Lewis County Sirens.com

METAL THEFT

• Somebody stole the aluminum handrail from the bridge over the Skookumchuck River at Schaeffer Park north of Centralia, the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reported this morning. The 240 feet of rail vanished sometime between June 13 and yesterday, according to the sheriff’s office. The loss is estimated at $5,000.

• Centralia police were called yesterday about the theft of metal from a former manufacturing plant on the 1800 block of Crescent Avenue. Police say they have a possible suspect.

OTHER THEFT

• A deputy took a report yesterday of a vehicle prowl at the Iron Creek Campground near Randle. Missing were two fly fishing rods and a reel, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

• Centralia police took  a report yesterday of license plates stolen from a vehicle at the 1500 block of Pike Street overnight. They read: 428 TIY

• Centralia police were called yesterday afternoon to the 500 block of Harrison Avenue about a counterfeit $20.

CAR VERSUS BICYCLE

• A 60-year-old man on a bicyclist sustained minor injuries yesterday when his bike and a car collided on Mellen Street and Marsh Avenue in Centralia, according to police. An officer was called just after 1 p.m. and noted the bicyclist got bumped, according to the Centralia Police Department.

CRASH

• Firefighters and police were called to a three-vehicle collision about 1 p.m. yesterday on the 500 block of Harrison Avenue in Centralia. There were seven potential patients but just one female with an injury, to her wrist, according to Riverside Fire Authority.

MAN TRAPPED BY TRAP

• Lewis County Fire District 15 was called Monday afternoon to an incident on Camus Road where a man’s foot got stuck in a beaver trap. Firefighters cut the trap and the victim declined to go to the hospital, according to Firefighter Patrick Jacobson. It wasn’t like a bear trap, Jacobson said. It just clamped down, but didn’t cut him, he said.

MILL FIRE

• Firefighters were called to the Sierra Pacific sawmill in Centralia on Sunday morning after a piece of equipment caught on fire. Someone was making repairs with a torch when molten metal dropped onto a “man lift”, Riverside Fire Authority Capt. Tim Adolphsen said this morning. The fire in the Port of Centralia’s industrial park off Harrison Avenue was extinguished, but caused an estimated $10,000 damage to the roughly $50,000 piece of equipment, Adolphsen said.

THEFT

• The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reported this morning they investigated a burglary to a garage on Friday in which a Stihl chainsaw, a gas cutting torch and two bottles of gas were stolen. It happened sometime Wednesday evening on the 200 block of East Oakview Street in Centralia, according to the sheriffs office.

• Somebody went into a barn and a residence on the 300 block of North Fork Road outside Chehalis and stole an electric wok, popcorn popper and a welder along with a knife sharpener and stainless steel kitchen utensils, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The sheriff’s office reports a deputy called Saturday about the burglary concluded it happened sometime between 3 p.m. June 18 and 9 a.m. the following day.

• Centralia police were called just before 6 o’clock this morning to a car prowl on the 900 block of South Pearl Street. Taken overnight were a stereo, speaker and amplifier, according to the Centralia Police Department. The vehicle had been locked and it’s unknown how someone got inside, according to police.

• Chehalis police were called just before 5 p.m. on Saturday by a woman who said she saw a man take her purse she had left in a shopping car at a grocery store on the 2100 block of North National Avenue.  No arrest was made.

• A woman called Centralia police yesterday from the 500 block of South Silver Street about receiving a counterfeit $20 bill during a garage sale. Officers have a description of a male suspect and his vehicle, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• Centralia police were called Saturday to a business on the 100 block of High Street about a counterfeit $20 bill they received. Police were given a license plate information of the vehicle belonging to the person who passed the bill, according to the Centralia Police Department.

DRUGS

• Centralia police arrested a 27-year-old woman on Saturday evening at West First and K streets for possession of methamphetamine. April L. Jones, of Toledo, was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• Centralia police arrested a 47-year-old man on Saturday for allegedly attempting to obtain prescription medication by fraud. The arrest is connected with a location of the 1200 block of Harrison Avenue in Centralia. Douglas B. J. Gogel, of Tacoma, was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department.

VANDALISM

• Police took a report early Saturday morning of someone “tagging” with spray paint property n the 1200 block of B Street in Centralia.

