Lewis County Sirens.com

Updated at 5:25 p.m.

STEALING GAS IN THE NIGHT

• Chehalis police were called to an auto dealer’s business on the 2500 block of North National Avenue yesterday morning regarding the discovery someone during the night had tried to steal gasoline by cutting fuel lines on seven vehicles. The loss is estimated at as much as $1,500, according to the Chehalis Police Department. Earlier, police were called about fuel drained from the tank of a rental car at the 500 block of East Summa Street in Centralia when a line was cut.

UNRULY INDIVIDUALS

• Police arrested a 50-year-old old Centralia man last night after he allegedly dented a door with a bat at the 300 block of North Tower Avenue in Centralia. David D. Nelson was cited for third-degree malicious mischief and then released, according to Centralia Police Department.

• A 32-year-old Centralia woman was jailed after she allegedly began breaking things and refused to leave a residence at the 300 block of West Magnolia Street in Centralia yesterday evening. Officers responding about 6:30 p.m. arrested Electra J. Swan for disorderly conduct and resisting arrest before booking her into the Lewis County Jail, according to Centralia Police Department.

PROWLING AROUND

• Chehalis police were called about 7:40 a.m. yesterday to the 100 block of Northeast Fair Oaks Terrace where someone had  rifled through two vehicles parked inside an unlocked garage during the night. Nothing appeared to be missing, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

• An individual on the 100 block of Leona Drive in Chehalis woke up yesterday morning to discover the door to their sport utility vehicle ajar and change missing from the console. A neighbor’s vehicle was found partially open as well with a pack of cigarettes stolen, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

DRUGS

•  A 19-year-old Centralia resident was arrested for a warrant and possession of methamphetamine after contact with an officer about 9:50 p.m. yesterday at the 700 block of North Tower Avenue in Centralia. Nathan A. Cheney was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department.

VANDALISM

• Centralia police took a report yesterday morning from the 700 block of M Street regarding two slashed tires and other damage done to a vehicle.

COLLISION

• A motorist was reportedly uninjured when they were knocked to the ground by their own vehicle as it rolled away from them yesterday morning at the 1200 block of Harrison Avenue in Centralia. The vehicle rolled across the street and struck a building, causing minor damage,  according to Centralia Police Department.

LAYOFFS LIKELY AT CENTRALIA’S FIRE DEPARTMENT

• A significantly smaller budget for the coming year means Riverside Fire Authority likely will cut up to five personnel and lose a sixth position through attrition. The fire department that protects the city of Centralia and its surrounding area yesterday adopted a budget of about $3.9 million for 2014 compared with last year’s roughly $4.6 million, according to Chief Jim Walkowski. The abrupt and large drop in revenue comes from a massive decrease in the assessed value of TransAlta’s power plant, according to the chief. Walkowski said the department previously understood the Washington State Department of Revenue would be depreciating the value of the facility – in anticipation of its 2020 closure – more gradually. The organization currently operates with a chief, two assistant chiefs, the equivalent of three office staff and 27 firefighters, several of whom are paramedics as well, along with its volunteers. During the next 45 days, RFA will be addressing the impacts more specifically and keep the community updated, according to a news release this morning.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, misdemeanor assault, driving under the influence; responses for alarms, other misdemeanor theft, possible large dollar amount theft of gift cards, request to check on a person tweaking outside a convenience store … and more.

Updated at 4:39 p.m.

FIRE CHASES ONALASKA FAMILY FROM HOME

• Firefighters spent about three hours last night chasing flames up through the walls and into the attic of an older two-story house in Onalaska. Crews called about 10:40 p.m. to the 200 block of Railroad Avenue found a smoke alarm had alerted the resident and his children who got themselves outside, according to Lewis County Fire District 1.  The original brick and mortar chimney had been enclosed at some point over the years, Chief Mark Conner said. “It looked like it had been burning round the chimney for sometime before it broke through,” Conner said. Nobody was hurt, he said, and the owner later found the pet cat hiding inside the house. The actual fire damage was limited to the areas around the chimney, according to Conner.

NEIGHBOR STOPS ATTEMPTED BREAK-IN

• A Centralia resident was awakened about 11:45 p.m. yesterday when two males broke a window trying to get into the home on the 200 block of North Buckner Street and were chased off by a neighbor. They didn’t get inside but also had tried to kick a door in before fleeing in a silver car, according to the Centralia Police Department. Sgt. Brian Warren said he didn’t know what their intent might have been. The case is under investigation, according to police.

