Lewis County Sirens.com

SMASH AND GRAB

• Chehalis police responding about 1:35 a.m. on Sunday to an alarm at Radio Shack in the Twin City Town Center found the glass front doors broken and several thousand dollars worth of merchandise missing. Stolen were numerous Dre Beats headsets, according to the Chehalis Police Department. The break-in is under investigation, according to police.

• Chehalis police are investigating following a discovery at Wal-Mart on Friday morning that someone broke into a jewelry case, making off with more than $4,000 worth of rings.

BURGLARY IN RANDLE

• A 61-year-old Randle woman who left for Packwood about 4:50 p.m. yesterday returned home around 6 p.m. to find someone had pried open her backdoor and stolen a cell phone as well as a blue small two-drawer chest containing various papers. Numerous unspecified items were discovered scattered around the living room floor of the residence on the 10,000 block of U.S. Highway 12, which seemingly were dropped by the intruder, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. An investigation is underway, according to the sheriff’s office.

ASSAULT

• An 18-year-old inmate at Green Hill school for boys was arrested on Saturday night for custodial assault, in connection with an incident involving a staff member. Devin M. Ryan was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

VANDALISM

• Centralia police took a report about 11:30 a.m. yesterday from the 1400 block of Windsor Avenue regarding someone painting graffiti on a building in the night.

RESCUE FROM THE SWAMP

• A 23-year-old man was taken to Providence Centralia Hospital on Friday night after he was retrieved drunk and shivering uncontrollably from a swampy area about a quarter mile east of Yard Birds along North National Avenue in Chehalis. Police were called about 6:40 p.m. and told he had been lost for the previous three to four hours and had called his father to say he was somewhere in the “water hole” by Yard Birds, according to the Chehalis Police Department. An officer was able to get his attention and have him walk out, but he was very unsteady on his feet, according to police.

YIKES: AMBULANCE STRIKES CAR

• The roadway near Providence Centralia Hospital was partially blocked about an hour around noontime on Friday when an ambulance collided with a car, leaving both vehicles needing a tow. Alicia Steffens, 31, of Grand Mound, said she had just turned eastbound onto Cooks Hill Road near where it changes to Mellen Street when she stopped for a woman to cross the street. The pedestrian had nearly reached the other side when Steffens noticed an alarmed look on her face, and looked in her rearview mirror. She saw an ambulance coming at her, she said. The woman jumped to the curb, she said. “I got hit, it was pretty full speed,” Steffens said. “I had enough time to cover my head and brace for the impact.” Steffens said it shoved her Subaru Outback about two car-lengths forward. Nobody was injured and the AMR rig was occupied only by two medics, no patient, Steffens said. But both bumpers were crushed into their wheels, leaving them unable to drive away, Steffens said. It’s not clear what ticket or tickets might have been issued.

OUTBUILDING BURNS IN WINLOCK

• Firefighters called about 9:45 p.m. on Friday about a fire on the 700 block of Rhoades Road in Winlock found a small, dilapidated old pole barn burning. “It was basically on the ground (already,” Lewis County Fire District 15 Firefighter Patrick Jacobson said. They extinguished it and nobody was hurt, Jacobson said.

BIG CHEHALIS BURGLARY REVEALED

• Nearly $8,000 worth of valuables including five antique Smokey Bear figurines and six boxes of comic books still in their plastic sleeves were stolen in a burglary last month at the 100 block of Kennicott Road south of Chehalis, according to a Lewis County Crime Stoppers announcement today. They and the sheriff’s office are looking for tips regarding the April 17 break-in that took place between 7:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. Among the missing items are also hardshell suitcases, various Japanese and US coins, black Americana figurines and 1960s-era flower pins, according to Crime Stoppers. Crime Stoppers pays up to $1,000 for information leading to the clearance of crimes. Anonymous calls can be made to 1-800-748-6422 or information may be shared online at www.lewiscountycrimestoppers.org

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, shoplifting, misdemeanor assault, driving under the influence, three underage adults with three bottles of hard liquor in their vehicle, a teenage boy who reportedly punched out his mother’s tail light at a truck stop; issuing a ticket for “vehicle off the roadway”; responses for alarms, disputes, counterfeit bill, loud music at 2 a.m., collisions on city streets, wreck on county road, dog on a playground, a report of a drunk woman showing off her breasts in a bar, a report of someone leaving a rat’s head on a Chehalis resident’s front steps … and more.

