Lewis County Sirens.com

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The Toledo High School student charged with hitting his father in the head with a baseball bat this summer pleaded guilty yesterday to a lesser crime, but still in adult court.

The boy, who turned 17 about a month ago, was arrested in mid-July and charged in adult court with first-degree assault, a felony for which he faced as long as 12 years in prison, according to Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Shane O’Rourke.

Charging documents contended he came upon his parents arguing about the father’s extramarital affairs and struck his dad with a metal bat.

When police and aid were called to the Toledo home, the father Leslie Bagley was unconscious on the floor with what was described as major trauma to his head, according to authorities.

O’Rourke said he understood the injuries included multiple skull fractures, although they appear to have healed.

Prosecutors had to get a court order to get interviews with the parents.

The teenager was in Lewis County Superior Court yesterday, where he pleaded guilty to second-degree assault, but still in adult court as prosecutors insisted, according to O’Rourke.

“This is about as close as you can get to being a mortal injury,” he said. “It could have been murder two, that’s why we stuck to our guns.”

The standard sentencing range he now faces is 15 to 21 months, which includes a deadly weapon enhancement for the baseball bat.

O’Rourke called it a good outcome, that takes into account the defendant’s age, their desires and community safety.

Defense attorney Chris Baum said his client made the choice to take the plea agreement. He called it a tough situation.

“It’s kind of a sad case all the way around,” Baum said. “The victim didn’t want him prosecuted, but the state insisted.”

Sentencing will occur in January.

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For background, read “Toledo teen charged in adult court for allegedly taking bat to father’s head” from Tuesday July 24, 2012, here

A jail guard takes Reginald L. Juntunen’s finger prints before leading him out of the courtroom.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Twenty-four-year-old Reginald L. Juntunen told the court he’s truly sorry for molesting an 8-year-old girl before a judge gave the Winlock man a sentence of 25 years to life.

Juntunen was in Lewis County Superior Court this afternoon following a plea agreement that avoids a trial for the girl who is now 13 years old.

His parents, sister, grandmother and friends filled two rows on one side of the Chehalis courtroom while the victim’s father sat in the back in the opposite corner.

Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Joely O’Rourke read a statement from the father, who wrote of the day five years ago in the Mossyrock campground that forever changed the carefree life of his then 8-year-old child.

He thanked Juntunen for not killing her, and for admitting what he did.

“She’s very happy you’ll be going away for a long time, and won’t be able to hurt anyone again,” O’Rourke read.

Reginald L. Juntunen, two years ago at a Christian event

Juntunen was arrested this summer after he was identified through DNA as a suspect in the unsolved case from September 2007. He pleaded guilty last month to first-degree child molestation, for sexually assaulting the girl in a campground restroom.

The plea agreement contained an aggravating factor, that the offense was predatory.

The case was originally charged as rape and numerous related offenses but lawyers on the two sides settled on  child molestation, involving sexual contact with the girl.

Defense attorney Chris Baum said told the judge he knew his words wouldn’t change the sentence which is set by statute, but described a client who from the start accepted responsibility for what he did.

Baum said he’s known the Winlock High School graduate for a long time and was surprised by the charges.

“He unfortunately had abused too many drugs and too much alcohol,” Baum said.

Juntunen was enrolled in Lewis County Drug Court when he was charged in the case.

With a box of tissue at his side and with lengthy pauses during which he sniffled, Juntunen spoke of his shame for his behavior and of falling short of his family’s expectations. He kept his back to the courtroom benches and news cameras during the entirety of the hearing.

“As an early teen, I strayed away to a life heavily influenced by drugs and alcohol,” he said. “My morals and values were lost in my addiction.”

He vowed to use his time in prison to better himself.

O’Rourke also read a letter from the victim, in which she described having to stay close to her mom and dad out in public, and her fear of going into a restroom alone.

“Even today, I’m afraid the same thing could happen to me,”Rourke recited. “But at least now I’m more aware.”

Judge James Lawler called the case horrendous, and imposed the sentence of 25 years to life.

During that time, Juntunen will also serve 20 months for a burglary and selling stolen jewelry that occurred this year.

Baum said it will be up to the indeterminate sentencing board if and when Juntunen gets out of prison. He will be on probation for the rest of his life if he gets out.

“He’s gonna do more than 20 years, and then the board will take a look at him,” Baum said.
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For background, read: “Breaking news: Winlock man admits he touched girl in campground restroom” from Friday Nov. 9, 2012, here

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

A Volkswagen Jetta on Interstate 5 near Vader was hit by two semi trucks overnight, first in the northbound lanes and then after it was propelled across the freeway, by a southbound big rig.

The wreck just before 1 a.m. was part of an incident that involved four semi trucks and two passenger vehicles and closed portions of the freeway until earlier this morning.

All but two of the rigs had to be towed.

“The driver of the Jetta, at least a broken nose, non-life threatening injuries, surprisingly,” Trooper Will Finn said this morning.

