Lewis County Sirens.com

VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTER PUNCHED WHEN TRYING TO ROUSE UNRESPONSIVE PATIENT

• A 25-year-old Chehalis man who said he must have pulled his motorcycle off the road and fallen asleep near the 300 block of Ingalls Road west of Centralia was arrested after a responding firefighter tried to check on him and he allegedly punched the volunteer firefighter in the chin. Riverside Fire Authority called about 9:40 p.m. last Sunday found a man laying on the ground with a motorcycle parked nearby, according to the sheriff’s office. David R. Little smelled of alcohol and when Firefighter Wade Snow went to roll him over, he opened his eyes, looked at the firefighter and punched him in the face, according to an incident report from the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Little was arrested and charged with third-degree assault. He pleaded not guilty on Thursday in Lewis County Superior Court.

LOCAL FIREFIGHTERS HELPING IN EASTERN WASH. WILDFIRE

• The Rochester-area fire department sent three fire department vehicles and six people to help battle a grasslands fire that covered three-square miles and was threatening 80 structures last night in Klickitat County. The team from West Thurston Regional Fire Authority left Thursday evening, according to fire Lt. Eric Smith. The fire near the town of Lyle along the Columbia River started on Thursday and was 40 percent contained last night, according to the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center.

OUTLET MALL STORE HEIST

• Two teenage males reportedly fled from one of the Centralia Outlet Mall stores with three mesh bags full of merchandise and got into tan-colored van with Arkansas license plates last night. Police called about 8:15 p.m. to the business on the 100 block of High Street noted it was a Chevrolet Astro van and was not found.

PURSE LIFTED FROM SHOPPING CART IN CENTRALIA

• Centralia police were called Friday afternoon to the 100 block of High Street where somebody had stolen a purse from a customer’s shopping cart and soon afterward used used one of the credit cards at a nearby convenience store.

WANDERING NAKED TODDLER REMOVED FROM HOME, PARENTS ARRESTED

• Police called after a toddler was found wandering alone and naked on a Centralia sidewalk arrested a couple for criminal mistreatment when they finally found the parents at the boy’s home a block or so away on Wednesday. When officers finally got someone to come to the door at the 900 block of B Street, they discovered a residence so “foul” and unsafe, the little boy was taken into protective custody, according to the Centralia Police Department. Sgt. Kurt Reichert said there were knives within reach of the boy on the kitchen table and dozens of uninflated balloons laying on the floor, along with feces embedded in the carpet and urine on the kitchen floor. Kacey J. Ganas, 28, and Jared C. Penfield, 25, were booked into the Lewis County Jail.

TEEN BOOKED FOR SECOND-DEGREE ASSAULT

• A 15-year-old boy was arrested for second-degree assault after allegedly swinging the power head of a vacuum cleaner at his mother’s head in Centralia on Wednesday afternoon, according to the Centralia Police Department.

HEROIN ARREST

• A 34-year-old Centralia man was arrested on Saturday for possession of heroin. Police contacted Michael J. Pae just before 1 p.m. at the 900 block of L Street in Centralia and booked him into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department.

YIKES, HE DID IT AGAIN?

• An officer was called Saturday afternoon to the 700 block of Harrison Avenue in Centralia where they cited a 49-year-old Centralia man after he exposed himself during a verbal dispute, according to the Centralia Police Department. The same individual was arrested for the same violation a little more than a week earlier during an argument over a property line between two businesses, according to police. He had allegedly made a rude suggestion which he emphasized by presenting a body part usually kept inside the trousers in public.

STOLEN STUFF

• Chehalis police took a report somebody burglarized a residence and took video games and electronics on Friday. An officer called to the apartment on the 500 block of Jefferson Avenue was told the break-in occurred sometime between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. the day before.

• Centralia police were called Thursday afternoon about the theft of a TV from a home on the 1100 block of Woodland Avenue.

• A green 1999 Toyota Sienna van was reported stolen in Chehalis on Thursday morning.

• Chehalis police were called to Northeast Washington Avenue on Wednesday evening about the theft of a debit card.

• Chehalis police took a report of a burglary to a business on Northeast Median Street on Tuesday afternoon.

