Lewis County Sirens.com

Updated at 8:48 p.m.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Prison is waiting for a rural Chehalis man after a judge sentenced him for an assault at a Centralia party that left the victim with a broken jaw.

The victim lost 40 pounds because he couldn’t eat and lost a college baseball scholarship, Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Mark McClain said. The 19-year-old from Nevada was among about the top 10 prospects in the country before the incident, he said.

Cole T. Rife was given 19 and one half months today for his earlier convictions by a Lewis County jury of second-degree assault and attempted first-degree burglary. He was found not guilty of witness tampering, McClain said.

Following his release, he will be under the supervision of the state Department of Corrections for three years.

He also was ordered to undergo evaluations for anger management and alcohol, and follow the recommendations, McClain said. His lawyer filed a notice of appeal and the judge authorized a $250,000 appeal bond.

Rife, 18, and Tyler L. Burk, 19, from Rochester, were arrested in April for the  March 16 assault at the 500 block of East Maple Street.

Burk testified in Rife’s trial and has pleaded guilty already to lesser charges, according to McClain.

Rife has been out of jail on an unsecured bond since his arrest, and was taken into custody following this morning’s sentencing hearing, McClain said.

Before the day ended, $25,000 was posted with the county clerk’s office on Rife’s behalf, and he was released.
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“Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup – FIGHT AT PARTY BRINGS FELONY CHARGES” from Saturday April 19, 2014, here

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Firefighters from four departments responded overnight to a fire in the Chehalis Industrial Park at a tire recycling business.

Crews found a semi-trailer about half full of rubber shavings burning, flames from which spread to a conveyor-type piece of machinery, according to Lewis County Fire District 6.

The 1:20 a.m. incident on Melhart Road at Conrad Industries took about an hour to get under control, according to Chief Tim Kinder.

Nobody was hurt and the cause is under investigation, Kinder said.

Just yesterday evening, crews were called to the nearby Mohawk Industries on the 200 block of Downie Road where a small pile of foam beneath a hopper had ignited.

Employees had it nearly extinguished by the time the fire department arrived, Kinder said. Mohawk manufactures carpet padding, according to the chief.

“(It was) mostly smoke, not a lot of damage,” Kinder said.

Contents of trailer at Conrad Industries are extinguished. / Courtesy photo by Lewis County Fire District 6.

Updated

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The accused prolific local trafficker of pain medications was sentenced yesterday to 12 years behind bars, following a plea deal that helped him avoid a third strike and a life sentence.

Forrest E. Amos,

Forrest E. Amos, 31, has been held in the Lewis County Jail since late last year when he was released from prison and charged with a multitude of offenses based on a lengthy investigation by Centralia police.

He originally faced 26 varied charges including leading organized crime, but on July 31 pleaded guilty to 14 offenses. Lewis County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Will Halstead dropped the charge of organized crime.

Halstead also dismissed four counts of intimidating a witness, in a case from this summer in which Amos was suspected of planning from inside the jail to have associates hurt or pressure witnesses against him.

Law enforcement estimated that in 2011 when Amos was aggressively dealing Oxycodone, that he was the main supplier of the synthetic opiate within Lewis County, possessing and dealing thousands of pills a month. Charging documents outlined how Amos reportedly continued to traffic drugs to the outside through others from behind prison walls.

Amos’s second strike came for shanking a fellow inmate while he was in prison for his first strike, taking part in the beating of a man to steal his marijuana  and pistol in the year 2000 when he was 16 years old, according to court documents.

The former resident of Napavine and Chehalis agreed not to appeal his convictions or sentence in any way, according to court documents.

Among the crimes to which he was sentenced were delivery of  Oxycodone while incarcerated during 2013 as well as during 2012 before he was locked up.

Lewis County Superior Court Judge Richard Brosey signed an order that included one year of supervision following his release, as well as numerous financial legal obligations including repaying $13,800 for his court-appointed attorney Don Blair.