WRECKS

• Lewis County Fire District 5 was called early Sunday morning to a two-vehicle collision on Interstate 5 in the northbound lanes just north of the U.S. Highway 12 and Avery Road interchange. One car had rolled over and off the roadway and the driver was nowhere to be found, according to Firefighter Kevin Van Egdom. responders searched for more than 30 minutes using a thermal imaging camera, and concluded the driver must have left on his or her own accord, according to Van Egdom.

• An 18-year-old man who was airlifted to a Seattle hospital following a two-vehicle collision in Randle early Saturday with what was described as a lacerated liver and kidney was listed in satisfactory condition this morning. Troopers called about 1:45 a.m. to U.S. Highway 12 blamed driving under the influence on the wreck that also sent two others to the hospital. The investigating trooper reported that William K. Bloomstrom, 25, of Randle, exited the parking lot at the One-Stop Mini Mart in his pickup truck at a high rate of speed and hit the passenger side of an eastbound Chevrolet Cavalier. The passenger in the car, Cody W. Moorhead, 18, of Shelton, was flown by helicopter to Harborview Medical Center, according to the Washington State Patrol. The driver of the Cavalier, Charlotte J. Rathbun, 18, of Winlock, had a sore shoulder and thumb; the passenger in the truck, Benjamin E. Eastman Jr., 32, of Glenoma, got cuts on his nose and right arm, according to the state patrol. They were both taken to Morton General Hospital. Both vehicles were totaled. Bloomstrom was reportedly uninjured. Bloomstrom is under investigation for vehicular assault, according to the patrol.

MILL FIRE IN MORTON

• Fire broke out a lumber mill in Morton this afternoon, drawing firefighters from Morton and Glenoma. It started on the ground inside a large building and worked its way up, burning the underside of the roof, insulation, light fixtures and various hydraulic and air lines, according to Fire Investigator Jay Birley. “It could have been worse, the building had sprinklers that put a good brake on the fire,” Birley said tonight. It happened about 3:45 p.m. at the “Tubafor Mill” on the 300 block of state Route 7, according to Birley. They didn’t have any product inside and weren’t operating today, he said, but workers were there conducting maintenance. Nobody was hurt. The damage was such he didn’t expect operations to resume in that portion of the building on Monday, he said. Sawdust was probably a contributing factor, but the cause remains under investigation, Birley said. The mill is now called TMI Forest Products Inc. and manufactures Western Red Cedar fence boards, according to information from the company’s web site.

TEENAGER HOLDS GRANDMOTHER IN HOME

• An 18-year-old Centralia resident was arrested yesterday for unlawful imprisonment after he allegedly refused to let his grandmother leave a home on the 1300 block of West Main Street in Centralia until she agreed to buy him cigarettes. Police, called just before 11:30 a.m. yesterday, say he destroyed various items in the home and went out the window when officers arrived. A police dog tracked the suspect down, according to the Centralia Police Department. Galen R. Whitmeyer was booked into the Lewis County Jail for unlawful imprisonment and malicious mischief, according to police.

BULLET THROUGH WINDOW IN CENTRALIA

• Police were called about 1:45 p.m. on Thursday to a home on the 1300 block of West Main Street in Centralia after a man arrived home and found a bullet hole through a window. The officer found a .22 caliber (low velocity) round inside the house; it had only hit the window and curtains and fallen to the carpet, according to police. Police Sgt. Brian Warren said the resident didn’t have any reason to think he was targeted. Officers are investigating.

MAN CAUGHT MAILING MARIJUANA

• A Rochester man was arrested after he allegedly tried to mail an ounce of marijuana to an out-of-state friend, the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reported yesterday. A deputy was called Wednesday to the UPS distribution center on Hamilton Road south of Chehalis where the sender had dropped off the package containing marijuana and coffee grounds, sheriff’s Cmdr. Steve Aust said. The investigation concluded Scott R. Griggs, 30, of Rochester, was trying to send the marijuana to a friend in Pennsylvania, Aust said. Griggs was arrested on Thursday and booked into the Lewis County Jail for attempted delivery of marijuana, Aust said.

