Lewis County Sirens.com

Updated at 3:48 p.m.

WALL INSIDE CENTRALIA RESIDENCE CATCHES FIRE

• Firefighters were called about 7:20 p.m. yesterday to a home on the 1000 block of North Washington Avenue in Centralia where a fire broke out, burning a wall of a room used as an office. “The residents, they attempted to extinguish it, which they did a pretty good job,” Riverside Fire Authority Capt. Casey McCarthy said. “We put more water on it and opened up the wall.” McCarthy said the residents had grabbed a bowl of water with rice they were cooking to douse the flames. The fire appeared to have been caused from a malfunction of a piece of electronic equipment, like a printer, he said.

MISSING MEDS

• Police were called about 3:30 p.m. yesterday to a home on the 1100 block of South Pearl Street in Centralia regarding the theft of pain medication. The victim had a suspect in mind,  and the case is under investigation, according to the Centralia Police Department.

POSSIBLE PROWLER

• Centralia police were called about 8:10 p.m. yesterday to the 400 block of West Center Street where they an individual told them someone pried open his neighbor’s garage door. It wasn’t immediately known if anything was missing, according to the Centralia Police Department.

CAR PROWL

• Centralia police were called yesterday morning regarding a nighttime vehicle prowl on the 1100 block of Brotherson Road.

VANDALISM

• Centralia police took a report yesterday morning of graffiti spray painted onto a building on the 100 block of South Silver Street during the night.

• Someone threw a rock through the window of a vehicle parked on the 700 block of West Cherry Street in Centralia during the night, according to a report made to police yesterday morning.

DISAGREEMENT WITH A GUN

• Chehalis police were called about 12:40 p.m. yesterday to the 600 block of Southwest Pacific Avenue in connection with a dispute involving a vehicle reportedly speeding through the neighborhood. “It looks like there was a confrontation, some allegations of a gun being displayed, although not pointed at anyone,” Chehalis Police Department Deputy Chief Randy Kaut said. The incident is still under investigation and no arrests were made, according to Kaut.

HIT AND RUN FROM ACROSS CENTER LINE

• Deputies are looking for a dark blue two-car car with driver’s side damage that crossed the center line on the 3000 block of Jackson Highway early yesterday evening, striking an oncoming vehicle. Deputies arriving about 6:55 p.m. shortly after it happened were told by the 44-year-old Centralia man he was northbound and tried to get his Nissan Sentra onto the shoulder but couldn’t avoid the  collision, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The suspect vehicle was possibly a Mitsubishi, the sheriff’s office said. The Sentra sustained major damage and the victim said he had minor back pain but declined aid, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said.

MOTIVE FOR ROAD RAGE A MYSTERY

• A man accused of ramming another motorist on the freeway, more than once and causing it to spin out into the concrete center barrier will get his opportunity to make his plea next week in Lewis County Superior Court. Troopers responding to the incident on Interstate 5 south of Chehalis saw a plume of dust consistent with an accident and then followed a trail of smoke off exit 71 at Napavine and came upon a slow-moving sport utility vehicle that pulled to the side of the roadway and then went nose first into the ditch, according to the Washington State Patrol. The driver, a 36-year-old software engineer from Redmond, was arrested and then charged with driving under the influence of alcohol and second-degree assault, according to authorities. It happened in the southbound lanes about 3:30 p.m. on Monday and Tony C. Chiang was allowed the following day to be released on a $25,000 signature bond. The two individuals in the other car were not hurt, and didn’t know what prompted it, Washington State Patrol Sgt. Neil Weaver said. “They were shocked and surprised by it,” Weaver said. They said they saw the red SUV coming up fast in the rear view mirror, he said. The driver came alongside them and stared at the car’s occupants, before turning his vehicle into theirs striking its side, charging documents relate. He then allegedly got behind the car and struck its back end and continued pushing it until it spun out, according to charging documents. Weaver said troopers didn’t learn from Chiang why he was upset. “We don’t know, because he didn’t want to talk to us,” Weaver said. Chiang’s arraignment is scheduled for Thursday.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, shoplifting, disorderly conduct, misdemeanor assault, driving under the influence, driving with suspended license; responses for alarms, disputes, misdemeanor theft, collision on city street, hit and run … and more.