CHASE LEADS OUT WINDOW

• A Centralia police officer who chased a subject who fled a home through a broken window last night sustained several minor cuts to his hands, according to police. Officers were at the residence on the 700 block of North Tower Avenue about 11:30 p.m. looking for someone with a warrant when 27-year-old Kevin B. Kempf dived out the window and an officer followed, according to police. Kempf was apprehended in the yard and booked into the Lewis County Jail for resisting arrest, according to Sgt. Brian Warren.

THEFT

• Someone broke into an equipment yard on the 300 block of Hamilton Road south of Chehalis over the weekend and carted away about $3,500 of items including two radiators and some aluminum, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. It happened sometime after 4 p.m. on Friday and 7:30 a.m. on Monday, according to the sheriff’s office.

DRUGS

• Centralia police responding about 3:40 p.m. yesterday to the 1200 block of Alder Street about two individuals hanging out for more than an hour in vehicle in the parking lot found the two men fighting and subsequently arrested them for drugs. Vincent B. Fulginiti, 41, was arrested for possession of heroin and Kevin A. Dawkins, 24, was arrested for possession of heroin and methamphetamine, according to the Centralia Police Department. The Chehalis resident were booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to police. Fulginiti was to be released from jail without charges pending further investigation.

• A 28-year-old Chehalis man was arrested by Centralia police about 7 a.m. yesterday for allegedly driving under the influence of an unspecified drug and leaving the scene of an accident. The arrest in connection with the 900 block of E Street in Centralia resulted in Joshua K. Roberts getting booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department.

VEHICLE PROWL

• Police were called about 9 p.m. yesterday about a pair of car prowls that had just occurred at the 100 block of Northeast Sky Lane in Chehalis. An officer contacted a male who was attempting to locate the suspect and a K-9 track was conducted without success, according to the Chehalis Police Department. A purse was taken from car and some items were recovered in a parking lot, Officer Linda Bailey said.

• Centralia police responded about 7 p.m. yesterday regarding a vehicle prowl at the 400 block of West Main Street in which a window was broken out and a purse taken from the front seat.

VANDALISM

• Someone broke several windows out of a car during the night that was parked on the 300 block of West Magnolia Street in Centralia, according to a report made to police yesterday morning.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants; responses for disorderliness, dispute, suspected exchange of stolen merchandise for gift cards, minor collisions such as vehicle into a ditch, deer stopping in front of a moving car in the middle of a road … and more.

Updated at 11:45 a.m.

DIAPER CHANGE LEADS TO BROKEN BONE

• A Centralia man was jailed yesterday evening after allegedly breaking his 6-month-old baby’s arm while changing its diaper. He grabbed it, the baby was crying and he was angry, Sgt. Brian Warren said. Police were called to the emergency room at Providence Centralia Hospital where the infant’s mother had brought the child, according to the Centralia Police Department. Police Sgt. Brian Warren said he understood it occurred earlier in the day at the family’s home on the 1100 block of Scammon Creek Road. Wayne P. Stalker was booked into the Lewis County Jail for second-degree assault of a child, according to police. The baby was treated and has been released to his mother, Warren said.

ATTEMPTED ASSAULT WITH SUV

• Centralia police responded just before 11 p.m. yesterday to the 900 block of F Street where a 39-year-old man allegedly intentionally drove over a curb onto the lawn of a victim nearly running him down. Police say the sport utility vehicle had driven around the block a few times and then stopped, where the resident came off his front porch to see what was up. Donald E. Thomas, a Centralia resident, allegedly gunned the engine and headed for the man who is dating his ex-girlfriend, according to police. He jumped away, nobody was hurt, according to police. Thomas was booked into the Lewis County Jail for first-degree assault, according to the Centralia Police Department.

BURGLARY

• A deputy took a report about 5 p.m. yesterday of a Campbell brand air compressor missing from a shed area on the 100 block of Waterloo Road in Glenoma. The victim said the item was stolen sometime since Sept. 1, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s office.

DRUGS

• A 41-year-old Centralia woman arrested on a warrant about 3 a.m. today at the 800 block of West Main Street in Centralia was also arrested for possession of methamphetamine. Angela M. Grussing was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• A 40-year-old Centralia man was arrested for possession of methamphetamine yesterday after contact with an officer about 3:30 p.m. at the 200 block of South Tower Avenue in Centralia. Travis L. Combs was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department.