SMASHING WINDSHIELDS, SPRAY PAINTING VEHICLES

• Police were called to three incidents of vandalism to vehicles in Centralia on Friday, including one on the 800 block of Park Way in which somebody spray painted a car overnight. One was on the 700 block of North Washington Avenue and another on the 1000 block of Eckerson Road. The day before, an officer took a report of a windshield being broken out of a vehicle on the 100 block of North Buckner Street.

BAIL STAYS AT $500,000 FOR MUFFLER MAN

• The 65-year-old owner of a Centralia muffler shop pleaded not guilty to charges of three times selling methamphetamine to a police informant when he appeared in court on Thursday. Frank Eugene Willis was arrested Aug. 19 at his Muffler Hut on the 1400 block of South Gold Street when police searched the property for stolen property following an ongoing investigation by the Centralia Police Department. Willis also pleaded not guilty to possession of roughly one ounce of the drug which was found in various places, possession of a stolen vehicle and of a stolen firearm, according to authorities. Deputy Prosecutor Sara Beigh said a detective was still checking the roughly other 40 firearms seized to see any of them were stolen. The apartment on the premises in which he lived with his wife has been posted as uninhabitable by the city, according to Beigh. Willis’s temporary defense attorney had argued for less than $500,000 bail, saying Willis had as strong of community ties as one can find, but Judge Nelson Hunt on Thursday declined to reduce the bail.

Muffler shop owner Frank Eugene Willis consults with his attorney during his first appearance in court on Aug. 20 after being arrested for allegedly selling methamphetamine to a police informant.

SAWDUST FIRE IN CHEHALIS INDUSTRIAL PARK DOES MINIMAL DAMAGE

• Firefighters were called to the Chehalis Industrial Park about 12:35 p.m. yesterday when sawdust collected in a giant metal bin caught fire. The damage at Shelton Laminating and Deck Industries on the 100 block of Downie Road was minimal, according to Lewis County Fire District 6 Chief Bud Goodwillie. “Apparently a spark got in there somehow and ignited the sawdust,” Goodwillie said this morning. Crews from three departments were on the scene about two hours as they emptied out the bin and extinguished the burning material on the ground, he said. He estimated he loss at probably just a few thousand dollars to replace a motor that burned out, and may have even been the reason for the fire.

TWO SUSPICIOUS FIRES IN CENTRALIA PROBABLY ARSON

• The fire department in Centralia is investigating an early Saturday morning incident in which two small fires broke out about the same time in the south end of town. A resident on South Tower Avenue near Summa Street smelled smoke and discovered the corner of the alley-side of the house burning about 5:45 a.m., according to Riverside Fire Authority Assistant Chief Rick Mack. He used a hose to put it out and then spotted another fire next to an outbuilding about 35 yards south, Mack said. He carried a bucket of water to the separate property to extinguish that, Mack said. It looks like arson, Mack said. The damage was limited to about $500, he said. Mack, who is also the fire marshal, said if anyone has any information, he would like them to call him at 330-9854. Early Tuesday morning, at about 3:20 a.m., the fire department was called to an area behind a house on the 500 block of K Street where tall vegetation was burning near the structure. The resident told the fire department that transients often congregate back there, according to Fire Capt. Ken Colombo. The captain said this fire was at the opposite end of town from the weekend fires.

CENTRALIA CLERK THWARTS ARMED ROBBERY

• Police called to an armed attempted robbery at a Centralia convenience store Sunday night conducted a track with a police dog and think the suspect got into a vehicle when he fled. Officers responded to a hold up alarm about 11:50 p.m. at the Centralia Food Mart on the 100 block of Harrison Avenue, according to the Centralia Police Department. Sgt. Kurt Reichert said the clerk was uncooperative with the man brandishing a firearm and got the man to leave, without handing over any money. The sergeant declined to say more specifically what the male clerk did. The robber was described as a white male wearing a ski mask who was somewhere between 5-feet 9-inches tall and 5-feet 11-inches tall. He was wearing a dark gray or black “hoodie” and dark jeans, Reichert said.

