Lewis County Sirens.com

One person was hurt when car ran into building. / Courtesy photo by Ken Brown

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

A 73-year-old Onalaska woman is in satisfactory condition this morning after crashing her car into a building along state Route 508 just east of Interstate 5 yesterday afternoon.

Troopers and aid were called about 4 p.m. to the scene where the four-door sedan was covered with bricks and its single occupant trapped inside, according to responders.

Firefighters had to stabilize the car and remove part of its top to get her out, according to Lewis County Fire District 5.

Marian B. Burton had been traveling eastbound when her Buick Lucerne left the roadway, according to the Washington State Patrol. It happened about three miles east of Interstate 5.

She was airlifted to to PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center in Vancouver. Her vehicle was described as totaled and was impounded.

Burton was to be cited for wheels off the roadway, according to the state patrol.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Kayakers navigating the Ohanapecosh River in East Lewis County yesterday afternoon located the teen who fell in earlier this month and recovery efforts are underway today.

The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office says they began at about 10:30 a.m. today, with deputies and members of Packwood Search and Rescue and Olympic Mountain Rescue.

The 17-year-old from Port Orchard was last seen on July 4 being swept down the extremely swift and cold river after he slipped while taking photographs with friends.

The body is in a difficult spot to reach; it took teams two hours to get to it as the terrain is very steep, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown stated in a news release.

Searchers have been hopeful over the past three and half weeks the water levels would drop so the boy would be found, Brown said.

The sheriff’s office has not named him, but The Kitsap Sun identified him as Josh Osborn.

As of about 1:30 p.m. today, teams were still working on removing the boys’ body from the canyon, according to Brown.

The area is near the Cedar Grove Campground off state Route 123 just south of the entrance to Mount Rainier National Park, according to the sheriff’s office.

The same day Osborn drowned, an 18-year-old Tacoma resident,  Rashawn J. Hale-Moody, drowned in Alder Lake, at the intersection of Lewis, Thurston and Pierce counties.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office said yesterday the 17-year-old boy who was swept away in the Ohanapecosh River on the Fourth of July hasn’t turned up and no further searches are planned.

“We’re really going to have to rely on somebody recreating finding something,” sheriff’s Cmdr. Steve Aust said.

The Port Orchard teen was taking photos with friends slipped and fell into the cold, fast moving river near the Cedar Grove Campground off state Route 123 just south of the entrance to Mount Rainier National Park, according to the sheriff’s office.

Searchers with the sheriff’s swift water rescue team and rangers from the national park searched for the boy over that weekend with no success.

Aust said it’s an especially treacherous waterway, with steep canyon walls and class five rapids, where the risks to personnel outweigh the likelihood of finding a body.

“It’s not a place where you can expect to walk along the bank and see anything much anyhow,” he said.

The sheriff’s office has a group of kayakers they are in touch with and had them look as they went down the river over the weekend, he said. For perspective, he recommended a You Tube video of the area shot last year by the same group when the water level was about four feet lower than it is now.

The Kitsap Sun reported several hundred people filled the bleachers at the high school stadium, when a gathering was held last week to remember Josh Osborn, a wide receiver for the football team.

It’s been a bad year for drownings in the area.

The same day Osborn drowned in the East Lewis County, an 18-year-old Tacoma resident,  Rashawn J. Hale-Moody, drowned in Alder Lake, at the intersection of Lewis, Thurston and Pierce counties.

Last month, another Tacoma teen drowned in the Chehalis River at Rainbow Falls State Park west of Chehalis. Seventeen-year-old Linsey Mike had only recently immigrated from Nigeria and told friends he wasn’t a good swimmer.

In May, a 5-year-old Tacoma boy riding a motorcycle next to the CIspus River near Randle lost his life when he was swept away. Drake Ostenson’s body was recovered four days later.

And in April, a 46-year-old Gary L. Rhoades of Mineral drowned in Lake Mayfield during a fishing outing when he jumped in the water to retrieve his boat as it drifted away.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

The state Department of Health announced yesterday it has suspended the EMT license of the Onalaska firefighter and school bus driver accused of raping a teenage relative during spring break.

Richard L. Crumbliss was arrested in April.

The Office of Emergency Medical Services and Trauma System Programs is alleging unprofessional conduct based on the three felony sex crime charges filed in Lewis County Superior Court, according to a news release.

“He has 20 days to respond to the charges and request a hearing, and cannot practice as an emergency medical technician until these charges are resolved,” the agency stated.

Crumbliss was charged on April 21 with two counts of third-degree rape of a child and one count of first-degree incest but denied the allegations.

He remains held in the Lewis County Jail on $100,000 bail, awaiting an October trial.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news

Centralia Police Chief Bob Berg indicated this morning he’s certain his officer’s actions in fatally shooting a man following a shoplifting incident will be found as justified, after being briefed on findings of the outside investigation.

Berg and Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer met with a representative of the multi-jurisdictional team of law enforcement officers that looked into the June 29 incident late last week and were told of its conclusions, Berg said in a news release.

Paul M. Edmundson, a 43-year-old Centralia man, died from a bullet wound to his chest in the parking lot of Anchor Bank, after, police said, he attempted to pull a gun from his pocket during a struggle with a police dog and Officer Ruben Ramirez. The officer had been called to a report someone stole a burrito from the gas station convenience store next door.

It happened at South Tower Avenue and Cherry Street.

The investigation is complete, and was submitted on Thursday to the prosecutor for formal review, according to Berg.

“I thank the regional team for their work in this investigation and look forward to the review by the Lewis County prosecutor,” Berg stated.  “Based on the information presented by the team at the briefing I remain confident that the actions of Officer Ruben Ramirez will be found as a justified response to the threat that officer faced on that Sunday morning.”

Ramirez was placed on paid administrative leave.

Once Meyer is finished with his part, an internal use-of-force review board will convene, according to Berg.

The board will consist of a command level officer from the Centralia Police Department and at least three other command level officers from other law enforcement agencies.

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For background, read “Coroner releases name of police shooting victim” from Wednesday July 2, 2014, here