students.

The Glenoma teen allegedly made statements in a hallway and in a classroom in front of other students that he was “going to take a truck and commit mass murder at the school”, apparently by driving over other students, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies were dispatched to the school in Randle about 10 a.m. on Tuesday and conducted an investigation, according to Chief Deputy Bruce Kimsey. The boy was sent home from school and wasn’t arrested until yesterday, according to Kimsey.

He was booked into the Lewis County Juvenile Detention Center for a gross misdemeanor related to intimidation of staff or students by threat of force or violence.

Kimsey said the second statement reported to the principal attributed to the 15-year-old was something to the effect of, if there was going to be a mass murder, it would be by his hand.

The sheriff’s office has zero tolerance regarding students making threats of harm to other students at school, Kimsey said.

The incident followed an episode occurring Monday at Morton High School in which a student joking about shooting morphed into a report of a youngster with a firearm at the school, causing a lockdown and drawing law enforcement officers with guns drawn.

Courtesy photo by Morton School District

Updated at 11:04 a.m.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS –  Morton Police Department Chief Roger Morningstar rushed into Morton High School yesterday carrying a long gun following a report of a student at the school with a firearm.

The entire school district was put in lockdown at the time of the approximately 3:15 p.m. call, but it turned out the initial report was based off of a statement made between students joking about a shooting, according to authorities.

“We take threats such of these seriously and will take immediate action to safeguard our children,” the chief posted on the department’s Facebook page. “Everyone at the school was safe and no one was hurt.”

The chief said he, another officer and a Lewis County sheriff’s deputy arrived within three to four minutes and immediately entered the building armed.

Morningstar asked that everyone understand these sorts of threats are no laughing matter.

“We ask that our students understand that this is not a joke,” he wrote. “This is not funny. This is serious and lives are placed at risk with inappropriate comments, jokes or exaggerations.”

The chief said a thorough investigation revealed the students were joking and no criminal charges will be filed.

Morningstar stated that such reports will be handled as “real world” events. Anyone who makes substantiated threats or false reports will be charged accordingly, he wrote.

The Morton School District said it happened after school was let out and the busses had departed.

“We would like to thank Morton Police Department and the Lewis County Sheriffs Office for their prompt response and resolving the incident,” the District stated on its Facebook page. “We would also like to thank our students and staff who responded appropriately and kept everyone safe.”

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FREEWAY CHASE

• A 14-year-old boy was arrested early this morning for felony eluding when he failed to pull over for a deputy beginning around milepost 60 on southbound Interstate 5. It had appeared the driver of the Ford F150 pickup was possibly intoxicated, at one point nearly sideswiping a semi truck, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The approximately 3:20 a.m. pursuit was terminated but the deputy followed the truck at normal speeds until it stopped, high centered on a log near Burma Road in Toutle, according got the sheriff’s office. The Olympia teen acknowledged taking his father’s truck and said he was running away from home, Chief Deputy Dusty Breen said. He was booked into the Lewis County Juvenile Detention Center.

MAN GIVES UP AR-15

• Chehalis police were called to pickup a firearm after a man who seemed distraught brought an AR-15 to the Lewis County Veterans Museum, saying he wanted them to have it but wouldn’t leave his name or any information for them yesterday afternoon. The man who was around 70 years said he was a military veteran and suggested he was being persecuted by the government for having the gun, according to the Chehalis Police Department. Department spokesperson Linda Bailey said police are trying to track down the owner, and isn’t sure what will happen with the weapon because firearms laws likely prevent it from being treated as an ordinary lost or found item.

AND MORE

• And, as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, trespassing, misdemeanor domestic assault, driving with suspended license, protection order violation; responses for alarm, dispute, civil issue,  vehicle collision, suspicious circumstances, misdemeanor theft … and more among 122 calls for local law enforcement and / or fire-emergency medical services in the 24-hour period ending about 7 a.m.

Child gets secured with rope by firefighter for retrieval from fir tree in Centralia. / Courtesy photo by Riverside Fire Authority

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Centralia firefighters rescued a boy who climbed a tree to rescue a cat and got stuck about 30 feet above the ground today.

A crew called about 12:15 p.m. to the 2500 block of Colonial Drive west of Providence Centralia Hospital found the child standing on and clinging to some branches, according to Riverside Fire Authority.

The 11-year-old boy was trying to catch a cat that had been in the fir tree for an extended period of time, according to the fire department. He wasn’t injured, but was afraid to climb back down, according to Fire Capt. Scott Weinert.

They attempted to use their ladder truck to reach the boy, but the tree was far enough off the road, they couldn’t because the truck needed to be parked on the road. The Chehalis Fire Department’s ladder truck had the same issue, according to Weinert.

A firefighter climbed the tree while rigged with a climbing harness and rope. He reached the victim, secured him to the rope and they descended together.

The 11-year-old was cold, but unharmed, Weinert said. He was checked by medics and released to his mother.

The cat found its own way to the ground during the rescue operation.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS –  Two elderly drivers were hospitalized after their vehicles collided and were totaled on U.S. Highway 12 in Ethel today.

Troopers called at 11:32 a.m. to the area near Tucker Road determined the 1993 Dodge Dynasty driven by 91-year-old Mildred E. Wood, from Ethel, entered the eastbound lane from a driveway and was struck by an eastbound sport utility vehicle.

The driver of the Kia Sorento was 81-year-old Patricia M. Paxton from Pe Ell, according to the Washington State Patrol. Both women were injured and transported to Providence Centralia Hospital, according to the state patrol.

Wood was treated and has been released, according to a hospital spokesperson. Paxton is listed in fair condition this afternoon.

The women both wore seat belts and the crash is blamed on inattention.