Updated at 1:23 p.m.

DIGGING FOR COPPER

• The Lewis County Public Works department is getting an estimate for dollar value of the loss of as much as a mile of underground street light wiring. Someone knocked over concrete junction boxes along the 1600 block of Rush Road south of Chehalis and removed the insulated and non-insulated copper wiring, the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reported this morning. It happened sometime between Friday and Monday, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said.

SUSPICIOUS PRIZE

• An individual at the 300 block of N Street in Centralia reported yesterday they received a message over the Internet that requested they send money in order to receive cash winnings from a contest, according to the Centralia Police Department.

FRAUD

• Centralia police took a report from the 500 block of Hemlock Street on Tuesday about a possible identity theft that occurred sometime during the past year.

• Centralia police were called on Tuesday afternoon regarding a forged prescription for pain medications at the 500 block of South Tower Avenue.

CAR PROWL

• Chehalis police responded on Tuesday morning to a report of a vehicle prowl on the 600 block of Southwest Pacific Avenue and later in the day to another prowl on the 300 block of the same street.

• Police took a report of a vehicle prowl at the 1000 block of Woodland Avenue in Centralia on Tuesday.

• Someone broke into a vehicle at the 400 block of South Buckner Street in Centralia and stole a backpack, according to a report made to police on Tuesday.

VANDALISM

• Centralia police were called about 10:15 a.m. yesterday to the 700 block of G Street where sometime during the night someone damaged a vehicle by slashing a tired and cutting a seat.

• Several buildings in the area of the 200 block of South Pearl Street were tagged with gang-style graffiti between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, according to the Centralia Police Department. Spray paint was used leaving some type of moniker, according to police.

DRUGS

• Two woman were arrested overnight following a traffic stop in which both were wanted on warrants from the state Department of Corrections and police found in the vehicle a set of digital scales and two baggies of suspected methamphetamine, according to the Chehalis Police Department. It happened on the 600 block of West Main Street about 12:15 a.m., according to police. Detective Sgt. Gary WIlson said the driver, Nichole A. Bryant, 25, from Chehalis, was booked for possession and conspiracy to deliver methamphetamine. A suspected meth pipe on the passenger, Deonna A. Williams, 27, of Centralia, got her booked for possession of meth, Wilson said.

GRASS FIRE ONALASKA

• Firefighters called to the 100 block of Leonard Road in Onalaska about 5:30 p.m. yesterday found a grass fire that apparently had begun from the neighboring church, where an individual earlier had done some weed burning along the fence line. It grew to about 30 feet by 30 feet but was knocked down quickly, Lewis County Fire District 1 Chief Mark Conner said.

GRASS FIRE TENINO

• Firefighters spent nearly four hours on Tuesday dealing with a brush fire that covered about six acres of mostly pastureland west of Tenino. Thurston County Fire District 12 Battalion Chief James Fowler said it started beneath a pair of old growth fir trees but its cause was not obvious. They created a wet perimeter to keep the fire away from three homes on Goddard Road Southwest off Tilley Road, he said. Thee horses in the area were moved to a nearby barn as a precaution, according to Fowler.

DUIS

• Chehalis city council member Robert J. Spahr was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol last night in Centralia. He was pulled over about 11 p.m. near the area of Johnson Road and Borst Avenue for not using a turn signal and the officer smelled the odor of intoxicants, according to Centralia Police Department Officer Patty Finch. Spahr was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to police.