SEXUAL ABUSE ARREST

• A 40-year-old Mossyrock man was arrested yesterday in connection with several incidents of sexual abuse of a female relative that was recently reported to the Morton Police Department. Daniel W. Fish was booked into the Lewis County Jail for third-degree rape of a child, second-degree rape of a child and indecent liberties, according to Police Chief Dan Mortensen. Most of the alleged incidents occurred when the victim was 14 or 15 years old and one when she was 12 or 13, according to the chief.

BAT FLIES INTO CHILDRENS’ BEDROOM

• Police were called early Tuesday morning to a Chehalis home when a bat was discovered in a room where children were sleeping. The caller trapped the bat initially but then it apparently got away, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

CAR SARAN WRAPPED

• Chehalis police were called just before 4 o’clock Saturday morning to an incident in which a male complained that four girls had just saran-wrapped his car. He told them to stop, but they just laughed and waved as they left, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

MAN LAYS DOWN IN FRONT OF TRAIN

• Centralia police arrested a man after he reportedly laid down across the railroad tracks in front of an oncoming train near the 200 block of Maple Street, only moving away just before the train could hit him. Thirty-year-old Giovanni L. Revetria of Centralia was booked into the Lewis County Jail for trespass and obstructing or delaying a train after the 8 p.m. incident on Sunday, according to the Centralia Police Department.

DRUGS, DRUGS, DRUGS

• A Salkum woman and a Winlock man were arrested just before midnight in Centralia for possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver, according to the Centralia Police Department. Ricardo J. Zuniga, 29, and Florence K. Montes, 53, were contacted at South Washington Avenue and Pear Street about 11:50 p.m. last night, according to police. They were booked into the Lewis County Jail. Both are expected to be released and not charged pending further investigation.

• Centralia police arrested a 50-year-old man yesterday of possession of unspecified narcotics. Tony C. Hickman of Centralia was booked into the Lewis County Jail after he was contacted by police just before 2 p.m. near West Second and G streets in Centralia, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• Police on Monday evening arrested Byron K. Sedrick, 30, of Centralia, for possession of methamphetamine when he as contacted about 6:20 p.m. at Harrison Avenue and East High Street, according to the Centralia Police Department.

UNRULY ARRESTEE IN CENTRALIA

• A 20-year-old Centralia man is accused of breaking a patrol car door handle and was arrested early this morning after contacted by police on the 2900 block of Mount Vista Road in Centralia. Tyler C. Cooper was arrested and booked into the Lewis County Jail for fourth-degree assault domestic violence, minor in possession of alcohol and malicious mischief, according to police.

BURGLARIES AND OTHER STOLEN STUFF

• Deputies took a report yesterday about an estimated $1,500 theft from the 300 block of Lone Yew Road near Toledo. Taken sometime between noon on Saturday and noon on Sunday were several aluminum wheels and a Peterbilt radiator, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

• Chehalis police took a report of a Dodge Intrepid  stolen from Southwest Chehalis Avenue at about 6:30 a.m. on Sunday.

• Chehalis police were called to a home just before 1 p.m. on Sunday where the resident returned home and found a screen removed and a window open. She thought her dog may have scared off the intruder, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

• Somebody entered a Mineral-area home under construction and stole a backpack containing a camp stove, a knife and camouflage clothing, as well as a Stihl chainsaw. The burglary on the 200 block of Mineral Creek Road was discovered early Saturday morning, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

• Chehalis police were called to an office on West Main Street where somebody came inside and stole a wallet. The victim from the Friday afternoon theft said the subject may have been heading to another office in the building, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

• A Centralia resident on the 700 block of H Street called police early Sunday  morning when they spotted someone attempting to prowl their vehicle. The vehicle’s owner saw the dome light come on and saw a male inside the vehicle that was parked in front of their house, according to police. The subject fled before police arrived.

• Centralia police are investigating a possible forgery after taking a report on Monday that an unknown person used the victim’s account information to purchase airline tickets.

NIGHT FIGHTS

• Centralia police responded about 12:30 a.m. today to a report of a misdemeanor assault at the 100 block of South Tower Avenue. No arrests were made.

• Police were called to a report of a fight outside Garbe’s Tavern on the 300 block of Northwest Chehalis Avenue about 1:30 a.m. on Sunday. No arrests were made, according to police.