It began when a southbound Freightliner swerved for a deer, struck the center barrier and lost part of an axle and at least one tire which came to rest in the northbound lanes, according to the Washington State Patrol.

The Jetta and a Dodge van both struck the tire assembly and became disabled, Finn said. A northbound Freightliner struck the Jetta and the van, shooting the Jetta into the northbound lanes where another semi truck ran into it, according to Finn.

A fourth semi became disabled when it hit debris in the northbound lanes, he said.

It happened near milepost 58, near the Cowlitz River.

A detour was put in place until about 4 a.m. when just the inside lanes were closed while workers reset the jersey barriers, according to the Washington State Department of Transportation.

The driver of the Jetta, Henry Hammond, 57, of Tacoma, was transported to Providence Centralia Hospital. He was treated and has been released.

The van’s driver, Christopher Hawkins, 57, of Clackamas, Ore., was taken to St. John Medical Center in Longview with chest pain, according to Finn.

Stephanie N. Laird, 33, of Vancouver, who was driving the 2005 Freightliner that swerved was uninjured, according to the state patrol.

The deer apparently was not struck and was not at the scene, according to Finn. Charges are pending, he said.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A 33-year-old Chehalis mother is being held in the Lewis County Jail after she allegedly three times sold small quantities of methamphetamine from her home while police were surveilling.

Nora M. Davis was arrested on Friday morning after police served a search warrant at her home on the 200 block of Southwest Second Street. There, they found a man who answered the door with suspected meth in his pants and then in her bedroom, a scale for weighing drugs as well as a bag of suspected meth and a glass pipe, according to charging documents and police.

Chehalis police had given Davis a break in July after meth residue was found on a pipe in her purse, offering her a chance to become a confidential informant instead of a drug charge, but she failed to follow through, according to prosecutors.

Davis has no criminal history. A judge yesterday ordered her held on $10,000 bail.

Charging documents describe how Davis then became a target for another confidential informant who in October, November and last Thursday allegedly purchased $20 and $60 amounts of the drug during visits to Davis’s home.

Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Eric Eisenberg said the 41-year-old Chehalis man – Thomas D. Crews – who was arrested on Friday morning was being released from jail without charges.  Eisenberg wouldn’t say why.

Davis is charged with three counts of delivery of a controlled substance and two counts of possession. She is expected to make her pleas on Thursday in Lewis County Superior Court.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Chehalis police found numerous clues in Wal-Mart’s security video as they scoured the images after the suspected driver of a stolen $50,000 truck eluded pursuing deputies and slipped into the Chehalis super store a week ago.

Sgt. Brian Hickey said he couldn’t make out the license plate of the white van that appeared to pick up the suspect about five minutes after he entered the business on Dec. 2, but he later spotted a similar vehicle and ran the plates to discover the registered owner had been booked into jail before. He looked like the same guy, according to Hickey.

The clincher was the hooded sweatshirt with distinctive stripes shed by the suspect before departing Wal-Mart, according to Hickey. The van’s owner was wearing a jacket like that in his Facebook picture, Hickey said.

It was about 4:40 a.m. a week ago Sunday when a Lewis County sheriff’s deputy attempted to pull over a speeding driver near a Chehalis automobile dealer on North National Avenue. After the chase ended at Wal-Mart, deputies and police surrounded the building but the driver vanished.

The 2012 Chevrolet pickup truck had been stolen from Titus Will.

Hickey interviewed his suspect yesterday, after the 28-year-old Centralia resident was picked up by Centralia police.

“So, I go to ask him questions, like, do you know why police are looking for you?” Hickey said this morning.

“He says yeah, I got an idea,” Hickey said.

“Well?” Hickey asked him.

“Oh, for crimes,” the suspect answered, according to Hickey.

“Yeah?” Hickey said he asked.

“For breaking into the coffee stands,” the man replied, according to the sergeant.

Hickey said Garrett R. Dschaak told him about twice stealing from Ooh La Latte on Bishop Road in Chehalis and two recent espresso stand burglaries in Centralia.

He said he lost his job about a month ago, and needed the money, Hickey said.

“So, when he got done talking about all that stuff, which I didn’t know he was involved in, we talked about Wal-Mart,” Hickey said. “Cleared up a lot of crimes.”

Dschaak was booked into the Lewis County Jail yesterday for attempting to elude and possession of a stolen vehicle. More charges can be expected from the other police agencies, according to Hickey.

The suspect is scheduled to go before a judge this afternoon.

George Benton, pictured with his wife Gerry, kept lots of copies of the local Senior Dynamics magazine after he was featured in it 10 years ago. Former co-worker Barbara Lovelady said he hadn’t aged since this photo was taken.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The 94-year-old man hit by a car as he crossed a Chehalis street in his power wheelchair on Monday evening died yesterday after returning home from the hospital.

Chehalis police have reopened the accident investigation.