WHERE TWO OR MORE ARE GATHERED …

• Members of the Centralia Police Department’s Anti-Crime Team served a search warrant at a home on the 700 block of West Carson Street yesterday evening as they arrested a 44-year-old resident for possession of drugs and violations of conditions from the state Department of Corrections that he doesn’t associate with known criminals. It began with a visit by a community corrections officer and police, after law enforcement gained information Glen M. Ward was allowing individuals with outstanding warrants to live with him, according to Centralia Officer Chris Fitzgerald. Suspected heroin was found in Ward’s room and his vehicle, according to police. Officers learned the location of two of his wanted roommates and found them, stopping their vehicle on Guava Street in Rochester about 8 p.m., Fitzgerald said. Natasha A. Moore, 26, and Ryan L. Lester, 31, were booked into jail on their warrants, according to Fitzgerald. The driver of the vehicle, Nina L. Eklund, 40, was arrested for driving with a suspended license and subsequently also for possession of methamphetamine, Fitzgerald said. A K-9 search of Eklund’s vehicle turned up additional suspected methamphetamine, according to police.

• A visit by police to a residence on the 1800 block of Van Wormer Street in Centralia on Tuesday afternoon led to a short foot pursuit and the arrests of three individuals with outstanding warrants, according to the Centralia Police Department. Arrested and booked into the Lewis County Jail were Arnold L. Beeson, 41, Bobby L. Watts, 52, and Andrea J. Enos, 27, all of Vancouver, according to police. Officers had gone to the home accompanying a code inspector, according to police.

DISPUTE GETS UGLY

• A 39-year-old Rochester man allegedly chased a Centralia man with his vehicle last night after the Centralia man allegedly threw a brick through his windshield. Police responding abut 6:40 p.m. to the area near Yew and Borthwick streets arrested Jerry L. Warfield of Rochester for first-degree assault, reporting Warfield’s vehicle struck Thomas P. Marth’s leg. Warfield was booked into the Lewis County Jail and then released without any charges today. Marth was treated at the hospital for his injuries, according to police. He will be cited for malicious mischief, according to the Centralia Police Department.

DRUGS AND ALCOHOL

• Centralia police were at the 1300 block of Windsor Avenue about 8 p.m. last night where they arrested Billy J. Bartlett, a 20-year-old male for possession of methamphetamine and Nicholas L. Gonzales, also 20, for consuming alcohol. Bartlett was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department.

THEFT

• Centralia police took a report yesterday from the 500 block of East Pine Street about a vehicle prowl in which an air compressor-vacuum was taken. It happened “the other night”, according to police.

• Centralia police were called about 11:40 a.m. yesterday about a car prowl on the 600 block of South King Street. A Blackberry was missing, according to police.

STRANGE COMMENT CONCERNS KID, PARENTS

• Centralia police were called about 12:40 p.m. yesterday after an 8-year-old girl said a pair of older males approached her and said something to effect of “come to our house, we’ve got some great toys”. It happened near the child’s residence and her parent called 911, according to Sgt. Kurt Reichert. Officers checked the area, around the 1400 block of Delware Avenue, and conducted a K-9 track but didn’t find potential suspects, Reichert said. They will be following up further, he said.

THEFT

• A pistol was stolen from a home on the 1300 block of West Main Street in Centralia, according to a report made to the Centralia Police Department yesterday.

• Police were called yesterday morning to a burglary on the 1400 block of Oxford Avenue in Centralia. Missing were an Xbox and a computer, according to police.

• Somebody went through a bedroom window of a residence on the 100 block of West First Street in Centralia and stole unspecified medications, according to a report made yesterday to the Centralia Police Department.

THEFT

• Centralia police were called yesterday to the 300 block of Rose Street about a  vehicle prowl in which a side window was broken out. It happened between 3 a.m. and 8:30 a.m., according to the Centralia Police Department. Among the missing items were a red, gray and yellow Craftsman tool box and tools, many of which have the initials “HC” or “HRC” engraved on them, according to police.

• Chehalis police were called yesterday morning about a theft of fishing gear and power tools from a vehicle which had been parked at a business on the 1000 block of Northwest State Street since last Wednesday.

• Centralia police took a report yesterday of a counterfeit money order a woman asked a woman friend to cash at a bank on the 100 block of South Pearl Street. Sgt. Kurt Reichert said it’s not clear who the suspect is and he believed the amount was less than $1,000.