FOUR HOSPITALIZED AFTER SUNDAY CRASHES

• Emergency responders handled several collisions on Sunday, including one on state Route 6 near Dryad in which Chehalis man suffering an unspecified medical problem passed out and crashed into a tree. Kenneth L. McCoy, 52, was flown by helicopter to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle with a chest injury after the noontime wreck, according to the state patrol. His passenger, Berry L. Martin, 54, of Snohomish, was take by ambulance to Providence Centralia Hospital with a contusion on his head, the state patrol reported. The 2009 Nissan Frontier was totaled. Lewis County Fire District 5 took one person to the hospital after a 5 p.m. collision on Interstate 5 near milepost 73 south of Chehalis and then shortly after 7 p.m. were called to another crash about a mile south of there. One of four potential patients was taken to the hospital, according to District 5 Firefighter Brad Bozarth. At about 9 p.m., Chehalis firefighters responded to a multiple-vehicle crash on the freeway  just north of Chamber Way interchange where three people were treated for minor cuts and bruises, according to the Chehalis Fire Department.

JURY SAYS TOLEDO MAN NOT GUILTY OF ROBBERY

• A jury in Chehalis yesterday found a 20-year-old man not guilty of first-degree robbery. Richard R. Viers was arrested in Toledo June 23 after an 18-year-old Toledo resident said his former classmate had showed a knife and demanded all his money. Viers, whose residence is listed in court documents as Glenoma but was reportedly staying at a family member’s home in Toledo, underwent a one-day trial in Lewis County Superior Court, according to the prosecutor’s office.

SALEM MAN FOUND GUILTY FOR STEALING FROM CAFE CASH REGISTER

• A man police said was caught and held down by a Centralia cafe owner when he was discovered trying to take cash from the register on the afternoon of June 24, was convicted in a bench trial Friday of second-degree burglary. Michael A. Monk, 43, of Salem, Ore. was initially booked by police for second-degree robbery, and for third-degree theft by Chehalis police for an incident the same day at a deli on State Avenue. The Lewis County Prosecutors Office in a news release on Friday, said they charged Monk with second-degree attempted robbery but after negotiations for a plea deal failed, they substituted the more serious charge. A Lewis County Superior Court judge found him guilty on Friday. Monk faces a prison sentence of as much as just under five years, lengthy because he has previous felonies, according to the prosecutor’s office.

EX-MILITARY MAN ARRESTED FOR GIVING CHILD TWO BLACK EYES, OTHER INJURIES, POLICE SAY

• A 39-year-old Chehalis man who recently got out of the  military was arrested yesterday for assaulting a 7-year-old boy in one of the most extensive child abuse cases Deputy Police Chief Randy Kaut has seen in his career, Kaut said this morning. Police arrested Steven G. Williams for second-degree assault of a child yesterday afternoon at a residence on the 900 block of Pennsylvania Avenue in Chehalis, according to Kaut. The child lives with his grandparents in another county and after he returned from a two-week visit with his mother, they discovered bruises on his back, his buttocks and two black eyes, Kaut said. The boyfriend has been staying with the mother in Chehalis, he said. The child was treated, he was not in the hospital for any length of time, and is okay now, Kaut said.

WOMAN TRIES TO OUTRUN POLICE IN VEHICLE

• An overnight traffic stop that began on the 1400 block of North Pearl Street in Centralia led to a police pursuit when a 42-year-old female driver sped off and was chased out Old Highway 99 ending in Grand Mound near U.S. Highway 12. Centralia police reported the approximately 12:30 a.m. incident reached speeds of 60 mph and ended with a Centralia officer conducting a so-called PIT maneuver, using the patrol car to tap her vehicle to stop it. Roxanne K. York, 42, told police she knew she had outstanding warrants and “prison time hanging over her head,” police reported. She was booked into the Lewis County Jail for eluding, and the warrants, according to police.

ATV ACCIDENT SENDS TWO MEN OVER 40-FOOT BANK

• A pair of Vancouver men were rescued yesterday afternoon following an ATV accident outside Randle in which one man heading up a steep hill rolled it over, running into the second men and sending them both – and the Quad – over a 40-foot embankment, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Members of Lewis County Fire District 14 and also Packwood Search and Rescue were called about 3 p.m. to the scene about two miles from the Blue Lake off-road vehicle trailhead, according to Cmdr. Steve Aust. The 57-year-old driver and the 39-year-old other man were taken to Morton General Hospital with non-life threatening injuries, Aust said.

