Lewis County Sirens.com

CAR VERSUS SCHOOL BUS IN NAPAVINE

• Lewis County Fire District 5 was called about 8:25 this morning when a passenger car and a fully-loaded school bus collided at West Washington Street and Alder Avenue Northwest in Napavine. There were no injuries, fire Lt. Laura Hanson said. Hanson reported the bus was struck from behind by the car resulting in minor damage to both vehicles. The children were picked up by another bus and taken to school.

LOST HIKER SLEEPS IN SNOW NEAR ASHFORD

• The subject of yesterday’s search and rescue mission southeast of Ashford spent two nights sleeping in the snow after he lost sight of his trail because of the snow, the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reported this morning. The 49-year-old Auburn man had set out from Forest Service Road 85 on Saturday, hiking toward a place called High Hut, a state-owned shelter in the forest, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said. Searchers on snow mobiles followed footprints in the snow and found the man yesterday afternoon, who had made his way to High Hut, according to Brown. He was warm and uninjured and had been very well equipped for his outing, she said.

THEFT

• Centralia police were called just before 6 p.m. yesterday to the Centralia Outlet mall on Lum Road after subjects took 10 to 15 purses from the Coach Factory store and fled in a vehicle. The loss from the high-end handbag store is estimated at about $3,000, according to police.

• Centralia police took a report yesterday from the 200 block of West Main Street of unauthorized withdrawals from a woman’s account. It happened in March and the loss is somewhere between $400 and $500, according to police.

• Morton police were called on Sunday morning to a burglary to a business on the 300 block of state Route 7 in which somebody went inside during the night and took a welder, wire, hand tools and acetylene and oxygen tanks, according to the Morton Police Department.

• Somebody broke into a residence on the 100 block of Collar Avenue in Morton sometime between last Wednesday and Friday and stole a VHF/UHF FM “transceiver” valued at an estimated $300, according to the Morton Police Department.

• An individual alerted by his car alarm on the 1300 block of Belmont Avenue in Centralia yesterday afternoon went out to check and discovered someone had broken out a window and stolen an iPod, a GPS unit and stereo equipment, according to the Centralia Police Department.

POLICE PURSUITS

• The Washington State Patrol reports a driver who fled a traffic stop last night in Centralia crashed into a brick flower bed near Ellsbury and Alder streets. It happened about 11:40 p.m. near Interstate 5’s Mellen Street interchange. The 2005 Hyundai Accent was totaled, according to the state patrol. The driver fled the scene. A charge of hit and run is to be referred to the Lewis County Prosecutors Office for the suspected driver, a 24-year-old Oakville man, according to the investigating trooper.

• The (Longview) Daily News reports a police pursuit that began south of Vader on Interstate 5 yesterday evening ended when the driver stopped in the parking lot of the Cowlitz County Jail in Kelso and surrendered. Read it here.

FIRE BURNS DOWN TINY OLD HOUSE IN CENTRALIA

• An old logger’s shack in Centralia was destroyed by fire yesterday evening and investigators are still looking into the cause. Firefighters called about 5:30 p.m. to the approximately 20-foot by 20-foot house on the 1100 block of Woodland Avenue were able to contain the blaze to the 1920’s vintage building used for storage, according to Riverside Fire Authority Capt. Scott Snyder. A female occupant of a close-by residence was taken to the hospital by AMR but not for any kind of smoke or fire injury, Snyder said.

FIRE BREAKS OUT IN WINLOCK APARTMENT BUILDING

• A sprinkler system and a young man with a fire extinguisher prevented some “pretty disastrous consequences” when a fire broke out in a three-story downtown Winlock Building on Friday, according to Lewis County Fire District 15. Firefighters from Winlock, Napavine and Toledo were called about 10:30 a.m. to the structure on the 300 block of Northeast First Street. District 15 Firefighter Kevin Anderson said the blaze was contained to the apartment of origin on the second floor although it sustained smoke and water damage. The building burned many years go and when it was rebuilt, sprinkler were installed, Anderson said. Anderson said there are seven or eight apartments in the upper levels and had the flames escaped the apartment, the other occupants would have had to pass right by it to get out of the building. “The sprinklers did a great job, if there wouldn’t have been sprinklers in, there would have been some pretty disasterous consequences,” he said. The resident is being taken care of by the Red Cross and the other occupants of the building were able to return to their homes, according to Anderson.