LOST AND FOUND

• Chehalis police were called to Denny’s on the 100 block of Southwest Interstate Avenue yesterday morning about a suspicious circumstance regarding someone behind the building and a subsequent find of two Bibles in a bag. The books were taken back to the police department where their owner may claim them, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

WRECKS

• A 17-year-old driver escaped serious injuries when she tried to miss a deer and lost control of her Jeep Cherokee which traveled over an embankment and came to rest on its top in Onalaska yesterday afternoon. A deputy responding about 5 p.m. to the 300 block of Deggler Road reports the vehicle sustained major damage but the girl suffered only minor injuries.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, trespass; responses for alarm, marital dispute, graffiti, shoplifting and other misdemeanor theft, less-than-serious collisions; complaints of canines on the green harassing golfers  … and more.

Updated at 1:02 p.m.

ASSAULT ON KRIS KRINGLE

• A 38-year-old man who was reportedly intoxicated and belligerent was arrested yesterday after he allegedly knocked the head off a Santa Claus statue outside one of the antique stores in downtown Centralia. Police responding just before 4 p.m. to the area of North Tower and East Pine Street report that Jerome D. Volk, a Centralia resident, resisted officers as they attempted to detain him so he was booked for that as well as third-degree malicious mischief.

STOLEN FIREARM

• Chehalis police were contacted on Friday afternoon by a 50-year-old resident whose handgun was missing from his home on the 700 block of Southwest Pacific Avenue. He said he recently noticed the Colt black-powder revolver was gone, according to the Chehalis Police Department. The loss is estimated at $300, according to police.

RELUCTANT ARRESTEE

• Centralia police yesterday evening assisted the state patrol in searching for a detainee who fled Providence Centralia Hospital where he was taken for a blood draw. The individual took off from the facility on the 900 block of South Schueber Road while the trooper was on the telephone and officers called about 7:20 p.m. attempted a dog track, according to the Centralia Police Department. The man was eventually found back inside the waiting room, Sgt. Brian Warren said. Warren said he thought it was probably related to an arrest for driving under the influence.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, misdemeanor assault, driving under the influence; responses for alarms, misdemeanor theft, minor injury rollover collision; complaints of car eggings, of nighttime vehicles with loud engines, radios  … and more.

NAPAVINE HOME CATCHES FIRE

• Once again, a Napavine area family is displaced from a house fire. Crews called overnight to the 700 block of West Vine Street contained the blaze to the master bedroom, but there is heavy heat and smoke damage throughout the one-story residence, according to Fire Investigator Ted McCarty. The family returned home around 1 a.m. after being at some friends and opened a side door only to be confronted with smoke, McCarty said. The husband tried the front door with the same results and spotted flames through a bedroom window, McCarty said. Lewis County Fire Districts 5, 6, 2 and 15 responded. “The guys got a good knock down on it,” McCarty said. The parents and four children declined initial assistance from the Red Cross, saying they had family to stay with he said. The fire investigator said he is looking at a Cadet wall heater, but it’s too early to tell if that’s what caused the fire. It was just last Sunday when a family on Raubuck Road were dealing with a similar situation, except they were sleeping and awoke to smoke alarms and their two-story house subsequently burned to the ground from a possible flare up hours later.

THEFT

• Police were called about 3:15 p.m. yesterday to the Centralia Outlets on the 1300 block of Lum Road about a wallet and its identification stolen from a break room at one of the stores. An officer was told two females got into employee lockers, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• Centralia police took a report of theft of tools from the 400 block of North Buckner Street on Friday afternoon.

• Police took a report yesterday of a car prowl during the night at the 100 block of Jalyn Street in Centralia. Cash was stolen, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• Police responded about 5:40 a.m. yesterday to the 3300 block of Fords Prairie Avenue in Centralia for a vehicle prowl. Someone took money and a cell phone from a purse left inside the unlocked vehicle, according to the Centralia Police Department.

VANDALISM

• Someone broke several windows out of a vehicle parked at the 900 block of F Street in Centralia, according to a report made to police early yesterday morning.

EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS REMINDER

• Lewis County 911 Communications is reminding the public to sign up for CODE RED to receive emergency notifications. CODE RED is used to send critical communications, from evacuation notices to missing child alerts, according to department manager Craig Larsen. Lewis County has used the system to make notification for boil water advisories as well as to get out word of a dangerous suspect at large in a rural county neighborhood. Flood notifications can be provided through CODE RED, should this occur in our region again. The public can sign up and find additional details at the 911 Communications page on the county web site.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants; confiscation of smoking devices with suspected methamphetamine residue with a referral for possession charges … and more.