FARM WORKER JAILED FOR HITTING MAN IN HEAD WITH GARDEN HOE, SHERIFF’S OFFICE SAYS

• A 53-year-old Mossyrock man was arrested for second-degree assault after he allegedly hit another man in the head with a garden hoe at DeGoede Bulb Farm on Wednesday morning. Deputies called about 10:30 a.m. to the U.S. Highway 12 farm near Mossyrock arrested Jaimie R. Hernandez, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The victim suffered a minor cut, sheriff’s Cmdr. Steve Aust said.

TENINO MAN ARRESTED AFTER FIRING RIFLE TOWARD DOT WORKSITE

• A 51-year-old Tenino-area man was was arrested after allegedly firing a powerful hunting rifle into a gravel pit where two Department of Transportation employees were working Wednesday night and yelling if they didn’t turn off their equipment, he was going to “spray some lead,” according to the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office. It happened about 9:30 p.m. near 169th Avenue Southwest and Gibson Road west of Tenino, according to Chief Criminal Deputy Jim Chamberlain. When deputies arrived to the nearby home, a man staying in a motor home there was contacted. Chamberlain said Rodney L. Thiesfeld, 51, had a mark that appeared to be from a rifle scope on his forehead. A 30.06 rifle and some ammunition was seized, he said. He reportedly fired the gun near them but not at them, Chamberlain said. Thiesfeld was booked for felony harassment.

CAR STOLEN NEAR CHEHALIS

•  A white 2001 Pontiac Grand Am was reported stolen from the 1900 block of Rice Road west of Chehalis on Thursday morning. The car, valued at $5,000, disappeared sometime between 10 p.m. on Wednesday and 7:30 a.m. on Thursday, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

FLEEING SHOPLIFTER BACKS VEHICLE INTO SAFEWAY EMPLOYEE

• Police were called after a fleeing shoplifted backed his vehicle into an employee who followed the man out into the parking lot at the Safeway in Chehalis on Wednesday. It was an older man who reportedly packed his groceries into a bag he brought with him and left the store on the 1100 block of South Market Boulevard without paying, according to the Chehalis Police Department. Deputy Chief Randy Kaut said the vehicle struck the employee in the knee, but the employee was not seriously hurt.

MULTIPLE PROWLS REPORTED AT FAIRGROUNDS

• Chehalis police were called to the Southwest Washington Fairgrounds Wednesday night to a report of several vehicle prowls in the area where vendors are camping.

ROBBERY SUSPECT JAILED

• Emerald A. Kulberg was arrested in connection with a home-invasion robbery early last week at a travel trailer home in between Napavine and Winlock. A 30-year-old man was hit in the head with a flashlight and his safe was stolen from the 100 block of Wilson Road early in the morning of Aug. 9. Kulberg was booked into the Lewis County Jail for second-degree robbery on Wednesday, the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reported today.

MAN ARRESTED FOR EARLY SUNDAY ASSAULT IN CHEHALIS

• Police arrested Adam R. McCarter on Tuesday for second-degree assault in connection with a weekend incident at the Code Red bar on the 500 block of North Market Boulevard in Chehalis where an individual was elbowed in the head, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

TRUCK TAKEN FROM CENTRALIA

• Centralia police took a report yesterday afternoon about a stolen red Dodge Dakota pickup truck from the 800 block of West First Street. Its license plate reads B82399N, according to the Centralia Police Department.

MORE THAN $6,000 GOODS STOLEN IN ADNA

• The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reported this morning deputies investigated a burglary in the Adna area in which an estimated $6,050 of valuables were stolen. The theft occurred from a building on the 100 block of Chilvers Road sometime between July 29 and Aug. 4, according to Cmdr. Steve Aust. Missing were a Toshiba laptop computer, a 19-inch HDTV, two wireless microphones and a projector, Aust said.

THROWING THINGS AT CARS

• Chehalis police were called just before 8 a.m. on Tuesday to the 700 block of South Market Boulevard where somebody had thrown a brick through the back of a vehicle’s window.