PE ELL FIRE DEPARTMENT GETS BACK SOME STOLEN ITEMS

• The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reports they arrested and jailed a 24-year-old Centralia man last Thursday found in possession of some of the equipment stolen from the Pe Ell fire department the week before last. More than $18,000 worth of tools and other items such as the Jaws of Life were removed from fire vehicles in a burglary to the station on state Route 6. The sheriff’s office said a tip led them to a Centralia man suspected of trying to sell a generator and subsequently the recovery of a tool box, an axe and a work light. Deputies booked the man into the Lewis County Jail for felony possession of stolen property, however, he was released from jail this morning with no charges filed. Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Shane O’Rourke said because the value of the items the individual was allegedly in possession of was less than $750, his case will be referred for a possible charge of misdemeanor possession of stolen property in Lewis County District Court. The sheriff’s office said today there is a second person of interest in the case they are looking for.

THEFT

• Police were called about 9:30 p.m. on Saturday to an area near the 300 block of James Street in Chehalis where a gray 2009 Honda car had been stolen.

• Centralia police took a report on Friday of a “Gator” ATV and a gas can taken from a building. The ATV was later found abandoned near a the river, according to police. The incident is associated with an address on the 500 block of Pioneer Way in Centralia.

• Police were called about 5:30 a.m. on Saturday to a tow company’s impound yard on Southwest Riverside Drive in Chehalis for an attempted theft. Someone had cut a gate lock and moved a car dolly trailer near the gate as though they were going to take it, according to police.

• Chehalis police were called Friday afternoon by a woman who lost her Visa card and then discovered someone had used it three times racking up charges of around $80. The woman thought she may have lost it walking along Southwest Cascade Avenue near Safeway, according to police.

• Several vehicles were prowled in an alley near the 900 block of E Street in Centralia, according to a report made to the Centralia Police Department on Saturday.

VANDALISM

• Centralia police were called about 10:20 a.m. yesterday to a business on the 200 block of South Pearl Street where someone had thrown rocks through several windows during the night.

DRUG PARAPHERNALIA TURNED OVER TO POLICE

• Centralia police were called on Friday to the 200 block of Centralia College Boulevard where unspecified drug paraphernalia was found in a basement. It was turned over to an officer.

COLLISIONS

• A school bus loaded with kids collided with a car in Chehalis on Friday morning but no injuries were reported, according to the Chehalis Police Department. A Toyota Camry was at Southwest William Avenue about 8 a.m. to make a right turn onto 13th Street when the bus pulled along side of it and turned right, according to police. The car’s front fender was damaged and no citations were issued, detective Sgt. Rick McNamara said.

• The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reported this morning that two people were injured in a single-vehicle collision about 2 p.m. on Saturday on the 1200 block of Boistfort Road in Curtis. A 27-year-old passenger was flown to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle with broken bones in his face and a broken leg, according to the sheriff’s office. The driver, 25-year-old Jessy R. Schiffman of Curtis, was taken to Providence Centralia Hospital with cuts to his hands and a suspected broken ankle, according to Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown. The sheriff’s office suspects Schiffman was under the influence of alcohol and has referred the case for a possible charge of vehicular assault, Brown said. The sheriff’s office did not report what the vehicle collided with.

• A 19-year-old Chehalis man was arrested for driving under the influence following a collision about 12:20 a.m. on Sunday on Little Hanaford Road near Salzer Valley Road, according to the  Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The sheriff’s office did not report what the vehicle collided with or if the driver, Alyn J. Kreidler, was injured.

