Lewis County Sirens.com

Updated at 4:30 p.m.

BIG BAD BILL

• Centralia police took a report yesterday of a counterfeit $100 bill being passed at a business on the 600 block of Harrison Avenue.

MOOSE MONEY MISSING

• Police are investigating an overnight burglary at the Moose Lodge in Morton in which about $2,800 cash was stolen. They don’t yet have any suspects, Morton Police Department Chief Dan Mortensen said today. Officers were called to the building on the 100 block of First Street about 10 a.m. on Monday, after the manager arrived and discovered the break-in, Mortensen said.

VEHICLE PROWL

• Centralia police were called about 11:30 a.m. yesterday about a vehicle prowled at the 1800 block of Collision Street. Missing was a portable car battery jumper, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• An acetylene torch was stolen from a vehicle at the 1400 block of Harrison Avenue in Centralia, according to a report made to police about 1:45 p.m. yesterday.

FROM THE COURTHOUSE

• Defense attorney Sam Groberg confirmed today charges were dismissed against a client of his, a 26-year-old Centralia area man who was arrested last month for second-degree rape. Jonathan B. Charley was arrested by deputies on Feb. 17 following a short investigation into allegations made by an acquaintance, according to court documents. He pleaded not guilty to the offense which has a maximum possible penalty of life in prison, and then last week a deputy prosecutor asked a judge to dismiss the charge. Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Joely O’Rourke wrote in her motion she had been unable to find the alleged victim. O’Rourke reserved the right to refile the charge in the future, according to court documents.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants; responses for alarms, collisions on city streets, misdemeanor domestic assault, other misdemeanor theft, someone “keying” someone else’s vehicle; complaints of someone getting water from someone else’s outdoor spigot, someone else parked in a man’s parking spot, someone “recording” a customer at Wal-Mart, homeless person setting up camp near a building … and more.

ASSAULTS

• Centralia police say a male suffered a possible broken jaw when he was assaulted by two males at a party. Yesterday morning’s case, associated with an area near the railroad tracks off East Maple Street, remains under investigation, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• A 35-year-old Centralia man was arrested for second-degree assault late yesterday afternoon in connection with an address on the 1900 block of Harrison Avenue in Centralia. Officers responding about 5:20 p.m. booked Jeffrey T. Gould in the  the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department.  Further details were not readily available.

OVEREXPOSED

• A 44-year-old Centralia man was locked up last night after he alleged displayed his bare butt to an individual. Police responding about 8:40 p.m. to the 2900 block of Mount Vista Road arrested Jeffrey A. Pickett for indecent exposure and booked him into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department.

VANDALISM

• Someone slashed the tires on a vehicle parked at the 300 block of Tilley Avenue in Centralia during the night, according to a report made to police yesterday.

WRECKS

• Police and aid were called about 8:30 a.m. yesterday when a mini van collided with a Twin Transit bus at the intersection of West Main Street and Washington Avenue in Centralia. Police report the van’s driver sustained minor injuries; the fire department says two individuals were transported to the hospital. The bus was occupied by three or four individuals and the damage was such it was able to be driven from the scene, according to Riverside Fire Authority. Further details were not readily available.

• Firefighters and deputies responding shortly after 4:30 p.m. yesterday to a single-vehicle crash west of Centralia found a Subaru Legacy had left the roadway and collided with a tree. The fire department said the injuries were minor and the sheriff’s office said the driver declined to be treated. The 33-year-old Centralia man was on his way home from work and fell asleep along the 2200 block of Manners Road, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The vehicle sustained front end damage, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, drug arrest for which information is not readily available; responses for alarms, suspicious circumstances, misdemeanor assault, two bicycles stolen from a backyard, collisions on city streets  … and more.

FRAUD

• The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reported this morning taking a report from another vicim of the apparent breach of information from the Catholic Archdiocese of Seattle affecting employees and volunteers at St. Joseph School in Chehalis. A 40-year-old man who resides at the 2200 block of Salzer Valley Road outside Centralia contacted the sheriff’s office on Thursday to report someone used his social security number to file a federal tax return, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said.

• Centralia police yesterday took yet another report of checks fraudulently used in connection with the January break-in to the outdoor mail collection box at the Centralia Post Office.

TOOLS MISSING

• A deputy took a report on Saturday about a burglary to an outbuilding on Kauer Road in Packwood that occurred sometime during the previous 12 months. Among the missing items were two Homelight chainsaws, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The loss is estimated at $205.