• Chehalis police were called just after 6:30 p.m. yesterday by a female who said subjects in another vehicle had thrown rocks at her vehicle and a bottle at the window by the courthouse in Chehalis.

SEMINARY HILL FIRE

• Firefighters spent about two and half hours yesterday morning in the Seminary Hill nature area in Centralia knocking down a fire that burned brush and a stump. Riverside Fire Authority Chief Jim Walkowski said it’s an area too far off the road to get fire hoses so crews used shovels and water carried in backpacks to put it out.

WRECKS

• Three children and two adults were taken by ambulance to Providence Centralia Hospital with neck pain after a single-vehicle collision on Interstate 5 just south of Chehalis on Monday evening, according to responders. A southbound car swerved near the Labree Road interchange, struck a cement wall and came to rest facing the opposite direction on the shoulder, according to the Washington State Patrol. Troopers called at 5:30 p.m. to the scene found the 1988 Honda Accord totaled. The driver was Stephanie R. King, 31, of Napavine, according to the state patrol. Her passengers, all from Napavine, included Albert L. King, 45, Desmond King, 13, Devin Rice, 13 and Darin Rice, 11, according to the investigating trooper. All were reportedly wearing seat belts. The cause was under investigation.

• Four teenagers escaped serious injury when their car rolled over on U.S. Highway 12 east of Mossyrock on Monday afternoon. Aid called just before 5 p.m. to the scene near milepost 91 found three girls and a boy between the ages of 14 and 19. The three juveniles were taken to Morton General Hospital but the 19-year-old female driver declined aid, according to Lewis County Fire District 3. Fire Chief Matt Hadaller said he believed they were from the Federal Way area.

Car rolls over on U.S. Highway 12 near Mossyrock Monday afternoon. / Photo by Matt Hadaller

CAREGIVER ATTACKED WITH KNIFE

• A 58-year-old Chehalis woman whose apparent dementia drew police and aid last week to her apartment with a 911 call when she imagined that her daughter had been shot in the head was detained by authorities after holding a knife to her caregiver’s neck the following morning, Chehalis police said today. The husband of the 44-year-old female caregiver called 911 about 9:40 on Friday morning and said his wife called and said she was being attacked at the woman’s home at the retirement complex on North National Avenue, according to police. Chehalis police detective Sgt. Rick McNamara said the victim suffered just a very small puncture wound. Police took away the knife, and took the woman to Providence Centralia Hospital to be evaluated. The woman, whose name was not released, actually prompted two scary and unfounded calls to police last Thursday. When responders arrived after the morning call, they found she was alone; her daughter was not even at the apartment. At 8:45 p.m. that night, she said there was somebody bleeding in a car in the parking lot. There wasn’t, according to police. “It’s sad,” McNamara said. “She’s clearly suffering from dementia.” The woman was turned over to professionals from Cascade Mental Health who were going to put a hold on her, meaning they would take responsibility for keeping her in the custody of authorities who would take care of her, according to McNamara. The case has been referred to the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office, who will make a decision on criminal charges, he said.

SPEEDING IN MOMMY’S CAR

• A police pursuit in Rochester last night reached speeds of more than 120 mph, at least by the fleeing vehicle, according to the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office. At about 10:20 p.m., a deputy was northbound on Old Highway 99 when he observed a car speeding the other way near Gibson Road. Sheriff’s Lt. Chris Mealy said the deputy could see numerous vehicles pulling to the side of the road and the patrol car got up to 100 mph but could not catch up with the 2002 Audi A6. However, the car, its driver and the man’s 19-year-old girlfriend were found trying to hide behind buildings on Ivan Street, Mealy said. When Richard D. Woolverton, 20, of Rochester, was asked “why”, he told the deputy he was test driving his mother’s car, Mealy said. He was booked into jail for eluding.

CATHOLIC CHURCH HIT BY BURGLAR

• A third church was burglarized in Centralia in less than two weeks, according to a report made to police yesterday morning. Somebody forced open a door to get inside the Catholic Church on Washington Avenue at Park Way, according to the Centralia Police Department. Computers were stolen from the office. Sgt. Kurt Reichert said churches are sometimes easy targets because the pastor may often be out and about and they are often staffed by volunteers. Cash and computer equipment were taken from a church early the week before last and a microphone stolen from another on Washington Avenue a couple days later. Both those houses of worship were unlocked, according to police.