George Benton, a retired Chehalis firefighter, lived in an adult family home about a block from where he was struck. It happened about 5 p.m. Monday in a crosswalk on the 1100 block of South Market Boulevard, in front of Safeway.

Benton still owned his own house above the southeast corner of the grocery store parking lot.

“Almost every day he’d get on his scooter and drive up the hill to work in his yard or putter in his shop,” said Leah Jensen, operator of Leah’s Adult Family Home.

Chehalis police on Tuesday described the accident as one that resulted in minor injuries. Sgt. Brian Hickey said Benton was in a crosswalk but it was dark and the driver didn’t see him.

Chehalis Deputy Police Chief Randy Kaut said today the driver was a 53-year-old Onalaska woman behind the wheel of a 1990s Buick passenger car.

It wasn’t clear today if a decision had been made to not ticket the driver, or if the collision investigation just wasn’t quite finished, according to Kaut. There were a lot of witnesses to interview, Kaut said.

Police don’t yet know the reason for the death, he said.

“We’ve reopened the accident and we’re going to take a look at what direction to go,” Kaut said.

Barbara Lovelady, administrative assistant at the Chehalis Fire Department, said Benton was a very good friend who she visited often. He was a captain when he retired in 1984, after almost 32 years with the department, she said.

“He was pretty special, he always had lots of stories,” she said.

Benton lost his wife a few years ago and had no children, she said. Lovelady described him as a talented carpenter who was still very active and appreciated a bargain.

“He was very well known at Safeway, and the Visiting Nurses Thrift Shop,” she said. “He was a ‘frequent flier’ there.”

He traveled by scooter, by bus and it wasn’t too many years ago he was still riding his bicycle down to the fire department to “talk the ears off” firefighters.

“Yeah, he was having trouble remembering, but it didn’t slow him down any,” Lovelady said.

He built platforms in his apple trees so he could sit up there and prune them. This past spring, Chehalis police were called more than once to his yard by worried neighbors.

Jensen said Benton came to live in her home on 12th Street about three and half years ago, after a stroke left him with short-term memory loss.

He spoke of the value of growing up poor, the importance of fitness, and at 94, could easily pass for 75, she said.

The accident left him with a broken ankle and a cut to his ear, according to the women.

Benton was taken to Providence Centralia Hospital and then later that night to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle to get his ear repaired, according to Jensen. One of her staff brought him home Tuesday evening, she said.

He just wasn’t feeling very well, she said.

“He was sitting at the table yesterday, I made him breakfast but he wasn’t hungry,” she said. “He told me, I feel like all my friends are gathering around me.”

Benton was having shortness of breath, so she called his doctor, and then when it got worse, she called 911.

“They got him on the gurney, but before they left, he passed,” she said.

The EMT told her it was most likely a blood clot, she said.

Benton is survived by three first cousins, two of them in Tacoma, according to Jensen.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A man caught with roughly a kilo of methamphetamine in a shopping bag less than two weeks ago pleaded guilty today in Lewis County Superior Court.

Enrique Orozco-Cabrera

Enrique Orozco-Cabrera, 36, was sentenced to 20 months in prison, the top of the standard range for the crime of possession with intent to deliver.

Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Shane O’Rourke said under state law, the amount of the drug doesn’t matter, whether its two pounds or two ounces.

Orozco-Cabrera has no criminal history – according to O’Rourke – or he would have faced more time.

O’Rourke called him obviously well connected, but  defense attorney J.P. Enbody didn’t think that was the case.

“I don’t think that’s his main job,” Enbody said. “I think somebody said, go do this, and like an idiot, he did.”

When Judge Richard Brosey asked Orozco-Cabrera about the last grade he completed in school and his ability to read and write, the defendant replied through a Spanish interpreter: “I never went to school because we were too poor.”

This was no plea deal, the defendant’s attorney told the judge last week his client wanted to plead guilty.

Orozco-Cabrera was arrested by Centralia police on Nov. 23 after an officer got a tip a man named Lewis would be arriving with two pounds of meth in exchange for $21,000. It happened in Lewis County, although charging documents didn’t disclose specifically where.

Police said Orozco-Cabrera was from Seattle, court documents said his city of residence was unknown. Customs and Immigration has a “hold” on him, meaning he likely is not in the country legally, according to O’Rourke.

When he was arrested, he had $6,000 cash and a Mexican identification with someone else’s name.

Where the more than two pounds of drugs came from, O’Rourke didn’t know but said it’s definitely something law enforcement would be looking into.

O’Rourke said initially federal authorities were interested in taking the case because of the amount of drugs, but apparently changed their mind.

Enbody suggested to the judge it was a “lesson learned”.

“He did indicate he never wants to get in trouble again and never wants to come back,” Enbody said.

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For background, read: “Suspected drug dealer ready to admit guilt less than a week after arrest by Centralia police” from Saturday December 1, 2012, here