Updated

MAN KILLED IN COLLISION NEAR TOLEDO

• One person is dead and another was airlifted after a single-vehicle wreck early yesterday morning near the 700 block of Tucker Road north of Toledo. Firefighters and medics responded about 3:25 a.m. after a caller to 911 reported hearing the sound of a collision and screaming, according to Lewis County Fire District 2. Responders found a female sitting on the shoulder of the roadway and a male deceased behind the wheel, Fire Chief Grant Wiltbank said. It appeared he lost control of the vehicle, went off the road and struck some trees, Wiltbank said. The passenger was sent to the trauma center at Southwest Washington Medical Center in Vancouver to be evaluated, Wiltbank said. The man’s name has not yet been released, as the Lewis County Coroner’s Office is waiting for positive identification and notification to his family, Coroner Warren McLeod said this morning. The driver was a 42-year-old Morton resident. His Toyota Corolla station wagon was described as a total loss.

DRUGS

• A 19-year-old Chehalis resident was arrested for being a minor in possession of marijuana early yesterday morning. Eric J. Stevens was booked into the Lewis County Jail following contact with an officer about 5 a.m. at the 1200 block of Mellen Street, according to the Centralia Police Department.

VANDALISM

• Centralia police were looking for a white Ford F-150-style pickup truck and a yellow Saturn following a report of a window being broken out of a building on the 200 block of West Maple Street in Centralia just before midnight on Friday.

AND MORE

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

SNEAKY BURGLAR

• Centralia police were called to a residential burglary about 9 a.m. yesterday at the 500 block of West Fourth Street. There was no forced entry and it appeared someone entered during the night through an unlocked door,  according to the Centralia Police Department. Among the missing were a television and an Xbox, according to police.

FRAUD

• Police took a report from the 2500 block of Eureka Avenue yesterday that an unknown subject withdrew more than $700 from a victim’s bank account by using just a “routing number”. The case is under investigation, according to the Centralia Police Department.

BIG SHOPLIFT

• Centralia police yesterday evening arrested two individuals for organized retail theft after they allegedly shoplifted together from multiple stores at the Centralia Outlets. Aaron E. Kyllonen, 27 of Longview, and Kinzy R. Murray, 19, of Kelso, were booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department.

SELLING SOMEBODY ELSE’S STUFF

• Centralia police suspect a 44-year-old Centralia man rented a television from a business on the 2000 block of Borst Avenue and then days later sold it to a pawn shop in Chehalis. The case was referred yesterday to prosecutors to evaluate for a theft charge, according to the Centralia Police Department.

CAR FIRE

• Firefighters were called just after 12 noon yesterday to Burger King on Harrison Avenue where a man who’d just purchased a “very nice, old” Saab two hours earlier and was headed home stopped for lunch. He’d noticed smoke coming from the engine, which was on fire, according to Riverside Fire Authority. The flames and damage were contained to the upper part of the motor, Fire Capt. Casey McCarthy said.

COLLISIONS

• A sport utility vehicle and a Honda car collided when one turned in front of the other at Borst Avenue and North Schueber Road in Centralia yesterday. Police and aid called about 2:40 p.m. say three people were hospitalized with minor injuries and one driver was cited for failing to yield the right of way following the T-bone type accident.

• Two young people from Napavine were hospitalized after a near T-bone accident on state Route 506 near Vader yesterday that pretty much took off the front of their car. Firefighters and troopers called just before 11 a.m. to the scene about a quarter mile west of Interstate 5 found both the compact car and pickup truck were westbound when Jordyn M. Diamond, 18, began to make a U-turn in her Jetta without yielding to the truck, according to the  Washington State Patrol. With just a half a second difference in time, it would have ended much differently, Lewis County Fire District 2 Chief Grant Wiltbank said. “Both occupants, literally, they’re lucky to be alive,” Wiltbank said. The Ford F-1 pickup driven by Jerry D. Larson, 75, of Castle Rock, sustained extensive damage but he reportedly was was not injured. Diamond and her passenger, Jesse M. Belfield, 20, were transported to Providence Centralia Hospital with non-life threatening injuries, according to responders. The Jetta was impounded and Diamond was issued a ticket for failing to yield, according to the state patrol

AND MORE

Later … I need some dinner now.