OTHER STUFF STOLEN IN CENTRALIA

• A red 1990 Honda Accord was reported stolen about 10:20 p.m. on Sunday from the 1700 block of Harrison Avenue in Centralia. its license plate reads: 488 ZMO.

• A pistol in a suitcase was stolen from the back of a truck at the 100 block of High Street in Centralia, according to a report made to Centralia police on Sunday afternoon.

CIGARETTE FIRES AT NURSING HOME

• Centralia firefighters were called twice on Sunday for small fires at Riverside Nursing and Rehabilitation Center on the 1300 block of Alexander. Neither was threatening to the building as both were outside, according to Riverside Fire Authority Capt. Greg Schwartz. A free-standing cigarette disposal container caught fire, apparently because it also had some paper in it, the captain said. They believe a discarded cigarette butt in a trash can out front ignited the other, Schwartz said.

NO MORE WORK RELEASE FOR 21-YEAR-OLD

• Deputies on Sunday arrested a 21-year-old Olympia woman in Rochester on Sunday evening for second-degree escape as she had walked away from work release at the Thurston County Jail more than a week earlier. Racheal R. Pfaff was picked up at the 18,700 block of Deerfield Lane Southwest about 7 p.m., according to the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office. Pfaff was also booked for possession of drugs without a prescription as she had with her antibiotics and an antidepressant, without a prescription, according to sheriff’s Lt. Chris Mealy.

GROWN SON ARRESTED FOR ASSAULTING FATHER, POLICE SAY

• A 31-year-old Centralia man arrested for for fourth-degree assault and unlawful imprisonment Saturday evening after he allegedly grabbed his father by the neck and wouldn’t let him leave during a dispute at a Centralia home won’t be charged with the felony, pending further investigation, according to authorities.

FIGHT OUTSIDE CHEHALIS BAR

• Police were called just before 2 a.m. on Sunday to a drinking establishment on North Market Boulevard in Chehalis where somebody had elbowed an individual in the head. A suspect was not found, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

TWO GUNS STOLEN, TEENAGER NABBED NEARBY

• A 15-year-old Rochester boy was arrested after a Rochester resident interrupted a burglary in which a 12-gauge shotgun and a .38 caliber handgun were stolen, among other items, according to the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office. Deputies called about 2:25 p.m. on Friday to the 5800 block of 193rd Avenue Southwest were told by the 54-year-old resident he saw two males leaving his home. A police dog was called for tracking and a neighbor on Guava Street called to say somebody in a yellow T-shirt was hiding in the bushes, sheriff’s Lt. Chris Mealy said. A 15-year-old detained near Ivan Street said the jewelry in his pocket was given to him by his grandmother and the 49er’s watch and lighter found in his pocket were a gift from his grandfather. The theft victim said the 49er’s set was valued at $1,000, Mealy said. Entry in to the home was made through a window, according to Mealy. The Maverick shotgun was found near a fence and the Smith and Wesson recovered near Ivan Street, he said. The teenager, whose name was not disclosed because he is a juvenile was booked for burglary and theft of a firearm and two warrants, according to Mealy.

MOTORCYCLE CRASHES TO MISS DEER

• Lewis County Fire District 3 was called Friday night to a motorcycle accident on the 800 block of state Route 122. The rider apparently swerved to miss a deer and was taken to Morton General Hospital with broken bones, according to Mossyrock area Fire Chief Matt Hadaller.

INDECENT PROPOSAL DRAWS POLICE

• An argument over a property line in Centralia escalated to a 49-year-old man with an ownership interest in one of the properties to make a rude suggestion he emphasized by presenting a certain body part to the other man, and got the 49-year-old arrested, according to police. Harwinder S. Mattu, of Centralia, was cited for indecent exposure after the 7 p.m. call on Friday to the 700 block of Harrison Avenue, according to the Centralia Police Department.

