Lewis County Sirens.com

Updated at 5:32 p.m.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Icy roads contributed to numerous collisions yesterday around Lewis County including two serious wrecks that sent local residents to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

A 16-year-old Chehalis boy was transported to the Seattle hospital after a vehicle in which he was a passenger ran into a tree on the 100 block of Brockway Road west of Chehalis. Responders called just before 1 p.m. found five teenagers and a Jeep Cherokee that was totaled, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s office.

The 16-year-old – who wasn’t wearing a seatbelt – had head and neck injuries, according to the sheriff’s office. Two girls, ages 13 and 15, had minor injuries and a 17-year-old boy was reportedly uninjured, the sheriff’s office reported. All are from Chehalis.

The 16-year-old driver, a Seattle resident, was also uninjured, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said. He was taken to the Lewis County Juvenile Detention Center for a warrant, driving on a suspended license, taking a motor vehicle without permission and for giving a deputy a false name, according to Brown.

Earlier in the morning, a 31-year-old Toledo woman was flown to Harborview with a broken pelvis after her car slid into a telephone pole on the 700 block of Jackson Highway South near Toledo, according to the sheriff’s office. Her 4-year-old passenger sustained a cut on the forehead and was transported to Providence Centralia Hospital, according to Brown. The car was destroyed in the approximately 8:40 a.m. crash, according to Brown.

Two other accidents attended to by deputies left drivers with no injuries but their vehicles with major damage, according to the sheriff’s office. The first was around 8:15 a.m. on the 200 block of Ingalls Road west of Centralia in which an SUV slid into a ditch onto it side, according to Brown.

At about 8:30 p.m., a deputy responded to a car that ran into a fence on the 300 block of Jackson Highway South, according to Brown.

And finally at about 11 p.m., a 17-year-old Centralia girl driving a pickup truck slid into a ditch and a telephone box on the 4700 block of Galvin Road in Centralia, according to the sheriff’s office. Her truck was described as totaled and her family took her to the hospital, Brown said.

East Lewis County where the residents have seen more snow fared better.

Washington State Patrol Sgt. Darin Foster, supervisor of the Morton detachment,  said he didn’t investigate a single collision yesterday.

This morning he found compact snow along U.S. Highway 12 farther east toward White Pass and mostly slush around the Morton area, he said.

“We’ve got  lot of skiers going up to White Pass,” Foster said. “We had 24 inches in 24 hours.”

Foster credited the Department of Transportation with doing a good job of keeping the highway cleared, but advised motorists to be cautious.

“Obviously, drive for conditions, slow down and be prepared to slow down,” he said.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The Centralia man robbed over the weekend of marijuana he offered on Craigslist to “qualifying medical patients” tells police a story of grabbing the pistol that was used to strike him in the face as he sat in the backseat of the suspects’ car.

He said he fought them both to escape, jumping out of the car and landing in a puddle on East Van Buren Street, in a south Centralia residential neighborhood, according to charging documents.

Joshua Z. Smith, 28, told police he produced his own handgun from a shoulder holster and, because he feared the suspects would shoot at him, fired approximately four rounds striking the back of the vehicle before it sped away, according to charging documents.

Two teenage suspects from Tacoma went before a judge yesterday in Lewis County Superior Court. The pair were arrested later on Saturday for the robbery after a trooper followed their car into a Ross store parking lot in Lacey.

Their vehicle reportedly had several bullet holes in the right rear quarter panel.

Nobody was shot and police recovered four or five shell casings from the scene of Saturday’s events.

It’s not legal to sell marijuana under the newly enacted recreational use law, nor is it legal to sell it under the existing medical marijuana laws.

Centralia police this weekend weren’t focused on the sale, or exchange, of the drug, but on the armed robbery. Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Kjell Warner who is handling the case said he didn’t have any information about whether Smith is facing any potential charges.

“I’m not sure what we’re going to do with him at this point,” Warner said yesterday afternoon.

The teens, who are apparently cousins, are both students in the Tacoma area.

Yahdriel E. Jones, 18, is enrolled at Tacoma Community College, where is earning his GED, defense attorney Bob Schroeter told the judge as he argued for lower bail yesterday afternoon.