• A 51-year-old Chehalis man was arrested for driving under the influence following a collision about 10:15 p.m. on Saturday on Shorey Road near Tune Road outside Chehalis, the  Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reported this morning. The sheriff’s office did not report what the vehicle collided with or if the driver, Mark (or Marc) W. Boles was injured. That information was not readily available today.

CENTRALIA WOMAN STABBED IN NECK

• A Centralia woman was hospitalized last night after she was stabbed in the back of the neck with a kitchen knife, allegedly by her husband. Centralia police say the woman, in her early 30s, called her brother to pick her up as she and her husband had been fighting. Police were told the husband arrived at the brother’s house on North Pearl Street, forced his way inside, chased her into a bathroom and then attacked her with a knife, Officer Chris Fitzgerald said. The brother took her to Providence Centralia Hospital and the husband followed them there, Fitzgerald said. The hospital called police about 8:30 p.m. The knife missed all the woman’s vital parts and she was treated and has been released from the hospital, according to police. “Very lucky to be alive,” Fitzgerald said this morning. Yovany Hernandez-Gomez, 27, of Centralia, was arrested for first-degree assault and booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department.

THEFT

• The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reported this morning they are investigating a burglary  at the Lions Club campground in Mineral in which an estimated $3,650 of items were stolen. A 66-year-old man from Lakewood told a deputy on Wednesday that he had been away from the campground since Sunday and when he returned, he discovered his 13-foot beige-colored boat was gone and someone had gotten inside his recreational vehicle and taken two chainsaws and other camping gear, according to Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown. Among the missing items are a MS440 Magnum chainsaw and a 29 Super Farm Boss chainsaw, Brown said.

• Centralia police took a report yesterday from a 21-year-old woman who was defrauded out of $240. The woman said she received a phone call in January from a man who told her she had an outstanding “Pay Day loan” and he gave her some information which made her think he was legitimate, according to police. She gave him her bank account number and social security number, according to the report. She called police after she noticed three unfamiliar withdrawals from her account, totaling $240, according to Officer Chris Fitzgerald.

• Centralia police took a report yesterday of a burglary to a home on the 300 block of South Pearl Street. Sometime between 3 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. yesterday, someone stole jewelry, medication and a small amount of cash, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• Police were called just before 6 p.m. yesterday about medication being stolen from a residence on the 1100 block of Scammon Creek Road in Centralia.

DRUGS

• Centralia police arrested a 50-year-old Centralia man for possession of methamphetamine yesterday evening. Ronald W. McNeal was booked into the Lewis County Jail after contact with an officer on the 1100 block of Harrison Avenue at about 5:20 p.m.

PILOT HOSPITALIZED AFTER SCAREY LANDING IN CHEHALIS

• A “belly landing” at the Chehalis-Centralia Airport yesterday left no one injured but the pilot was so shaken he had to be taken to the hospital, according to the Chehalis Fire Department. Firefighters called about 2 p.m. said a couple in the small amphibious-type plane were stopping for fuel on their way home to Lakewood from California. The pilot said he forgot to lower the landing gear, according to fire Capt. Ted McCarty. Surprisingly there was not much damage to the aircraft, McCarty said.

NEIGHBOR PURSUES SUSPECTED JEWEL THIEVES

• Deputies spent much of yesterday morning searching for a trio of suspected burglars off Big Hanaford Road outside Centralia. Just before 10 a.m. a neighbor spotted intruders inside a home on the 2800 block of Little Hanaford Road and confronted them, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The three fled in a car but the neighbor followed them and called 911, Chief Criminal Deputy Gene Seiber said. They abandoned their car and fled into the woods, Seiber said. According to Seiber, a Centralia police dog was summoned to search the area and eventually found 40-year-old Billy D. Powell. Two women were picked up later walking along the roadway. Jewelry was taken from the home, which had also been burglarized not long ago. Deputies were planning to conduct a search of the car in hopes of recovering the items, according to Seiber. Booked into the Lewis County Jail for burglary were Powell, Jean R. Muxen, 46, and Jerry L. Peterson, 46, all from Centralia, according to the sheriff’s office.

