Lewis County Sirens.com

Updated at 7:45 p.m.

SHERIFF WON’T LET YOU BAIL OUT IF YOU GET CAUGHT DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE

• Extra deputies will be on patrol this holiday weekend, looking for impaired drivers since today is traditionally one of the most deadly days of the year on the nation’s roads, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Americans love to celebrate the Fourth of July with family, friends, food and fireworks, but too often alcohol turns the party into a tragedy, the sheriff’s office said in a news release. Sheriff Steve Mansfield said his office has a zero tolerance policy for those who drink and drive and announced that anyone arrested by a deputy for DUI will be booked in to the jail with no bail allowed until after they are seen by a judge. Mansfield says while death and injury are the most serious of possible consequences of drunk driving, there are other negative considerations that can affect lives for many years, including loss of drivers license, vehicle impoundment, jail time, lawyer fees, court costs, insurance hikes, just to name a few. His advice: If you’re impaired, use a taxi or call a sober friend or family member. If you see a drunk driver on the road, don’t hesitate to call 911.

ASSAULT

• A 39-year-old homeless man was arrested yesterday for second-degree assault following a 3:20 p.m. call to the 2900 block of Mount Vista Road in Centralia. Arrested and booked into the Lewis County Jail was George S. Gonzales, according to the Centralia Police Department.

FRAUD

• Centralia police took a report yesterday from the 500 block of North Tower Avenue regarding someone using someone else’s name to open up an unspecified credit line.

FROM THE COURTHOUSE

• A 41-year-old Lacey man pleaded not guilty yesterday in connection with responding to a Craigslist advertisement soliciting sex with a 22-year-old woman and her 13-year-old sister; an ad placed by a Lewis County Sheriff’s Office detective. Larry R. White, who works as a financial supervisor at Little Creek Casino, was released a week earlier on a $10,000 unsecured bond the day after his arrest in the parking lot of an apartment on the 2300 block of Jackson Highway in Chehalis. According to charging documents, sheriff’s detective Kevin Engelbertson exchanged emails with White over a two-day period and when the subject arrived on the morning of June 25, he was met by three deputies. White allegedly said told the detective the deal was for $100 but he only brought $75 and hoped not pay any money, according to the charging documents. He also admitted being nervous and knowing it was wrong, charging documents state. He was charged the following day with second-degree attempted child molestation.

SUNSHINE AND GLASS

• The cause of a fire Tuesday on Hopp Road east of Toledo will be listed as undetermined but the fire investigator said he considered the possibility the blazing sun through a window may have reflected off something inside, causing a magnifying glass effect. The evening fire started in a small shed attached to a larger shop-barn building and more than two dozen firefighters fought to extinguish it and prevent it from spreading to the nearby home. The barn building was described as probably a total loss, but much of its contents were believed to be salvageable, according to Lewis County Fire District 2 Chief Grant Wiltbank. Fire Investigator Ted McCarty said this morning he could find no other reason for the fire, with no fireworks being lit in the area and no one having been in the building for awhile.

SPINNING BUMBLEBEE BLAMED FOR FIRE

• Flames reportedly climbed as much as 20 feet beyond the tops of three medium-sized cedar trees that caught fire next to a house for sale in a Centralia neighborhood yesterday, caused by a spinning bumblebee firework a teenager had lit off in the road. “It landed in the debris under the trees,” Riverside Fire Authority Capt. Casey McCarthy said. Arriving firefighters stopped it from spreading to the residence, which was roughly 15 feet away, he said. Part of a wood fence burned, but nobody was injured, he said. The location of the 4:20 p.m. call was the corner of Plum and Cedar streets.

FOR LATER ON

• The state fire marshal is already offering advice for post-fireworks activities. State Fire Marshal Chuck Duffy reminds residents that used fireworks can leave behind a great deal of debris, and its proper cleanup can help reduce the risk of an injury or fire. “If you have unused consumer fireworks, it is best to discharge the remaining fireworks during the legal discharge dates for your community,” Duffy states in a news release. More suggestions: Don’t put used fireworks into any paper or plastic bag, until after they’ve been soaked in a bucket of water for 15 minutes. Then place them into a metal garbage can, he says. And check the area again in the morning, as remaining fireworks debris can easily be overlooked in the dark, he says.