Howard E. Ross 19, is in his fourth quarter at Clover Park Technical School, Schroeter said.

Ross has two prior convictions for first-degree robbery, from 2009 when he was a teenager, according to Warner.

“He paid his debt to society in 2009,” Schroeter told the judge. “He made a mistake, a terrible mistake.”

Judge James Lawler increased Ross’s bail from $150,000 as it was set over the weekend to $500,000 at the prosecutor’s request. Bail was set at $300,000 for Jones.

The two young men are each charged with first-degree robbery, along with a special allegation they were armed with a firearm.

Ross’s mother was in court yesterday, prepared to sign the unsecured bond Schroeter requested.

Charging documents and police offer other details as follows:

Smith said he placed the ad online on Craigslist that he had “extra quality meds” up for donation. He listed the price at $125 per ounce.

Two males drove down from Tacoma to buy the marijuana from him and parked their white Hyundai Elantra on the street in front of his house.

He got in their car.

“The two suspects asked Smith how much weed he had, and Smith showed them what he brought out,” Warner writes. “The front seat passenger produced a large semi-automatic pistol and told Smith to give him all the weed.”

Smith hesitated.

That’s when he was hit in the face with the end of the gun.

Warner said police searched the car and recovered the weed, the gun and the cell phone the suspects allegedly took from Smith.

Centralia Police Department detective Sgt. Pat Fitzgerald didn’t have any information on Saturday if Smith was a qualified medical marijuana user or someone’s designated provider.

Arraignments for Jones and Ross will take place on Thursday.

Centralia police are diagraming the scene on Van Buren Street after several gunshots were fired following the robbery of a man’s marijuana today.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CENTRALIA – An advertisement on Craigslist by a Centralia man of medical marijuana for sale led to an armed robbery and then several shots being fired in front of his house before the suspects fled.

Two suspects were subsequently arrested in Lacey.

Police called about 12:40 p.m. today to the 200 block of East Van Buren Street learned the 28-year-old Centralia man placed an online ad indicating he had some “extra quality meds” up for donation for medical marijuana patients, according to Centralia police. He listed the price as $125 per ounce, according to police.

When the buyers arrived to Van Buren Street, the seller got in their car and was ordered at gunpoint to hand over the marijuana, according to police. A short struggle ensued, he was struck in the side of the face with a handgun but then escaped their white Hyundai, according to police.

The 28-year-old man then fired several shots at the fleeing vehicle, striking it numerous times, according to police.

The man’s injuries are described as minor; his name has not been released.

Centralia Police Department detective Sgt. Pat Fitzgerald said the victim claims to be a medical marijuana provider and it is illegal to sell it to anyone, but that’s not the focus of the investigation tonight.

Two teenagers from Tacoma were taken into custody in a parking lot off Pacific Avenue in Lacey after their car was spotted by a trooper this afternoon, according to Officer John Panco. The car was impounded and will be searched on Monday, Fitzgerald said.

Booked into the Lewis County Jail for first-degree robbery were Yahdriel E. Jones, 18, and Howard E. Ross 19, according to the Centralia Police Department.

Centralia police set evidence markers out on Van Buren Avenue following a robbery.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CENTRALIA – Police are investigating a robbery in a south Centralia neighborhood that neighbors say included multiple gunshots.

The victim suffered a minor injury, not from being shot but from being hit, according to the Centralia Police Department.

Officers were called about 12:40 p.m. today to the 200 block of East Van Buren Street, just off South Gold.

Detectives are at the scene, where multiple yellow evidence markers have been placed on the street.

Around-the-corner neighbor Jay Jones was decorating his Christmas tree with his girlfriend when he heard multiple gunshots.

The first couple were distinct, but the “pops” that followed came so fast he couldn’t count them, Jones said.

Police Sgt. Kurt Reichert said further details would be released when an officer is available.

More to come.

The Hurley’s green barn has been cleaned up and the brown barn has been torn down, but the ravine remains on their property since the 2009 mudslides. / Courtesy photo

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The jury in the Glenoma mudslides case returned a verdict this morning in favor of Menasha Forest Products.

The attorney representing 11 families whose properties were inundated with mud, trees, boulders and debris during a January 2009 storm says they may appeal.