CAR VERSUS BUILDING

• A 51-year-old Rochester driver was arrested after she reportedly hit a building in Centralia this morning and then left the scene. Police were called about 6 a.m. to the 1000 block of Caveness Drive, where a vehicle had run into Les Schwab. An officer contacted Alicja Z. Scolypollari nearby and cited her for hit and run, driving with a suspended license and operating a vehicle without a required interlock device, according to the Centralia Police Department.

DRUGS

• Two individuals were arrested for possession of methamphetamine after contact with police about 12:30 this morning behind Rite Aid on Harrison Avenue in Centralia. A small bindle and a “scraper baggie” of suspected meth were found, according to police Sgt. Kurt Reichert. Booked into the Lewis County Jail were Danita K. Oster, 42, of Pe Ell, and Sean D. Cheever, 19, of Centralia, according to the Centralia Police Department. Cheever was also booked on an outstanding warrant, police reported.

CAR PROWL

• Centralia police took a report about 8 a.m. yesterday of a wallet stolen from an unlocked vehicle on the 1200 block of Alder Street. it was later recovered, according to police.

OVERNIGHT CRASH

• Firefighters were called just before 5 o’clock this morning to the southbound lanes of Interstate 5 near the Mellen Street interchange in Centralia where three vehicles were involved a collision, including a big truck belonging to the state Department of Transportation which  is designed to park and protect roadway workers. Nobody was injured, according to Riverside Fire Authority.

DRUGS

• A parking complaint yesterday morning in Centralia led to the arrest of a 40-year-old Rochester man in possession of suspected cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana, according to the Centralia Police Department. An officer called just before 11 a.m. to the 600 block of South Pearl Street contacted the vehicle’s occupant, Juan C. Munoz, who was subsequently booked into the Lewis County Jail for possession of drugs with intent to deliver, Sgt. Kurt Reichert said.

THEFT

• Two security cameras were reported stolen from outside a building on the 500 block of North Tower Avenue in Centralia, according to a report made to police late yesterday afternoon.

• Chehalis police were called about 2 p.m. yesterday about the theft of yard lights on 10th Street.

• Centralia police were called about 8:20 p.m. yesterday to the 1100 block of Borthwick Street where a stereo had been stolen from a vehicle. A window was broken out, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• Centralia police took a report about 7 p.m. yesterday of tools taken from a travel trailer on the 1100 block of Borthwick Street.

• Tools were stolen from a  vehicle on the 1300 block of Harrison Avenue in Centralia, according to a report made to police yesterday morning.

DOG FIGHT

• Centralia police were called about 4:45 p.m. yesterday after a poodle-chihuahua mix out on a walk with its owner was attacked by another dog. The incident near the 1700 block of Harrison Avenue left the little dog with a bite on its neck and its owner bitten on her arm when she tried to break it up, according to police. The owner of the pit bull-mix dog was to be cited, according to the Centralia Police Department.

LAWN MOWERS SPIRITED AWAY

• Two Cowlitz County residents were arrested yesterday evening after a neighbor spotted two males loading up a Craftsman riding mower and a push mower from a Mossyrock address and drive away with them, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The items – valued at $1,900 – were taken from 100 block of Jarvis Road and recovered in the 200 block of Swofford Road, according to the sheriff’s office. Robert H. Smith, 33, of Longview and Billy Ray Mitchell, 26, of Kelso, were booked into the Lewis County Jail for second-degree theft and second-degree burglary, according to Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown. A key for the riding mower had been taken from a building attached to the home, according to Brown. The Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office is releasing them pending further investigation.