• A 58-year-old Centralia man was hospitalized after a single-vehicle wreck on the 800 block of North Fork Road outside Chehalis on Tuesday night. Deputies responding just after 9 p.m. found aid personnel extricating the driver from the totaled van, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Chief Criminal Deputy Gene Seiber described Stephen C. Connon’s injuries as minor. Connon was subsequently booked into the Lewis County Jail for driving under the influence, according to Seiber.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, driving with suspended license; responses for  alarms, disputes, counterfeiting, shoplifting  and other misdemeanor theft, misdemeanor assault, collision on city street, hit and run to mailbox; complaint about group of pre-teenish boys at a park skateboarding on the toys and using inappropriate language … and more.

Updated at 3:43 p.m.

UNWELCOME VISITOR

• Chehalis police were called about 12:20 a.m. today to the Chehalis Avenue Apartments where a porcupine wandered up a stairwell. An officer used a broom to nudge the animal away from the buildings so it could return to where ever it came from, according to police. “We don’t handle those, we don’t pick them up,” detective Sgt. Gary WIlson said. “We just try and get them to move on their way.”

BURGLARY CENTRALIA

• Someone stole a backpack from a garage on the 400 block of West Pine Street in Centralia, according to a report made to police about 1:30 p.m. yesterday.

THEFT CENTRALIA

• Police were called to the 600 block of South Tower Avenue at 5 p.m. yesterday because an 18-pack of beer was stolen.

FRAUD CENTRALIA

• Police took a report from the 1100 block of West Chestnut Street in Centralia yesterday regarding an individual receiving a  fraudulent check in the mail which was part of a scam.

VEHICLE PROWL

• A woman called Chehalis police yesterday after discovering her wallet was missing from the glovebox of her vehicle. She believed it was taken the day before while parked at the 500 block of West Main Street, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

VANDALISM

• Centralia police took a report from the 500 block of West Main Street yesterday of spray paint on a building and a vehicle that was scratched during the night.

DRUGS

• A 21-year-old Chehalis resident on a bicycle contacted by an officer about 1:40 a.m. today near Southwest 12th Street and McFadden Avenue was arrested for possession of methamphetamine and booked into the Lewis County Jail. Reid N. Conrad was also wanted by Centralia police for an incident there, according to police. Conrad was charged in Lewis County Superior Court today with drug possession and also second-degree robbery in connection with a wallet snatched from the hand of an individual about 8 p.m. on Saturday at the 1200 block of Mellen Street in Centralia. He was ordered held on $25,000 bail.

GRASS, DUCK BLINDS BURN

• It might have been a spark from a piece of equipment or something similar that ignited a grass fire yesterday just west of Intestate 5 in Chehalis, according to the Chehalis Fire Department. Firefighters called about 3 p.m. to the 900 block of Northwest Airport Road found a lot of smoke and football-sized field mostly already burned, according to Fire Capt. Casey Beck. Someone had been tilling the ground, he said. The area was surrounded by a dirt field, so it wasn’t threatening any structures, he said. Except, three duck hunting blinds made from vegetation were burnt up, according to Beck.

AUTO THEFT

• Centralia police took a report of a vehicle stolen from the 1100 block of Harrison Avenue just before 3 o’clock this morning. It turned up later south of Chehalis after being involved in a collision, without any driver, according to the Centralia Police Department.

ZOOM ZOOM

• A 25-year-old Winlock man was arrested overnight after a deputy spotted him speeding then run a stop sign at North Military and Anterim Roads north of Winlock. Despite the deputy’s lights and sirens, the vehicle sped about 300 yards to the east end of Anterim Road into a driveway, where the driver hopped out and took off running, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. It happened about 11:30 p.m. Containment was set up by arriving officers, and a police dog was called but a deputy took the suspect into custody when he was spotted walking in the area, according to the sheriff’s office. Nicolas Dodrill was booked into the Lewis County Jail for a warrant and the sheriff’s office will recommend he be charged also with attempted eluding, Chief Criminal Deputy Gene Seiber said.