“It’s too early to know, but it’s certainly something we’re considering,” Seattle-based lawyer David Bricklin said.

The decision by 12 men and women was reached in less than three hours following an approximately six-week long trial in Lewis County Superior Court. Specifically, they found Menasha was not negligent in its actions.

Bricklin, representing the plaintiffs, contended it was Menasha’s clear cutting of a steep unstable slope above Glenoma that caused the destruction to a number of properties. Menasha’s lawyers said it was erosion from a storm that brought an unprecedented amount of water.

Bessie Hurley, who with her husband Jerome Hurley was part of the lawsuit, said she’s deeply disappointed.

“What is most upsetting about it isn’t the money,” she said. “It’s that the logging company had it confirmed to them they can do whatever they want with no consequences.”

Bessie Hurley, 59, and her family experienced multiple slides on their five acres that day, one of which left a ravine 10 feet deep and as much as 30 feet wide across their yard.

They haven’t been able to afford the bull dozing work or new top soil needed to restore their property, she said. A barn that was undercut had to be torn down, she said.

The worst part though was the fear, the fear they were going to die, she said.

She spoke of hearing what sounded like a freight train before daybreak on Jan. 7, 2009, and going outside with flashlights to explore what had occurred. Four more slides came through before they called 911 and were told, if they couldn’t get out, then rescuers wouldn’t be able reach them.

She describes walls of debris with boulders the size of Volkswagens roiling down as though in a washing machine.

The property at the far end of Martin Road has been in her family since 1964. She said she’s afraid to live there, but can’t imagine anyone who would buy the place.

She and her husband are retired, and take care of an 18-year-old daughter with cerebral palsy who is bedridden.

“I have to tell you, I feel like that logging company raped us that day, and now they did it again,” Bessie Hurley said.

Another one of the plaintiffs, the only one who doesn’t live on Martin Road, considers himself one of the luckier ones. The mud and silt only ran under his house, across his grass and ruined his nature trail and about five cords of split and stacked maple, he said.

Disappointed isn’t a strong enough word for Mike Wood.

“It’s just another case of large corporate greed,” Wood said. “They made the profit, we suffered the destruction, and they don’t have to answer for it.”

Menasha was purchased in 2007 by The Campbell Group based in Portland.

Neither they not their attorney could be reached for comment today.

Olympia attorney Robert Wright filed the lawsuit in November 2010, and took it to trial with Bricklin.

Still pending, is another mudslide suit filed by Wright, involving Manke Timber Co. and five individuals who lived on Bear Mountain Road.

Also, seven of the original plaintiffs – from around the Lunch Creek area – will see their case go to trial in April of next year in Lewis County Superior Court.

Bricklin said he didn’t think the verdict today necessarily means much for the Lunch Creek case, even though all 12 jurors agreed when only 10 were needed for a decision.

The defendant in that case is Port Blakely, and it also involves a clear cut, he said.

“The negligence claims in the Lunch Creek suit are very different,” Bricklin said. “Different different rules, different facts and different landscaping.”
•••

For background, read “Lawsuit: Glenoma families fault logging practices for 2009 mudslide damage” from Thursday December 13, 2012, here

Glenoma mudslides. / Courtesy photo Washington State Department of Natural Resources

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Almost four years ago, while the public’s attention was turned to predictions of flooding on major rivers in Western Washington, forecasters were warning the coming heavy rains would swell small streams and increase the likelihood of landslides.

In Morton, an estimated three feet of snow on the ground melted down to two in about 12 hours.

Rain-saturated snow collapsed roofs. Creeks and rivers overflowed and changed courses and hillsides of trees and mud slid into houses, yards and across roadways.

It was Jan. 7, 2009.

Interstate 5 was closed from exit 68 and to the north through Lewis County because of water over the freeway. At the same time, U.S. Highway 12 between Morton and Packwood was shut down with multiple mudslides.

The Glenoma area was especially hard hit.

Lawyers representing 11 families wrapped up closing arguments in Lewis County Superior Court today in a trial in which a timber company is being asked to repay them for the damages.