DOMESTIC DISPUTE

• A Chehalis-area man was arrested on Saturday morning after when his wife served him with divorce papers he flipped over a kitchen table and broke a chair, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Deputies responding about 8:30 a.m. to the 900 block of North Fork Road arrested Michael L. Spurgeon for third-degree malicious mischief, according to the sheriff’s office. Because Spurgeon is a convicted felon and was found to have access to firearms, he was also arrested for unlawful possession of a firearm, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said. He was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to Brown.

AUTO THEFT

• A red 1993 Honda Prelude was stolen from its driveway on the 900 block of D Street in Vader overt the weekend. A deputy responding on Saturday learned that sometime after midnight and before 8 a.m., the locked vehicle had disappeared, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. It has a license plate of AMA2844, according to the sheriff’s office.

OVEREXPOSED

• Police responding about 10:30 a.m. yesterday to the 1100 block of Harrison Avenue in Centralia arrested a 54-year-old homeless person for allegedly exposing himself in public. David L. Williams was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department. He is to be released without felony charges filed.

DRUGS

• A 55-year-old Randle woman picked up on an outstanding warrant on Saturday morning was arrested for possession with intent to deliver when a search turned up more than 50 miscellaneous pills reportedly packaged for resale, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Deborah L. West was found walking along the Cline Road and subsequently booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the sheriff’s office.

WRECK

• A 21-year-old driver escaped injury but his Ford Ranger sustained major damage on Friday night when he lost control at a sharp corner on Lost Valley Road west of Chehalis, slid down an embankment and into a tree. A deputy responding about 9:15 p.m. issued the 21-year-old  citation for driving without liability insurance, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, driving under the influence; responses for alarms, protection order violations, suspicious circumstances, possible smuggling of marijuana into Green Hill School … and more.

CHEHALIS MAN STABBED

• Chehalis police and aid were called about 2:40 p.m. yesterday to Southeast 16th Street where a 25-year-old man suffered an apparent stab wound to his chest during a dispute. Police Sgt. Gwen Carrell said the victim, a Chehalis resident, was taken to the hospital. She said she didn’t have information on his current medical status. A 24-year-old Chehalis resident, Kevin Dawkins, was arrested for first-degree assault and booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to Carrell. Further details were not readily available.

ROBBERY IN CENTRALIA

• Centralia police responded about 1 o’clock this morning to the 600 block of Centralia College Boulevard where they were told by a victim that after a bar dispute with an individual, he was chased down by the subject and several other people, assaulted and robbed of his wallet. The incident is under investigation, according to the Centralia Police Department.

THEFT

• Centralia police took a report about 7 p.m. yesterday from the 2400 block of Borst Avenue in Centralia regarding stolen medications

• Someone entered a residence on the 300 block of West Pine Street in Centralia and stole a cable box, according to a report made to the Centralia Police Department on Friday.

FRAUD

• Centralia police were contacted on Friday by a female at the 800 block of Landing Way regarding someone using her name and social security number to file a tax return.

PARACHUTE ACCIDENT

• Aid was called about 10:30 a.m. yesterday to the Toledo AIrport when a skydiver landed about a quarter mile off course and suffered a leg injury. The woman in her 20s was conscious and alert with non-life threatening injuries, according to Lewis County Fire District 2. Chief Grant Wiltbank said she said the wind sent her onto ground where she didn’t intend to land, adjacent to a housing development on Skyhawk Drive near the northeast corner of the airport property. She was transported to Providence Centralia Hospital, he said.

THREE AREA MEN AMONG NEWLY MINTED TROOPERS

• Three local individuals were sworn in as new troopers with the Washington State Patrol on Friday, and two of them will be assigned duties in Lewis County. Among the cadets presented their commission cards during a ceremony at the Capitol Rotunda in Olympia were, Joseph DePalma, of Tenino who will work in Bellevue; Michael S. Farkas, of Chehalis, who will work in Morton; and Joel E. Reinier, of Rochester, who will work in Chehalis, according to the state patrol. Historically, only about four to six percent of applicants continue on the graduate after more than 1,000 hours of training to become state troopers, according to a news release from state patrol Sgt. Kent Hitchings. “The 35 cadets graduating today endured a rigorous application process, extensive background investigation, and received the best training, unmatched anywhere else in the nation,” Chief John Batiste said in a prepared statement on Friday afternoon. “Today, they will join the ranks of Washington’s finest, as troopers of the Washington State Patrol.”

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, misdemeanor domestic assault, trespass; responses for collisions on city streets … and more.