• Chehalis police were called to Starbucks on the 1500 block of Northwest Louisiana Avenue after they discovered they had received a a counterfeit $50 bill. Detective Sgt. Rick McNamara said officers would have taken the bad bill and will send it to the U.S. Secret Service.

• Lewis County Crime Stoppers is looking for information about an incident in Morton in which several storage units were burglarized and ransacked. It was discovered on May 20 at the business on the 700 block of Airport Way. Crime Stoppers pays for information leading to the clearance of crimes and takes tips anonymously at 1-800-748-6422 or online at www.lewsicountycrimestoppers.org

MAN THREATENS CLERKS WITH SWORD IN CHEHALIS

• Chehalis police said today they are looking for a male who robbed a convenience store by threatening two clerks with a sword on Saturday night. Officers were called about 10:35 p.m. to the Market Street Market on 13th Street. Detective Sgt. Rick McNamara said the weapon appeared to be about two feet long. “He pointed it at the two employees, told them to stay back and give him the money; they complied,” McNamara said. Nobody was hurt. The amount taken was not yet added up, he said. He was in and out very quickly, he said. The robber was described as possibly in his mid-20s, but it was hard to tell because he was wearing a bandana over his face, McNamara said. He was wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt and estimated to be 5-feet 8-inches to 5-feet 10-inches tall, and perhaps weighing between 160 to 170 pounds, McNamara said.

BOYS LIGHT UP PUBLIC BATHROOM

• A pair of 12-year-old boys were caught allegedly setting paper towels on fire inside the bathroom at Penny Playground in Chehalis on Saturday. Chehalis police detective Sgt. Rick McNamara said an officer was called just after 1 p.m. and found a lot of smoke but not much damage. The case is being referred to the Lewis County Prosecutors Office for possible charges of second-degree arson, McNamara said. The children were released to their parents.

THEFT

• A resident of the 900 block of H Street in Centralia told police on Saturday morning that sometime during the night somebody entered his bedroom and took his car keys and a credit card. He found them laying in the yard near his house, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• Police took a report on Friday morning of a 1999 Mercury Mystic stolen during the night from the 1000 block of Gold Street in Centralia. Its owner later found it in a parking lot several blocks away, according to Centralia police.

• Somebody stole a .38 caliber chrome semi-automatic handgun, a metal detector and DVD movies when they broke into an RV on the 200 block of Centralia-Alpha Road, according to a report made to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office on Friday.

• A deputy was called just before 7 a.m. yesterday to a burglary at the 600 block of Pleasant Valley Road in Mineral. A man who was watching property for a relative said he found bolt cutters, an old fire extinguisher, three bars for a chainsaw and other items piled up in the driveway, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. A 25-year-old Elbe resident, Catrina M. Peters, was subsequently arrested for second-degree burglary and booked into the Lewis County Jail, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said.

• Somebody stole outdoor solar lawn lights from a residence on the 200 block of Ahlers Avenue in Centralia, according to a report made to police Friday.

BAD BILLS

• Centralia police were called to two different places on Saturday about a woman passing counterfeit $100 bills. The first was at the 1100 block of Harrison Avenue a about 1:40 p.m. and a few minutes later they were called to the 1300 block of Lum Road, according to the Centralia Police Department. Police described her only as a black female wearing a red coat.

• Chehalis police were called about a counterfeit $20 bill being passed at a gas station on the 1000 block of Southwest Interstate Avenue on Friday

PAINTBALL ATTACK

• Centralia police were called about 9:30 a.m. on Saturday to a house on the 1600 block of Military Road which was struck by paintballs.

WRECK

• A 17-year-old Centralia girl was hospitalized with two possibly broken arms after a single-vehicle rollover accident on Saturday on the 300 block of Independence Road near Rochester, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Deputies called just before 2 p.m. were told by the 16-year-old driver he felt something on his leg, looked down to swat a bug away and found his tires off the road. He over-corrected and the vehicle went into the brush onto its top and slid approximately 40 feet, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said today. Another passenger, a16-year-old Centralia boy was taken also to Providence Centralia Hospital with neck and stomach pain, Brown said. A third passenger, a Rochester boy sustained bruises from his seatbelt, she said. The driver, from Rochester, a reportedly uninjured. He was cited for driving too fast for conditions.