MAN ARRESTED AFTER NIGHTTIME PURSUIT

• A pursuit of a stolen car that left Tumwater at speeds of up to about 100 mph ended more than 30 miles later almost to Curtis over the weekend when the driver who had been turning his headlights on and off rolled the 1996 Honda Civic and crashed, according to the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office. Twenty-four-year-old Jonathan M. Dice was hospitalized with possible neck, back and internal injuries, according to a deputy’s report. It began about 12:45 a.m. on Saturday and the chase included Tumwater police and Thurston deputies heading down back roads until Rochester where they continued onto Interstate 5 and a state patrol aircraft followed from above, according to the report. The car headed over Curtis Hill Road and crashed near Scholes Drive, responders said. Deputies planned to book Dice on possession of stolen property, attempting to elude. He was driving with a suspended license and had an outstanding misdemeanor warrant, according to the sheriff’s office.

BUY A LOTTERY TICKET

• A driver on his way to work escaped injury overnight when a semi truck drifted into his lane, sending his pickup truck over the concrete center barrier of Interstate 5 into the oncoming lanes where it landed wheels down and rolled to the far shoulder, according to the Chehalis Fire Department. It happened about 2:45 a.m. starting in the northbound lanes just prior to the exit 77 interchange in Chehalis. “He said he didn’t roll or flip, just went airborne,” Fire Capt. Casey Beck said. “There were a lot of things going right for him, for this not to have caused a double or triple fatality.” The man was not injured at all, Beck said, although his transmission was scraped as it didn’t clear the barrier entirely.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, misdemeanor assault, protection order violation, driving with suspended license, of “Unknown, won’t give name” for obstructing; responses for alarms, disputes, shoplifting, suspicious circumstances, unlawful issuance of bad checks, discovery of a counterfeit $10 bill, collision on city street … and more.

SUPER DISORDERLY SUBJECT

• A 52-year-old Centralia man who reportedly was yelling and screaming at people and threatening to kill them yesterday at the 700 block of South Tower Avenue in Centralia was arrested for harassment. Kenneth R. Meyers was booked into the Lewis County Jail following the approximately 11:20 a.m. incident, according to the Centralia Police Department.

ARREST FOR HAVING GUNS

• A 38-year-old Salkum man was arrested when deputies were called to a family dispute at the 100 block of Rebel Lane; as deputies learned he was a convicted felon but had in his home three rifles and two pistols. It happened on Friday afternoon, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Troy Keene was booked into the Lewis County Jail for unlawful possession of firearms following the issuance of a search warrant and a look around the residence, according to the sheriff’s office.

MANDOLIN MISSING

• A deputy took a report about 2:30 yesterday afternoon of a just-discovered burglary at a home on the 100 block of Kiser Road in Ethel in which a mandolin and a wheelbarrow were among the items taken, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

STORAGE UNIT BURGLED

• Diving and fishing equipment were among the property stolen when someone forced their way into a storage locker on the 2500 block of Jackson Highway outside Chehalis. A deputy called to the facility on Friday concluded the break-in occurred sometime since  Aug. 13, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

VANDALISM

• Morton police were called after the discovery someone broke a window out of a vehicle inside a garage at the 100 block of Collar Avenue last Tuesday afternoon.

• Centralia police took a report yesterday of graffiti found on the side of a business at the 900 block of West Main Street.

CAR PROWL

• Someone prowled a vehicle parked at the 1000 block of Harrison Avenue in Centralia, according to a report made to police at about noon yesterday.

• Centralia police took a report yesterday of a car prowl on the 400 block of South Diamond Street that occurred a week ago.

• An individual reported a vehicle prowl about 12:30 p.m. yesterday from a parking lot on Northwest Louisiana Avenue in Chehalis.

• Chehalis police were called about a vehicle prowl on Northwest State Avenue on Friday morning.

HOME CATCHES FIRE

• A house fire in Grand Mound may have started in the kitchen area but worked its way up into the attic space on Saturday afternoon, according to West Thurston Regional Fire Authority. Crews were called just after 4:30 p.m. to the 18200 block of Guava Street, Chief Robert Scott said. Nobody was injured, according to the chief.