WRECK

• A 59-year-old Mineral resident driving a Ford Crown Victoria southbound on state Route 7 swerved into the oncoming lane striking the side of a Ford F250 pickup truck about noon today sending both drivers to the hospital. Troopers called to the scene about a mile and a half north of Morton report both vehicles were damaged but offered no explanation for why the man swerved. Harold D. Vogel, and Mitchell G. Robinson, 51, from Onalaska, were transported by ambulance to Morton General Hospital, according to the Washington State Patrol. No alcohol or drugs were suspected to be involved, according to the investigating trooper.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, driving under the influence, driving with suspended license; responses for collision on city street … and more.

SCUFFLE AT STORE

• Centralia police say a suspected shoplifter fought with security and then fled the 500 block of South Tower Avenue yesterday afternoon but was subsequently located inside an apartment a short distance away. Officers called about 4:20 p.m. learned the shopper had tried to steal items by placing them inside a bag of already purchased goods, according to the Centralia Police Department. Genaro M. Rivas Jr., 23 of Chehalis, was arrested for second-degree robbery and booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to police.

MANHUNT FOR SHED THEFT SUSPECT

• Deputies spent more than an hour searching a wooded area around the 100 block of Sherwood Avenue Cispus yesterday after a man they were attempting to arrest ran out his back door at about 12:30 p.m. According to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office, surveillance video captured images of 31-year-old Jesse G. Bailey last Wednesday when two gas cans and a saw were stolen from a storage shed on Churchel Road. Deputies stopped looking for Bailey but hid nearby and shortly after 6:15 p.m., heard someone back inside the home and contacted Bailey, according to the sheriff’s office. Some items were returned and others found in an associate’s vehicle the night before, with other property which deputies may be stolen, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said. He was arrested for second-degree burglary and several outstanding warrants and booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to Brown.

BREAK-IN CENTRALIA

• Centralia police were called about 10:20 p.m. yesterday after a resident returned home to the 1000 block of J Street to find she had been burglarized. Missing were a laptop computer and jewelry amounting to about $2,000, according to the Centralia Police Department. It wasn’t immediately obvious how anyone got inside the home, according to police.

FRAUD

• Centralia police took a report from a 69-year-old jail inmate yesterday about his missing debit card which was stolen and used at various locations around town. The Hollywood, Calif. man has been at the Lewis County Jail since early Tuesday morning for allegedly punching an emergency room nurse in the stomach. Police Sgt. Stacy Denham said it’s not clear how much the thief has charged onto the bank card, as the victim was so intoxicated he was having trouble remembering places he himself had used it. They have no suspects yet, Denham said.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, protection order violation, driving with suspended license, misdemeanor assault; responses for dispute, misdemeanor theft, collisions on city street; complaint of fireworks at 11:24 p.m. and can’t sleep … and more.

Firefighters from three departments save the house but a barn-shop building on Hopp Road is mostly ruined by fire. / Courtesy photo by Lewis County Fire District 2

FIRE FIGHT IN TOLEDO

• More than two dozen firefighters battled a blaze last night about a mile east of Toledo that started in a small shop attached to a large barn building and threatened a house. “The vinyl siding on the house was melting and the exterior had started to char,” Lewis County Fire District 2 Chief Grant Wiltbank said. “It was one of the most aggressive fire fights that we’ve had that I can remember in a few years.” Numerous calls came in to 911 about 8:40 p.m., with smoke seen from as far away as Vader, he said. It happened on the 100 block of Hopp Road. One firefighter was treated at the scene for possible heat exhaustion, according to Wiltbank. The metal roofed wood building was approximately 40 feet by 80- feet and is probably a total loss, but much of the contents of equipment and tools are probably salvageable, he said. The chief estimated another two minutes and the house would have caught on fire. The cause is under investigation.