ATTEMPTED BURGLARY IN MINERAL

• A deputy was called yesterday morning to the Mineral Forestry office on the 2500 block of state Route 7 near Mineral where someone had tried to break in over the weekend. A door was destroyed in the attempt, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

CAR PROWL

• Centralia police were called about 11:20 p.m. yesterday to the 500 block of Yew Street where an i-Phone had been taken from a vehicle. It was black and silver, according to the Centralia Police Department.

THREAT TO KILL

• A 22-year-old Centralia man was arrested overnight after he allegedly threatened to shoot two males, reaching into his waistband as though he had a gun, according to the Centralia Police Department. Daniel J. Alvarado was booked for felony harassment after the incident connected with the area of North Pearl and West Pine streets in Centralia, according to police.

DISPUTE WITH WEED EATER LEADS TO ARREST

• A 53-year-old Adna man was arrested Saturday evening after he reportedly jumped through a window into his estranged wife’s vehicle with her, took the keys from the ignition and tossed them into a pond. Deputies were called about 7:40 p.m. to Deep Creek Road where they learned he kept her from leaving and also struck her with a weed eater. He was booked for unlawful imprisonment and referred for a possible assault charge. The Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office released the man pending further investigation.

THEFT

• Centralia police think somebody climbed through an apartment window on the 1400 block of Lewis Street to steal $60 from a dresser. The burglary was reported just before 6 p.m. yesterday.

• The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reported this morning an arrest was made in connection with a Randle area theft reported two weeks ago on Morris Road. Brenda L. Sheridan, 51, was arrested and booked on Thursday for first-degree trafficking in stolen property, possession of stolen property and burglary, according to Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown. A horse saddle was recovered, Brown said.

• Chehalis police were called just before 2 p.m. Saturday to the 1400 block of Southwest Mills Avenue by a man who said two Honda generators and a Stihl chainsaw were missing from his garage. There were no signs of forced entry, according to police.

VEHICLE PROWLS

• Centralia police were called about noon yesterday about a car prowl on the 200 block of West Pear Street. Someone rummaged through the unlocked vehicle but didn’t take anything, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• Police were called about 11:40 p.m. on Friday to the parking lot at the Lewis County Mall where somebody came out after a movie and found their vehicle door open. Missing was a wallet and a container of prescription Oxycodone.

PUPPY STOLEN

• Deputies were called early Saturday morning to the 1600 block of Windsor Avenue in Centralia where a man told them two females grabbed his puppy he had chained outside his home and sped away in a red station wagon. The two-month-old brown and white boxer mix was not located.

COLLISION

• A collision Saturday evening on the 1400 block of Centralia-Alpha Road ended with a citation for a 70-year-old Centralia man who pulled out of his driveway and an arrest for DUI for the driver of the other vehicle, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.  Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said both vehicles were damaged and Patrick E. Murphy, 26, of Glenoma was arrested for driving under the influence. The other driver was cited for failing to yield, she said.

SEEKING INFO ON FIRE STATION BURGLARY

• Lewis County Crime Stoppers is looking for information about the theft of two game cameras stolen from a Mossyrock fire station on the 700 block of Green Mountain Road. The black Bushnell Sentry cameras discovered missing on April 11 are valued at $300. Crime Stoppers will pay for information leading to the clearance of crimes and takes tips anonymously at 1-800-748-6422 or online at www.lewsicountycrimestoppers.org

SEMI TRUCK FIRE

• Traffic was routed around a big rig that caught fire last night on Interstate 5 near the Rochester-Tenino interchange for several hours as responders pulled out and doused burning cargo. Nobody was hurt. Firefighters were called about 11:30 p.m. to the northbound lanes just south of the exit and found the trailer on fire, according to West Thurston Regional Fire Authority. The driver had noticed smoke from the trailer tires, pulled over and disconnected his truck, moving it to safety, according to Fire Chief Robert Scott. The chief said the trailer was carrying boxes of clothing. Firefighters spent about three hours extinguishing the material, Scott said. The roadway was cleared about 5:15 a.m.

Courtesy photo by West Thurston Regional Fire Authority Chief Robert Scott