MAN COULD GET FIVE YEARS FOR DUI

• A 38-year-old Toledo man was convicted today for felony driving under the influence, under the state law that makes the fifth DUI within a 10-year period a felony. Richard Leland Harrington Jr. faces a sentence of somewhere between four plus years to a little more than five and half years when he is sentenced, according to the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office. He was charged July 13 and a jury today in Lewis County Superior Court found him guilty, according to the office. Elected Prosecutor Michael Golden said his office has only had a few of these kinds of cases since the law went into effect in 2006.

THIRD-DEGREE THEFT TURNS TO ROBBERY ARREST

• A juvenile male who reportedly shoved a clerk when he was confronted about shoplifting in Centralia yesterday was arrested for second-degree robbery and booked into the Lewis County Juvenile Detention Center, according to the Centralia Police Department. The clerk at the store on the 500 block of South Tower Avenue was not injured, according to police.

HIT AND RUN

• Centralia police were called to Alder and Mellen streets after a car crossed the center line and avoided a head-on collision by swerving, but still struck another vehicle in the side and then fled. It happened about 6 p.m. yesterday. Police describe the offending vehicle as a blue or green Nissan Maxima which would have front end damage. The victim was not injured, according to the Centralia Police Department.

STEALING FROM VEHICLES

• Somebody stole a 20 HP Mercury outboard motor valued at $1,000 from Taidnapam Park at the east end of Riffe Lake, the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reported yesterday. It happened sometime between 2 p.m. on Monday and 8 a.m. on Tuesday, according to sheriff’s Cmdr. Steve Aust.

• Centralia Police took a report of the theft of a pistol from a vehicle on the 1100 block of West Plum Street on Tuesday.

• Chehalis police were called to Wal-Mart on Northwest Louisiana Avenue yesterday about a vehicle prowl in which several items including a cell phone, camera, cash and a $400 check were taken from a diaper bag in a car.

• The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reported today a vehicle prowl occurred sometime between 1 p.m. on Sunday and 2:15 p.m. on Tuesday in Silver Creek. Somebody stole a $300 stereo from a vehicle on the 100 block of Chief Kiona Road, according to the sheriff’s office.

• Centralia Police took a report of a burglary to a recreational vehicle on Tuesday from the 200 block of East Main Street.

TIRES SLASHED

• Centralia police took a report yesterday evening from Railroad Avenue and East Maple Street where somebody’s tires had been slashed over the weekend.

LITTLE CAR FIRE AT DRIVE-THROUGH RESTAURANT

• A small fire started under the hood of Honda Accord as it went through the drive-through at Jack-in-the-Box in Centralia on the 1100 block of Harrison Avenue on Tuesday night but the driver pulled into the parking lot and put water on it, according to Riverside Fire Authority.

MAILBOX BLOWN UP

• Chehalis police were called Tuesday to the 100 block of Southeast Monroe Avenue where somebody had blown up a mailbox. It happened the night before and police don’t have any suspects, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

WRECKS

• The state patrol blames inattention on a minor wreck on Interstate 5 in Chehalis Tuesday night that sent a Portland woman to the hospital. Donna C. Cameron, 59, was traveling northbound near the 13th Street exit when her car began to slow from mechanical problems, according to the Washington State Patrol. A 2002 Hyundai driven by a 25-year-old Centralia woman ran onto the back of Cameron’s 1985 Nissan, according to the investigating trooper. Both cars were drivable after the approximately 11:20 p.m. collision but Cameron was taken to Providence Centralia Hospital with neck pain, the state patrol reported. Heather D. McKibben, 25, was expected to be cited for following too closely, having no insurance and driving with a suspended license, according to the trooper.

• An 18-year-old Chehalis resident who was flown by helicopter to Southwest Washington Medical Center in Vancouver early yesterday morning after a single-vehicle collision at the 100 block of Hawkins Road in Winlock has been released from the hospital. Andrew J. Jacaway was driving a 2004 Chevrolet pickup and failed to negotiate a turn and ran into a guard rail and railroad crossing arms, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. It happened about 2:20 a.m. Responders from Lewis County Fire District 15 found him a short distance away, walking down Highway 603. He was airlifted to the Vancouver hospital because of possible head or internal injuries, according to the sheriff’s office and District 15.