JUST THE CABLE GUY

• Morton police were called about 9 p.m. on Thursday regarding a suspicious person in a vehicle the area of Airport Way. Officers made contact with the person who identified himself as a subcontractor for the cable company, according to the Morton Police Department.

ZOOM ZOOM

• A driver traveling more than 100 mph down Interstate 5 lost control, struck a semi truck parked in the Maytown Rest Area and caught fire yesterday afternoon. The driver was able to get out and was transported to the hospital, according to the Washington State Patrol. The 2003 Mercedes Benz was consumed by flames.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for driving with suspended license, disorderly conduct, shoplifting, 18-year-old reportedly punching holes in the walls of parent’s home; responses for alarms, disputes, suspicious circumstances, collision on city street, loud neighbor music … and more.

A 2003 Mercedes Benz is extinguished after it ran into a parked truck and caught fire at the Maytown Rest Area. / Courtesy photo by Washington State Patrol

Flames rise from a house and surrounding brush in Centralia. / Courtesy photo by Cheyenne Bishop

CENTRALIA HOUSE CATCHES FIRE

• A vacant house at the end of Brotherson Road in Centralia was destroyed by fire overnight, drawing 11 firefighters from Riverside Fire Authority and the Chehalis Fire Department. Crews called about 2:20 a.m. found the single-story home fully involved in flames and the vegetation around it burning, according to Capt. Erik Olson. The residence had been unoccupied for some time and is in the area just east of Interstate 5 slated for a large commercial development project, according to the fire department. Nobody was injured. The fire investigator was able to find where the fire started but figuring out its exact cause will be difficult because of the amount of damage, according to Olson.

BICYCLE BANDIT

• Officers responded about 8 p.m. yesterday to the 1200 block of Mellen Street in Centralia where a male in his 20s reportedly snatched a wallet from its owner’s hand and fled on a bicycle.

MEDS MISSING

• Police were called about 4 p.m. yesterday regarding the theft of prescription medications from a home on the 1300 block of Harrison Avenue in Centralia. The case is under investigation, according to the Centralia Police Department.

VANDALISM

• Centralia police took reports on Friday morning of several buildings in the downtown area hit with graffiti, including on the 800 block of North Tower Avenue.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, misdemeanor assault, driving under the influence, driving with suspended license; responses for misdemeanor theft, protection order violation, counterfeit bill … and more.

Updated at 6:42 p.m.

DRUGS

• A 30-year-old woman from Texas arrested at Wal-Mart yesterday afternoon for reportedly taking food from the deli and eating it in the McDonald’s seating area with her companion was booked into the Lewis County Jail when a search of her purse turned up a variety of pills without proper prescription documentation, according to the Chehalis Police Department. Department spokesperson Linda Bailey said Kimberly R. Lawson and John C. Vaughn were being watched by security staff and threw away the packaging of the product, valued at just over $20. Both were arrested for third-degree theft and jailed, Bailey said.

MISSING HONDA CAR

• Centralia police were called about 11:20 a.m. yesterday regarding the theft of a white 1993 Honda Accord from a parking lot at the 200 block of North Pearl Street.

POLICE: HAM HILL BURGLARY SOLVED

• A 35-year-old Bucoda man was arrested yesterday for allegedly driving another male to a home on the 1100 block of Ham Hill Road last month for a burglary. On July 18, the resident returned home to find a window pried open, some of his belongings outside in the grass and tire tracks in the yard, according to police. A laptop computer for which he had a serial number for was missing and its information entered into a law enforcement database, charging documents state. A Centralia police detective yesterday was summoned to a Bucoda home by a Thurston County Sheriff’s Office detective who was there on another matter and found the stolen computer, according to the court documents. Curtis W. Hoffman who resides there with his mother and her caregiver, told Centralia detective Pat Beall what he had done, according to charging documents. Hoffman was booked into the Lewis County Jail and charged today in Lewis County Superior Court with residential burglary. His bail was set at $25,000.