Updated at 12:40 p.m.

APARTMENT SEARCH TURNS UP DRUGS

• Three people were arrested yesterday after officers went to an apartment on the 1000 block of Scammon Creek Road in Centralia to pick up a wanted person. A community corrections officer from the state Department of Corrections was looking for 27-year-old Mark D. Fiman because of several warrants, according to the Centralia Police Department. When the door was opened, an individual dove into a bedroom and when they went in to get him, officers saw a set of scales, Sgt. Kurt Reichert said. An ensuing search of the residence turned up pills, the details of which are not yet available, according to Reichert. Brian J. Haugen, 20, who resides at the apartment, was arrested for possession of methamphetamine and a sparkler bomb, according to police. Justin W. Haugen, 21, also of Centralia, was arrested for possession of suspected meth, marijuana and Zanax/Oxycodone, according to police. Fiman also was booked for possession of meth and Oxycodone, according to police.

ASSAULT

• A 29-year-old client at the drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility on Southeast Washington Avenue in Chehalis was arrested this morning for allegedly choking another resident. Police were called just before 7 a.m. today regarding the assault, and Jonathan Schenck, from Federal Way, was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

SCHOOL BOMB SCARE

• The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office is investigating following a message discovered on a girls’ bathroom wall at Centralia High School yesterday that prompted an evacuation. Deputies notified at about 1 p.m. joined Centralia police officers at the Eshom Road building and searched the premises, according to Sg. Rob Snaza. The note indicated a bomb might go off at a certain time, Snaza said. No explosive was found. Law enforcement cleared the scene about 3:30 p.m. but will be reviewing surveillance tapes in an attempt to gain information, according to Snaza.

THEFT

• Chehalis police were called to the Vintage Apartments on North National Avenue yesterday where a 90-year-old resident said he returned home to discover someone had stolen cash from him.

CAR PROWL

• Police responded about 7:20 a.m. today to an overnight vehicle prowl at the 1000 block of Southeast Washington Avenue in Chehalis. Nothing initially appeared to be missing, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

CHASE AND WRECK

• A 24-year-old Toledo woman was arrested yesterday after she reportedly sped away from a deputy at about 100 mph and wrecked her car northeast of Winlock. It began about 1:30 p.m. at the 800 block of North Military Road and ended just north of the high school when the driver lost control, hit a ditch and rolled the vehicle onto its top, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The driver, Amanda N. Phillips, was unhurt but was taken to the hospital to be cleared before being booked into jail because of a previous injury, Sgt. Rob Snaza said. Phillips had outstanding warrants and was using a suspended driver’s license, according to Snaza. Her car was impounded an a search of it’s interior is planned, according to the sheriff’s office. She was booked for attempting to elude.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants; responses for alarm, shoplifting, suspicious circumstances … and more.

HIT AND RUN LEADS TO POWER OUTAGE

• Police were called after a vehicle collided with a utility pole which knocked over at least one other pole on the 1000 block of Ham Hill Road in Centralia at about 1:15 a.m. today. The silver-colored Chrysler-type vehicle fled the scene, narrowly missing getting hit by the pole as it fell, according to police. It didn’t knock the power out but arriving crews shut off the electricity which will remain turned off at least through the morning and possibly into the afternoon, according to Riverside Fire Authority. The impact sheered the pole completely off, Capt. Scott Snyder said. Firefighters used thermal imaging equipment and walked the roadway searching the brush for any possibly ejected passengers until about 3 a.m., Snyder said. Nobody was found and nobody was known to be injured, according to authorities. Police said a large guide wire pole did fall on one vehicle.

VEHICLE PROWL

• Police were called about 12:40 a.m. today when a man walking his dog spotted a male rifling through a parked car on the 1100 block of Grand Avenue in Centralia, but the prowler fled before officers arrived, according to the Centralia Police Department. A window was smashed and missing were the stereo and a cell phone, according to police.

• Police took a report about 9:30 p.m. yesterday of a purse stolen from a vehicle at the 1000 block of H. Street in Centralia.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants; responses for misdemeanor assault, misdemeanor theft, suspicious circumstances, several vehicles sliding on ice and wrecking … and more.