Seattle-based lawyer David Bricklin contends Menasha Forest Products, purchased in 2007 by The Campbell Group based in Portland, clear cut a steep unstable slope above Glenoma causing a number of properties to be buried by mud on Jan. 7, 2009.

Menasha’s attorney Bud Fallon says the huge storm with an unprecedented amount of water started a process of erosion which caused great damage. But no one was hurt, and no one was killed, Fallon said.

The trial began Nov. 1 before Judge Nelson Hunt.

The “harvest unit” in question was about 118 acres of Douglas Fir clear-cut in the year 2000, according to Fallon.

Fallon spoke to the jury today of multiple slides that ripped whole trees from the ground, and sent boulders, rocks and 16,000 cubic feet of soil down the hillside.

He said Menasha followed the logging rules set by the Department of Natural Resources.

“This isn’t a landslide, you can see clearly this is erosion,” he said. “The run off would have been the same whether the harvest occurred or not.”

The plaintiff’s attorney Bricklin argued it was a big storm, but one that could have been anticipated and taken into account.

The huge storm of 1996 didn’t cause anything similar, he said.

“What’s different between 1996 and 2009?” Bricklin asked. “One difference of course is the fact it’s been clear-cut.

“The geology didn’t change, the slope didn’t change, but the vegetation on it did.”

Bricklin noted some unique features on this site, such as slopes higher than 31 percent situated directly above homes.

“Menasha was willing to take the risk,” he said.

Olympia attorney Robert Wright filed the lawsuit in November 2010 on behalf of Glenoma residents Jerome and Bessie Hurley and others. The plaintiffs involved in the case were affected by the Martin Road slides.

Bricklin said they are asking Menasha to cover in the neighborhood of $100,000 to $750,000 per family.

Jurors began deliberating just after 3:30 p.m. today and will resume in the morning.

Seven of the original plaintiffs – from around the Lunch Creek area – will see their case go to trial in April of next year.

The Roadside Inn Tavern on U.S. Highway was destroyed during the same storm from a different mudslide, according to Wright.

Another suit filed by Wright is pending, involving Manke Timber Co. and five individuals who lived on Bear Mountain Road on the south side of the Tilton River near Morton.

James Reeder waits to be escorted out of the courtroom and back down to the jail.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A judge will decide if some of the information gathered by police during their death investigation of a Centralia toddler will be kept from jurors, details James Reeder’s attorney said were obtained illegally.

Reeder, 26, is charged with homicide by abuse and other related offenses regarding the May death of his live-in girlfriend’s daughter, 2-year-old Koralynn Fister.

Reeder claimed he found her face down in the bathtub and carried the naked and unbreathing child to neighbors across the street from her house asking them to call 911 while he attempted CPR.

Prosecutors allege Reeder tortured and raped the child. According to the coroner, Koralynn died from drowning and head trauma.

Defense attorney David Arcuri filed a motion to suppress evidence in Lewis County Superior Court, alleging a Centralia police detective went inside the home on West Oakview Street the afternoon of May 24 purportedly to see if there was another child in the residence even though other officers had told him they’d already checked inside for anyone else.

The information detective Pat Beall obtained while inside is what Arcuri is trying to get tossed out, according to Arcuri.

According to the written motion, Beall walked through the house and found no other children. He then dipped his hand into the bath water, finding it cold to his touch.

Beall notified the hospital and was told the child’s temperature was 84 degrees while in the emergency room, according to Arcuri.

The fire department had been called the scene at 3:09 p.m. and Koralynn was taken to Providence Centralia Hospital where she was pronounced dead at 4:15 p.m.

Beall’s information and more was given to Lewis County District Court Judge R.W. Buzzard to then obtain a search warrant for the house, according to Arcuri.

“If you conduct a search without a warrant, it’s presumptively bad,” Arcuri said today.

The other side must show it was okay, according to Arcuri.

Reeder and his attorney went before a judge briefly this morning to schedule a hearing on the matter.

The arguments will be heard on Jan. 11. Reeder’s trial is set for the end of January.

Reeder remains held in the Lewis County Jail on $5 million bail.
•••

For background, read “Defendant in Centralia toddler death by abuse case pleads not guilty” from Thursday July 12, 2012, here