A 2001 Volkswagen Jetta after it fails to yield on a 50 mph road / Courtesy photo by Lewis County Fire District 2

SMOOTH TALKER NEARLY WINS LOCAL WOMAN’S TRUST

• A male posing as an IRS agent threatened a Chehalis area woman by phone yesterday, telling her if she didn’t pay up, in cash, she faced five years in prison. The individual who identified himself as Jose told her he was from the investigation bureau of the Internal Revenue Service, that she needed to pay him $15,000 and if she hung up on him he would call the sheriff, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. A deputy was dispatched after the 2:45 p.m. 911 call by the woman’s husband, who couldn’t talk his wife out of heading to the bank, according to Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown. The deputy called her cell phone and called her financial institution in Castle Rock and upon meeting her there, convinced the 63-year-old near-victim it was not a legitimate phone call and not to send any money, according to Brown. The call, a scam, appeared to have been placed from a 202 area code, Brown said. Brown said the IRS will never ask for cash or threaten to lock people up, over the telephone.  Anyone who gets a phone call they’re not sure about is always welcome to contact the sheriff’s office for advice, she said.

BURGLARY TOLEDO

• The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reported this morning someone stole more than $5,000 worth of valuables when they broke into a Toledo area home, making off with flat screen TVs, a computer, a printer, an Xbox and games, $300 cash, two kinds of cologne, a black Puma soccer backpack and many other of the 42-year-old resident’s belongings. It happened on Tuesday between 11 a.m. and noon at the 900 block of state Route 505, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said someone had seen a silver or gray Hyundai in the driveway.

DOMESTIC ASSAULT

• A 22-year-old Centralia man was arrested last night for second-degree assault in connection with an incident at the 1100 block of South Tower Avenue. Joseph M. Hart, who allegedly choked and kicked his girlfriend, was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department.

THE HONDA CAR BEAT

• A white 1991 Honda Civic was reported missing yesterday from the 1100 block of E Street in Centralia. It was taken sometime in the previous two days, according to the Centralia Police Department.

CAR PROWL

• Centralia police took a report about 12:45 p.m. yesterday of a purse stolen out of a vehicle at the 1200 block of South Gold Street.

VEHICLE VERSUS PEDESTRIAN

• A 79-year-old pedestrian was hit by a slow moving pickup truck yesterday morning as he crossed the street near Northwest Pacific Avenue and Prindle Street in Chehalis. Police and aid responding just after 11 a.m. found the man had been knocked to the ground but was conscious and alert, according to the Chehalis Fire Department. The victim had injuries to his head and an arm, Capt. Kevin Curfman said. The truck had front end damage, he said.

IT’S SAD AND IT’S SWEET

• It’s 9 o’clock on a Wednesday night, the regular traffic passes by. There’s a young man standing in the middle of the street … urinating. Centralia police say when they found Aaron M. Perez at Reynolds Avenue and North Pearl Street last night, he was highly intoxicated. Perez, 22, was arrested for disorderly conduct and then released, according to the Centralia Police Department.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, driving with suspended license; responses for alarms, injured deer, hit and run, abandoned vehicle, protection order violation, found friendly golden retriever, someone drawing on the door to a stall in a public bathroom … barking dogs … and more

THEFT

• Centralia police took a report yesterday from the Armory on the 300 block of Byrd Street of two bags containing personal military clothing and other gear went missing within the previous month. They may have disappeared while in transit between two locations, according to the Centralia Police Department.

NIGHT IN JAIL

• An 18-year-old homeless woman was arrested for trespassing about 11 p.m. yesterday when a police officer saw her in a closed construction area at the 800 block of Johnson Road in Centralia. Its where the new sports arena is going up and the Chehalis resident was just standing there, according to the Centralia Police Department. Amelia S. Jones was also arrested for obstructing for reportedly giving a fake name to the officer, according to police. She was booked into the Lewis County Jail.