Updated

MORE FRAUDULENT TAX RETURNS

• A deputy was called yesterday to the 1900 block of Salzer Valley Road outside Centralia to take a report from a 47-year-old woman who said someone had used her name and social security number the day before trying to file a federal income tax return. Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said the woman is working with the Catholic Archdiocese of Seattle and federal authorities to resolve the issue. Early this week the Archdiocese notified employees and volunteers of a possible data system breach in which they discovered other similar victims. A Chehalis area couple who volunteer at St. Joseph School reported on Tuesday they were victimized as well.

BURGLARY AND OTHER THEFT

• The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reported this morning that someone burglarized a home and storage building at the 7100 block of U.S. Highway 12 in Glenoma sometime between March 5 and Saturday. Taken was about $1,700 of property including jewelry, candles, canned food and men’s, women’s and children’s’ clothing, according to the sheriff’s office.

• Centralia police took a report yesterday afternoon from the 1000 block of Scammon Creek Road of the theft of an empty oxygen bottle that had set out to be picked up and refilled.

• Luwanda G. Schfield, a 56-year-old Centralia woman, was arrested overnight for third-degree theft after allegedly agreeing to pay for a taxi ride for a family member from Vancouver to Centralia but not actually having the money to pay the fare when they arrived, according to the Centralia Police Department.

DISORDERLINESS

• A 34-year-old Centralia man who allegedly grabbed the buttocks of a female passing by on a sidewalk on the 100 block of North Tower Avenue scuffled with officer who tried to arrest him yesterday evening, according to police. Samuel A. Costello was arrested and booked into the Lewis County Jail for misdemeanor assault and resisting arrest, according to the Centralia Police Department.

FROM THE COURTS

• The Washington State Court of Appeals reversed a Centralia woman’s 2011 conviction for possession of methamphetamine stating her lawyer was ineffective for failing to assert a warrantless search by police of a purse meant the contents of a glass pipe they confiscated should not have been allowed to be admitted as evidence. Jessica Hamilton was charged in Lewis County Superior Court following an incident in which her husband took the purse from the house and handed it over to police, a purse which Hamilton said did not belong to her but that she found in the family car and thought she would keep because it was cute, according to the opinion issued on Tuesday. The three-member panel wrote that Hamilton’s appeal attorney argued that no exception to the warrant requirement existed.

MISS CONGENIALITY ARRESTED

• KING5.com reports that just days before she was named Miss Congeniality at the Lewis County Scholarship Pageant, 18-year-old Chloe Curry of Adna was arrested at Wal-Mart for attempting to steal make up and beauty products. The story indicates judges in the competition were unaware of the incident as Curry used a different last name. Curry tells KING5’s Drew Mikkelsen it was a stupid mistake and something she will learn from. Police were called about 5 p.m. a week ago Wednesday where store security said they had two 18-year-old girls from Chehalis detained who had allegedly concealed about $100 worth of the merchandise in a purse, according to the Chehalis Police Department. Chloe D. Reavis and Erin M. McCall were issued criminal citations for third-degree theft and released pending a mandatory appearance in Chehalis Municipal Court in March 19, according to department spokesperson Linda Bailey.

VEHICLE VERSUS PEDESTRIAN

• Police and aid were called just after 6 p.m. yesterday when a pedestrian was struck by a vehicle making a left turn onto Southeast Sixth Street from Washington Avenue in Chehalis. The woman declined to be transported to the hospital, according to the Chehalis Fire Department.

LAWNMOWER VERSUS CHILD

• Aid was called about 6:20 p.m. yesterday to the 400 block of River Heights Road in Centralia when a 7-year-old boy was backed over by a riding mower. “The dad felt a bump and shut the blades off right away,” Riverside Fire Authority Capt. Terry Ternan said. The child suffered an injury to his buttocks and was transported to Providence Centralia Hospital, Ternan said.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, driving with suspended license; responses for alarms, disputes, non-injury collisions, suspicious circumstances, shoplifting and other misdemeanor theft, assaults and drug arrests for which no information is readily available … and more.

Updated at 6:15 p.m.

BURGLARY

• A deputy was called about 5 p.m. yesterday to the 100 block of Baker Road in Packwood where someone had entered an open storage shed sometime during the previous week and taken a metal detector, a Dewalt generator and an 11 hp wood chipper, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The loss is estimated at $4,350, according to the sheriff’s office.

• A Poulan brand chainsaw, green in color, was reported stolen from a garage on the 400 block of North Rock Street in Centralia yesterday afternoon.

• Chehalis police were called about 11:40 a.m. yesterday to the 300 block of Southwest 13th Street where damage to window screens indicated someone may have tried to break in to a building.

VEHICLE PROWL

• Centralia police responded yesterday afternoon and last night to three instances of car prowls on Eureka Avenue. In one case someone rummaged through a vehicle but apparently took nothing; in another spare change was missing, according to the Centralia Police Department.