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For background, read, “Police: Organized crime defendant created ‘hit list’ of key witnesses” Thursday June 19, 2014, here

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A body found with a pickup truck yesterday afternoon south of Randle has yet to be identified but an autopsy is scheduled for today.

The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office said the vehicle is registered to a man from Bonney Lake who was reported missing on May 27.

The discovery was made by brush or berry pickers at the end of the 161 road, which is off Forest Service Road 23, Cmdr. Steve Aust said.

Detectives aren’t suspecting foul play, Aust said.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

A Centralia business owner is the latest near-victim of a telephone scam which is growing increasingly common.

In today’s case, like others, the caller pretended to be from a utility company which would be shutting off service if the customer didn’t pay up with a  money order immediately.

“Go to Rite Aid, send money Western Union, you have 45 minutes,” Centralia Police Department Officer Patty Finch said, describing the instructions given to the woman.

The woman actually went to Rite Aid, but was cautioned by employees there not to follow through, according to Finch.

She then called police.

Finch said the people at the other end of the phone line possess information which might lead the potential victim to feel convinced they are talking to their actual provider.

They were able to tell the woman her correct service address and her billing address, which are different, Finch said. “So they have information,” she said.

Centralia officers are getting dispatched to such incidents about every two weeks, Finch said.

They commonly claim to be Centralia City Light, Lewis County PUD or Puget Sound Energy, according to police.

The convincing caller says if the person doesn’t act within the hour, their power or water will be shut off. In today’s case, the woman was told her propane was going to be turned off, Finch said.

“Please be advised that none of these businesses operate in that fashion,” Finch said in a news release today. “If you are asked to wire money though Western Union or any other service, this is most likely a scam.”

Her advice: Contact your service provider first before sending money to anyone.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Just because it rained a little bit doesn’t mean the risk of brush fires has diminished.

Members of four fire departments responded yesterday afternoon to a fire behind a house on the 400 block of Toledo-Vader Road.

“Apparently rubbish in a burn barrel ended up blowing over into some grass and trees,” Lewis County Fire District 2 Chief Grant Wiltbank said.

The wind was fairly strong and the vegetation is still quite dry, he said.

Crews managed to get it under control within about five minutes of their arrival and kept it to less than an eighth of an acre but spent the next 45 minutes extinguishing hot spots such as a smoldering old stumps, according to the chief.

“A couple more minutes and the fire would have been a really difficult fire to contain,” Wiltbank said.

At least a half dozen personnel from the state Department of Natural Resources joined Lewis County Fire Districts 2, 15 and 20, he said.

Burn barrels are not permitted for use in Washington.

Wiltbank said he didn’t know if DNR issued a citation but said another consideration is anyone who starts a fire illegally, even if it’s an accident, will find themselves responsible ultimately if it gets away and burns down someone else’s home or barn.

“Their insurance is not going to cover it,” he said.

Outdoor burning restrictions were put in place earlier this month by the Lewis County Board of Commissioners. Last week, fire chiefs in the county issued a joint request for people to use extra caution, in part because so many firefighters were out of town helping battle wildfires in Eastern Washington.

Wiltbank said whatever precipitation we’ve gotten isn’t going to be absorbed by grass that is dead out there.

“All it takes right now is a spark in tinder dry grass, and away it goes,” he said.

“The flaming bird fell to the ground and caught the grass on fire.”
– District 12 Battalion Chief Jim Fowler

Just two days ago, members of Thurston County Fire District 12 spent about two hours putting out a fire that threatened Beaver Stadium at Tenino High School.

Crews called about 11:40 a.m. to Hogdgen Street and West Garfield Avenue found tall grass burning, which spread into a stack of stored telephone poles.

District 12 Battalion Chief Jim Fowler said it was knocked down by roughly noon, but they then dug about a 200-foot fire line.

The incident was blamed on a bird, now deceased and now dubbed “Little Sparky,” according to Fowler.

It landed on a transmission line, and then ignited, he said.

“The flaming bird fell to the ground and caught the grass on fire,” Fowler said.