ALL FOR A POP

• The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office says several thousand dollars in damage was done when someone broke into White Pass High School by breaking a door window and broke into a vending machine to steal several sodas and smashing security cameras while there. A deputy called yesterday morning to the 500 block of Silverbrook Road in Randle found that it occurred about 11 p.m. the night before and the culprits were two teenage boys dressed in dark clothing, according to the sheriff’s office. One of them appeared to have cut himself on the broken vending machine and may have a cut on his hand, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said. Some evidence was collected at the scene, Brown said.

ASSAULTS

• A 17-year-old boy was arrested yesterday afternoon in connection with a report of an attempted rape of a girl known to him occurring yesterday at the 1200 block of Alder Street, according to the Centralia Police Department. He was booked into the Lewis County Juvenile Justice Center, according to police.

• Centralia police are investigating a report about 11:40 p.m. yesterday by a female that her ex-boyfriend hit her in the head and then fled. There is a current protection order between the two, according to police.

THEFT

• Chehalis police were called about 9:30 a.m. yesterday regarding a vehicle prowl on Northwest North Street.

SMALL FIRE

• Firefighters called just before 10 p.m. yesterday to a home on the 100 block of Joppish Road outside Centralia found an electrical fire in a bathroom ceiling exhaust fan. The fire was quickly extinguished and damage was limited to the fan and the fan housing, according to Riverside Fire Authority. There was some light smoke in the residence but there was no extension to the rest of the home or other damage, according to the fire department.

WRECKS

• Centralia police said an officer responded just after 5 p.m. yesterday to a collision between a vehicle and a bicycle at Main and Yew streets. The cyclist was left with minor scrapes and bruises and the driver was cited for failing to yield the right of way as well as no insurance, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• A pair of Eugene, Ore. residents were hospitalized yesterday after the big rig they were traveling in rolled onto its side spilling a load of telephone poles across all lanes of southbound Interstate 5 north of Centralia. Troopers called about 10:45 a.m. concluded Nathan A. Taylor, 26, had driven onto the shoulder and then overcorrected causing him to lose control of the Freightliner tractor with a flatbed log trailer. A detour was put into place, but the roadway wasn’t entirely re-opened until 2:30 p.m., according to the Washington State Patrol. Both were taken to Providence Centralia Hospital and the passenger, Ashley N. Webber, 23, has been released but Taylor was treated and then transferred to another hospital, according to a hospital spokesperson.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for driving under the influence, driving with suspended license, driving with no license; responses for suspicious circumstances, possible fraud, unruly teenage girl, collisions on city street … and more.

A traffic camera just south of milepost 88 captures an image of the overturned semi truck and its telephone poles in the southbound lanes.

ESCAPE BY BOAT

• A get together at Lake Mayfield ended yesterday when a 40-year-old man and other family members including children got into a boat and retreated to the middle of the lake to get away from a drunken, belligerent and threatening relative, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said 51-year-old James P. Sauter, of Chehalis, had been drinking all day and called someone a name. When the 40-year-old stepped in to defend his sister, Sauter became enraged and tried to get him to fight, Brown said. All but Sauter left the residence on the 100 block of Lake Drive and took to the water, according to Brown. Sauter was arrested and booked into the Lewis County Jail for misdemeanor harassment and disorderly conduct, according to the sheriff’s office.

THEFT

• Chehalis police took a report yesterday afternoon of a tow dolly being stolen from a parking lot on North National Avenue.

• Chehalis police were called about 7 p.m. yesterday after someone reportedly stole a tool box from an open garage on Northeast Washington Avenue.

• Centralia police took a report about 10 a.m. yesterday from the 1600 block of South Gold Street regarding fuel stolen from a vehicle.

NURSE PUNCHED BY PATIENT

• Police were called to the emergency room at Providence Centralia Hospital overnight where an assaultive patent allegedly punched a nurse in the stomach. Alvin R. Matuska, 69, described by police as a transient from Hollywood, Calif., was arrested for third-degree assault and booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, shoplifting, driving under the influence, driving with suspended license; responses for alarm, dispute, elderly man on a scooter in traffic, egg throwing adult  … and more.