COLLISION

• A bicyclist suffered minor injuries in a collision with a vehicle late yesterday afternoon at the 1200 block of North Pearl Street, according to the Centralia Police Department.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, burglary, driving under the influence, driving with suspended license; responses for alarm, disputes, misdemeanor theft, collision on city street, telephone harassment via texting, suspicious circumstances … and more.

Updated at 7:46 p.m.

POLICE: SHOPLIFT GOES PHYSICAL

• Centralia police were called about 4:15 p.m. yesterday to a grocery store on the 500 block of South Tower Avenue where they were told a 45-year-old man fought with loss prevention officers after stealing a raspberry beer. James C. Weatherford was arrested for second-degree robbery and booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department. Lewis County prosecutors declined to file that charge.

COLLISIONS

• Police responded to the 1200 block of Kresky Avenue in Centralia about 5:10 p.m. yesterday where they found a vehicle had driven off the roadway into a field, and the driver left. Phillip A. Pinotti, 22, of Centralia, was subsequently arrested for driving under the influence and booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• One of four possible patients was taken to the hospital after a two-vehicle collision on the 2100 block of North Pearl Street yesterday evening involving a car and a pickup truck. Police  called about 7:30 p.m. said one pulled out in front of the other. A girl was transported with non-life-threatening injuries, according to Riverside Fire Authority.

FIFE POLICE SEARCH MORTON RESIDENCE FOR WANTED PERSONS

• Officers from the Fife Police Department yesterday were joined by local sheriff’s deputies in looking for a pair of wanted subjects suspected to be hiding at a home in the Morton area. Lewis County Sheriff’s Office Cmdr. Steve Aust said they were searching for a man and a woman from a shooting incident in the north Pierce County town back on Aug. 11. About a half dozen officers went to the residence on the 800 block of Davis Lake Road yesterday afternoon but did not find them, Aust said. Fife police have been looking for the pair following a contact with an officer about 1:05 a.m. a week ago Monday in which an officer responding to a call about a near robbery encountered a dark blue Ford Explorer driven by a female and engaged in a struggle with her but got trapped in the vehicle’s open door as she put it in reverse, reportedly dragging the officer briefly, according to the Fife Police Department. The officer fired into the vehicle, which fled south toward Tacoma, and at one point on Interstate 5, someone from the vehicle may have fired through the back window at a pursuing patrol car, according to police. Fife police reported the suspect vehicle was later located unoccupied in Spanaway; it had been struck by gunfire and appeared the occupants may have sustained injuries. Aust said he didn’t know why the couple would have been in Lewis County.

FROM THE COURTHOUSE

• A former Adna area resident extradited from Virginia where he was serving in the U.S. Navy was sentenced yesterday for molesting a young relative when they lived together following the December 2007 flood. The girl told a detective it began when he was 17 and she was 9 and occurred over a two-year period, according to charging documents. Edward J. Guenther, 23, pleaded guilty as charged in Lewis County Superior Court to one count of first-degree child molestation and one count of first-degree child rape. Judge James Lawler yesterday morning agreed with the recommendations of of both attorneys that Guenther be given what is called a Special Sex Offender Sentencing Alternative. “I’m satisfied this is appropriate, I think both Mr. Guenther and society will benefit from this,” Lawler said. “Given the evaluation, I find he is amenable to treatment.” Under the agreement, Guenther must spend one year in jail and successfully complete a five-year long psychosexual treatment program. If he fails, he has an 11-year prison sentence waiting for him, defense attorney David Arcuri said. He will be monitored by the state Department of Corrections during that time and for the rest of his life, and must register as a sex offender, Arcuri said. Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer told the judge the victim was not opposed to the deal. One of the requirements for a defendant is they must be willing to admit what they did, Arcuri said. “This is not a guy who hangs out in parks, snatches girls and throws them in the bushes,” Arcuri said. “Those guys can’t do SSOSAs.” Guenther was charged last December, and has been held in the Lewis County Jail since mid-January.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, driving under the influence, misdemeanor assault; responses for alarm, disputes, misdemeanor theft, suspicious circumstances … and more.