DOG TRACKS MEDICATIONS

• Lewis County Sheriff’s Office police dog Axel sniffed out a container of prescription pills for police in Centralia early yesterday morning after a person reportedly tossed them as he was running away. It happened about 4 a.m. at the 100 block of South Washington Street and led to the arrest of 34-year-old Daniel Hoffman for a drug violation, according to the sheriff’s office. The Centralia resident was booked into the Lewis County Jail.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants including one in which a 22-year-old who failed to appear in municipal court was found hiding in a closet in a Mossyrock home, misdemeanor assault, shoplifting; responses for alarm, collision on city street … and more.

Updated at 7:15 p.m.

FIRE BREAKS OUT IN CHICKEN HOUSE

• Firefighters were called just before 6 o’clock this morning to the 100 block of Southeast Washington Avenue in Chehalis where a wooden chicken coop was burning. A neighbor was using a garden hose on the blaze which destroyed the structure, according to the Chehalis Fire Department. All the chickens survived, as they had been in the adjacent pen and were released into the yard, according to Capt. Kevin Curfman. A heat lamp had fallen to the floor and ignited the bedding, he said. The loss to what he called a very nice chicken house is estimated at $5,000.

BURGLARY CENTRALIA

• Centralia police were called about 2:15 p.m. yesterday after the discovery of a burglary to an apartment on the 300 block of North Tower Avenue. The resident reported the home was ransacked over the weekend, while they were away, according to the Centralia Police Department.

THEFT OF GARDEN

• A deputy took a report yesterday from the 100 block of McKay Street in Randle of numerous plants stolen from a flower bed. The 78-year-old victim told the deputy it happened sometime between 11 p.m. on Sunday and 4:30 the following morning, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Missing are about 60 miscellaneous plants, valued at $60, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said.

FRAUD

• A 72-year-old Centralia resident yesterday reported to Chehalis police he’d found checks written on his account that he did not write, one of which was for $600. The case involves multiple police departments in places where the transactions occurred, including Chehalis, Centralia and Thurston County, according to police.

VEHICLE PROWL

• A cashiers check was lifted from the glove box of a car parked at Wal-Mart yesterday morning. An officer called about 10 a.m. to the 1600 block of Northwest Louisiana Avenue learned the window had been left down, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

CAMPING OUT IN THE CAR

• A report to 911 about a suspicious occupied vehicle in the night at the 800 block of Main Avenue in Morton last week turned up only a medium-sized black dog, according to the Morton Police Department. Chief Dan Mortensen indicated the caller apparently saw movement inside and thought it was a person. An officer returned later in the morning to check again on the canine and contacted the vehicle’s owner, according to Mortensen.

YELLING CHILD TAKEN FROM STORE, NOT AN ABDUCTION

• Police responded to Wal-Mart yesterday afternoon after getting reports of an older man dragging a screaming child from the store, putting him in a car and hitting and kicking the little boy. They had left by the time officers arrived shortly after 3:30 p.m. but were told the child was yelling for the man to let him go, according to the Chehalis Police Department. Information from the license plate led a deputy to a residence west of Chehalis where he contacted a grandfather, Officer Linda Bailey said. He said the boy was acting out in the store because he couldn’t have a toy, Bailey said. The deputy contacted the 6-year-old boy and found no bruises or marks, she said. Bailey said there was no citation to be issued but information would be forwarded to Child Protective Services for review.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants; responses for dispute, disturbance, noisy neighbors, misdemeanor theft, collision on city street, a woman who seemed disoriented walking around an apartment building asking for drugs … and more.