DOUBLE TROUBLE

• A 22-year-old homeless man allegedly exposing himself to passing cars was arrested about 1:45 a.m. today at the 1200 block of Mellen Street. Jacob M. Goble was given his citation and then released, however he was picked up in the same area about 5 o’clock this morning after returning to a place he’d been told to stay away from, according to police. Goble was then booked into the Lewis County Jail for trespassing, according to the Centralia Police Department.

DRUGS

• A search warrant served yesterday morning at the 500 block of South Washington Avenue in Centralia resulted in the forwarding of recommended charges of possession of methamphetamine and heroin for its 21-year-old resident, according to the Centralia Police Department.

LOST AND FOUND

• A 1992 W.F. West High School class ring was found at Penny Playground on Southwest 13th Street yesterday and turned into the police department. Its owner is welcome to contact police to claim it, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

WRECK

• Three women were injured and two vehicles totaled in a rear-end collision this afternoon on U.S. Highway 12 in Randle. Troopers called about 2:40 p.m. to the scene near Gharret Road found Irene J. Bach, 75, of Randle, was eastbound and waiting for traffic to clear so she could make a left turn when a Hyundai Santa Fe struck the rear of her Ford Explorer, according to the Washington State Patrol. The investigating trooper blamed driver inattention on the part of Patricia W. Hodel, 60, of Raymond. Hodel, her 39-year-old passenger Dawn A. Brabon, also of Raymond, and Bach were all transported to Morton General Hospital, according to the state patrol.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants; responses for alarm, disputes, shoplifting and other misdemeanor theft,  suspicious circumstances, collisions on city streets, loud neighbor music … and more.

BREAK-INS CENTRALIA

• A resident on the 300 block of Latona Street in Centralia returned home from work yesterday afternoon to discover a burglary in which someone took a television, a Playstation game console and movies. Police responding about 5:25 p.m. learned someone had gotten inside by prying the back door, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• Police were called about 12:50 p.m. yesterday to a residence at the 800 block of Park Way in Centralia where someone kicked in a door, went inside and stole and old cell phone.

WIRE STOLEN MINERAL

• A left behind Craftsman ball cap bearing a Bob Villa autograph and surveillance footage showing two clean-shaven males are clues deputies hope will lead to the subjects who broke into a building belonging to the Mount Rainier Scenic Railroad property in Mineral and stole about $50 worth of scrap copper wire. The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office says it happened between 1:15 a.m. and 2:30 a.m. on Monday and the males pried the metal siding of a building to get inside. One appears to be about 5-feet 9-inches tall with broad shoulders and the other is taller with a medium build and was carrying a backpack, according to the sheriff’s office.

AUTO THEFT

• Centralia police were called about 7:20 a.m. today to the 2600 block of Eureka Avenue about a stolen vehicle. Taken during the night was a maroon 2006 GMC Envoy-Denali, according to the Centralia Police Department. It has a license plate reading ANN9663, according to police.

FRAUD

• A pair of Chehalis-area residents called the sheriff’s office yesterday after learning their identifying information had been used on several fraudulent federal tax returns, part of a suspected system breach affecting employees and volunteers of the Catholic Archdiocese of Seattle. The 44-year-old male and female said they were notified by St. Joseph School – where they volunteer – of the issue, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The Archdiocese says they discovered victim’s social security numbers have been used in a nationwide fraud scheme and they have hired a forensic security firm to help analyze and repair the systems.

• Centralia police are investigating an incident involving a check stolen from the 1400 block of Central Boulevard, altered and then cashed.

PROTECTION ORDER VIOLATION

• Centralia police arrested a man yesterday for stalking as he allegedly texted his wife multiple times over the weekend in violation of a no-contact order. Samuel G. Mardini, 35, was picked up at Wal-Mart in Chehalis and then booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department.

DRUGS

• A call to a recycling business on the 200 block of Floral Street in Centralia yesterday about someone trying to scrap a boat propeller that could have been stolen led to the arrest of Gregory B. Krenz, 38, from Cosmopolis, for possession of suspected methamphetamine and an outstanding warrant from the state Department of Corrections. A deputy responding about 11:50 a.m. was told two males fled to the area of a nearby bowling alley and left a female behind, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Krenz was contacted and booked into the Lewis County Jail. Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said it’s not known from where or if the propeller was stolen.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, misdemeanor assault, shoplifting; responses for suspicious circumstances, collision on city street  … report of the theft of car that turned out to have simply been parked in another part of the lot … and more.