DOMESTIC ASSAULT

• The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reports this morning a 39-year-old Vader woman was arrested for second-degree assault for allegedly trying to choke her husband on Saturday evening at the 500 block of A. Street in Vader. Tiffanie M. Russo was arrested and booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the sheriff’s office. Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown says Russo spit at the deputy and also kicked a rear passenger window out of a patrol car.

THEFT

• Someone broke into a shed on undeveloped vacation property at the end of Churchel Road in Randle and stole two five-gallon cans of gas and a saw, according to a report made to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office yesterday morning.

• A deputy took a report yesterday of three watches valued at $500 missing from a home on the 100 block of Enchanted Valley Drive near Vader and subsequently arrested the 33-year-old boyfriend of a niece who had been staying at the property. Richard N. Woodward turned over the watches and was booked into the Lewis County Jail for third-degree theft, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

STRANGER IN THE NIGHT

• Deputies were called to the 200 block of Birley Road near Mossyrock about 12:25 a.m. today after a resident who got up to use the bathroom saw a stranger on her back porch. The woman’s husband yelled out the front door and the man fled, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. He was described as 6-feet 2-inches tall with shoulder length hair and a light blue shirt, according to the sheriff’s office.

VANDALISM

• Centralia police took a report just after 8 o’clock yesterday morning of a door kicked in at a building on the 300 block of North Tower Avenue.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, shoplifting, driving under the influence, driving with suspended license, driving without a license; responses for alarm, suspicious circumstances, misdemeanor assault, collision on city street, disorderly person at hospital … and more.

MAN IN BLACK HOLDS UP CENTRALIA STORE

• Police are looking for a skinny white male in his 50s after an armed robbery at a convenience store yesterday evening at the 800 block of West First Street in Centralia. Officers summoned by an alarm learned the man came into the business brandishing a silver handgun and demanded cash, according to police. The 28-year-old clerk gave it to him and was unhurt, Sgt. Kurt Reichert said. The subject has a gray mustache and wore dark sunglasses with a black bandana around his neck, according to police. He also wore a dark hooded sweatshirt, police said.

FIGHT AT PEPPERTREE

• A 28-year-old man was punched several times when an acquaintance took his cell phone yesterday morning at the Peppertree Motel and RV Park in Centralia. Officers called about 10:45 a.m. subsequently arrested Gregory S. Schroeder, 28, from Chehalis, for second-degree robbery and booked him into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department.

FIGHT AT PEPPERTREE

• A 50-year-old Raymond man was thrown to the ground and struck with something sharp during a dispute at the Peppertree Motel in Centralia on Friday afternoon and police are looking for his assailant in order to arrest him for second-degree assault. Officers responding about 2 p.m. to the 1200 block of Alder Street don’t know if the cut above the eye was caused by a knife or perhaps a piece of glass, according to the Centralia Police Department.

OOPS

• Centralia police were called about 9 p.m. yesterday after a male reportedly stole the product known as Spice from behind the counter at the Shell gas station on the 600 block of South Tower Avenue. Officers are looking for a 28-year-old Centralia man as he left his driver’s license on the counter, according to the Centralia Police Department.

TRICKERY

• Centralia police called to Providence Centralia Hospital last night about a DUI because a patient had driven away after being given narcotics learned the individual had been treated under two different names, one of them belonging to a deceased person. The male currently known as John Doe faces possible arrest for forgery, according to the Centralia Police Department.

VANDALISM

• Someone broke a window on a porch at the 1100 block of South Tower Avenue in Centralia, according to a report made to police yesterday morning.

• Police took a report about 2:20 a.m. today regarding the back window smashed out of a car at the 300 block of North Tower Avenue in Centralia.

DO-IT-YOURSELF FIREFIGHTING MISSES THE MARK

• Firefighters were called about 3:15 a.m. today to the 200 block of West Oakview Avenue in Centralia where a fire was smoldering in an attic following a small kitchen fire hours earlier. “He had a grease fire about 10:30 p.m. and had already repainted everything,” Riverside Fire Authority Capt. Tim Adolphsen said. “And he felt there was a problem in the ceiling, and there was.” Adolphsen said the man’s wife came home and pointed out the new paint was turning brown, and they could feel the heat on the sheetrock. Crews tore out the ceiling and discovered the earlier fire must have traveled up the stove vent duct and burned an approximately 10 foot by 10 foot area of the attic space, including blown in insulation, he said. The damage was estimated at about $9,000. “Luckily it all was slow,” Adolphsen said.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, shoplifting, misdemeanor assault, driving under the influence; responses for misdemeanor theft, collision on city street … and more.

WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING

• A Vancouver woman was arrested overnight after she allegedly walked into a Centralia convenience store cracked open a beer and threatened to cut the clerk with a knife when she was told she couldn’t do that, according to police. It happened about 2:40 a.m. at the Chevron on the 1200 block of Mellen Street, according to the Centralia Police Department. The clerk backed off and called 911, and the suspect was found over at the nearby motel, police said. A spilled large container of the malt liquor beverage 4Loko was found in her room, Sgt. Kurt Reichert said. Michelle M. Milligan was booked into the Lewis County Jail for second-degree robbery, he said. Prosecutors declined to file that charge.

• An 18-year-old driver and his 13-year-old relative were both intoxicated when a deputy pulled over a truck after watching it spin out, drive through a grassy area at the exit 72 interchange and speed north onto Interstate 5 into Chehalis overnight, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. It was about 3 o’clock this morning. The deputy followed and caught up with the truck that blew the stop sign at the 13th Street exit which finally stopped along the 600 block of Southwest Cascade Avenue, Cmdr. Steve Aust said. Isaac R. Kennedy said he’d been drinking moonshine, Aust said. He was arrested and booked into the Lewis County jail for driving under the influence and reckless endangerment, according to Aust. The girl was taken to the Lewis County Juvenile Detention Center and booked for minor in possession or consumption of alcohol.

COMPUTER STOLEN FROM SCHOOL

• Someone broke into a building at the Onalaska school and stole an Apple MacBook laptop computer and two Sony camcorders, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. A deputy responding to the 500 block of Carlisle Avenue yesterday morning learned it happened around 2:15 a.m., sheriff’s Cmdr. Steve Aust said. The loss is estimated at $1,200.

HEAVY DUTY SHOPLIFTING

• Two individual were arrested for organized retail theft yesterday evening after they were caught allegedly stealing items from multiple stores in the 1300 block of Lum Road in Centralia. Booked into the Lewis County Jail were Jade N. Vanauken, 18 of Centralia and Aonoauaalofagia Vagatai, 20 of Hawaii, according to the Centralia Police Department.

DRUGS

• Four teenagers were arrested yesterday afternoon after they were discovered allegedly smoking marijuana inside a vehicle at Fort Borst Park in Centralia. The underage individuals, ages 18, 17 and 16, were arrested and then released, according to the Centralia Police Department.

OTHER THEFT

• Police were called about 6:20 p.m. yesterday to the 1500 block of Delaware Avenue in Centralia regarding parts taken from a vehicle.

VANDALISM

• Two windows were broken out of a business at the 200 block of West Main Street in Centralia, and discovered during the night.

• A window was broken out of a parked car at the 100 block of South Street in Centralia, according to a report made to police about 6:15 a.m. today.

• Chehalis police took a report yesterday of the outside portions of three large double-paned windows being broken at Thorbekes on Southwest Chehalis Avenue. It happened last weekend and  caused $1,600 damage, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

WRECK

• A 23-year-old Oakville resident was injured when he fell asleep while driving along state Route 8 just outside McCleary last night. Troopers called about 8:50 p.m. determined Trenton G. Darnell was westbound and gradually left the roadway, entering a ditch and then striking a fence and a road sign before rolling, according to the Washington State Patrol. The 1989 Oldsmobile Cutless came to rest on its top and was described as totaled. Darnell was transported by aid to Summit Pacific Medical Center, according to the state patrol. He had been seat belted in and no alcohol or drugs are suspected, the state patrol reports.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, violation of protection order, third-degree possession of stolen property, misdemeanor assault; responses for alarms, shoplifting, suspicious circumstances, collision on city street … and more.