TOLEDO BURGLARY SUSPECT FOUND WITH BAGS OF VALUABLES IN KELSO

• A man suspected in a Saturday morning break-in to a Toledo area home was arrested that night after an hour-long standoff at a Kelso home, with numerous large bags of suspected stolen jewelry, watches, silverware and coin collections. Deputies were called about 10:15 a.m. on Saturday to the 200 block of Schmit Road where a 52-year-old resident said she was returning from a walk when she saw two men get into a white Mitsubishi and speed off, according to the Lewis County Sherif’s Office. She discovered she had been burglarized of a small safe and numerous pieces of jewelry including a wedding band and an engagement ring, according to the sheriff’s office. A deputy traveling north on Jackson Highway encountered the suspect vehicle heading south and pursued it, a chase during which a small safe was tossed from the car and shattered on the roadway in front of the deputy, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said. The pursuit continued, with assistance from other law enforcement agencies, and the Mitsubishi got onto Interstate 5 southbound and sped down the inside shoulder of the freeway but eventually got away, according to the sheriff’s office. Information from the license plate led police to the home of the suspect car’s registered owner, a woman in Kelso, Brown said. Later in the day, police got information their suspect was at the home and after an hour, at about 9:50 p.m., Kelso police accompanied by an officer with state Department of Corrections finally entered home and detained Todd E. Fears, 40, Kelso, on a DOC warrant, according to Brown. The Toledo woman’s loss is estimated at about $5,000, and Brown said she isn’t sure yet if her valuables have been recovered. Fears was brought to the Lewis County Jail yesterday where he was booked or burglary and eluding, according to Brown. Law enforcement is still looking for the passenger, described only as a skinny white male wearing a hat and backpack and ask if anyone has information that they contact the sheriff’s office. Kelso police over the next few days will be attempting to arrange for recent burglary victims to view the valuables from the bags, according to Brown.

ACCIDENTAL STABBING SEND TEEN TO HOSPITAL

• A 13-year-old girl Chehalis was hospitalized this morning after she found a steak knife embedded into her hip area. Officers called about 4:40 a.m. to the home on the 600 block of Northwest Gertrude Street learned the girl had been sleeping on a couch and rolled over onto the knife. She was transported to Providence Centralia Hospital, according to the Chehalis Police Department. Spokesperson Linda Bailey said she did not know how the girl was doing today. “It was not just a little poke in the side, it was embedded,” Bailey said.

THE HONDA CAR BEAT

• A 1988 Honda Accord was reported stolen from the 100 block of Spring Court in Vader sometime between 5 p.m. on Saturday and 10 o’clock yesterday morning. A red Honda Civic stolen from Kelso was recovered in the same area yesterday. A 28-year-old woman who called the sheriff’s office said it appeared someone may have tried to steal her car as well as she found its door ajar, however her car had a dead battery, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The missing car has a license plate of 322 ZAB, according to Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown.

• A 1996 Honda Honda Accord was discovered about 10 a.m. yesterday, wrecked into some trees along the 400 block of Oppelt Road outside Chehalis, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

FRAUD

• Police were called to the 200 block of Southwest 14th Street in Chehalis on Friday where a 49-year-old resident said he had been expecting a check which never arrived and discovered it had been cashed, for $900.  The case is under investigation, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

ARRESTED, BOOKED, AND RELEASED

• A 39-year-old Centralia woman was arrested on Saturday when police were called to Wal-Mart and told she tried to return an item stolen from the store. She was booked into the Lewis County Jail but is to be released today without charges pending further investigation.

LOST AND FOUND

• An Onalaska woman who inadvertently left her wallet in a shopping cart yesterday at Wal-Mart told police she returned the cart after unloading groceries and then realizing the wallet was still in it quickly returned to discover the wallet was already gone. An officer called about 5:15 p.m. was able to track down a woman who said she found it and was going to return it to its owner, according to Chehalis Police Department.

CAR PROWL

• Chehalis police took a report about 4 p.m. on Friday from an individual parked near the Grocery Outlet at the Twin City Town Center in the 1300 block of Northwest Louisiana Avenue who found marks on their vehicle window as though someone had tried to break in.

PROM OVER

• A 17-year-old Onalaska boy was taken to the Lewis County Juvenile Detention Center after a deputy found him unsteady on his feet with alcohol on his breath during the Onalaska High School prom on Saturday night, held at the railroad depot in Centralia. A deputy was working the event for the Onalaska School District, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for driving under the influence, shoplifting, driving with suspended license, misdemeanor assault; responses for alarms, suspicious circumstances, theft of alcohol, collisions on city streets and in a parking lot … and more.