Lewis County Sirens.com

1998 Chevrolet Blazer / Courtesy photo by Cheyenne Sayad

This news item was updated at 6:46 p.m.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A 19-year-old Chehalis area resident was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle after his Chevrolet Blazer drove into the path of a semi truck on state Route 6 near Adna yesterday evening.

Troopers and aid called about 5:15 p.m. to the scene two miles west of Chehalis found the SUV had spun out and come to rest in the eastbound lane; the big rig ran off the shoulder into the ditch.

Darrick B. Cruz’s SUV was totaled, according to the Washington State Patrol. The truck driver was reportedly uninjured.

According to the investigating trooper, the 1994 Freightliner was westbound on state Route 6 when Cruz entered from Chilvers Road and stopped in the the westbound lane, causing the truck to swerve into the east lane in an attempt to avoid it. Then the SUV then moved south into the east lane where it was struck, according to the state patrol.

A spokesperson for the state patrol said he believed Cruz may have been attempting to turn left, but wasn’t sure.

“He was unconscious, so we don’t know what he was trying to do,” Trooper Will Finn said.

Firefighters had to use the Jaws of Life as there was major “intrusion” into the driver’s side, according to Lewis County Fire District 6. The patient suffered possible head injuries and what Chief Tim Kinder called multi-system trauma – very serious injuries.

Cruz was in the intensive care unit listed in serious condition about 9:30 a.m. today.

Both were wearing seat belts. The semi truck was towed, according to the state patrol.

The cause of the collision is under investigation.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

The search continues today in the forest outside Packwood for the 68-year-old Auburn man who didn’t return home from a Saturday mushroom gathering outing.

More than 25 search and rescue personnel set out yesterday morning in the area northwest of Packwood following the discovery of his vehicle the afternoon before on Forest Service Road 47.

Lewis County Sheriff’s Office Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown indicated this morning she believes the same teams, along with family and friends, are out there looking today.

The man’s family reported him missing on Sunday, but a ground search didn’t start until late Tuesday afternoon when his family found his vehicle. The sheriff’s office says he wasn’t equipped to be outdoors for more than a few hours.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Searchers are looking for a 68-year-old Auburn man outside of Packwood who didn’t return home from a Saturday mushroom gathering outing.

The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office says the man is an experienced mushroom picker but wasn’t equipped to be outdoors for more than a few hours. He was wearing street clothes and had only a small amount of food with him, according to the sheriff’s office.

Personnel looked for the man for about six hours last night after his vehicle was discovered on Forest Service Road 47, approximately five miles northwest of Packwood, according to Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown. His family found the vehicle, Brown said.

More than 25 search and rescue personnel set out about 6 o’clock this morning to continue the search, according to Brown. Assisting are teams from Pacific, Grays Harbor, Mason and King counties, according to Brown.

According to Brown, the man’s family called the sheriff’s office on Sunday to report him missing, but was unsure where he was headed and said he could be anywhere between Interstate 90 and Packwood.

An attempt to locate was put out and it wasn’t until late yesterday afternoon that his vehicle was located, according to Brown.

The weather on Saturday and Sunday in the area has included heavy rain and wind, but turned to light rain with temperatures in the 40s, according to Brown. It’s currently 31 degrees in Packwood.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

The fire department’s having a party and it’s all about safety for kids.

From 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. on Saturday, families will find a giant fire truck slide, rides on a real fire engine, Sparky the fire dog and much more at the Littlerock station at 10828 Littlerock Road S.W.

The first 100 children to arrive get a free pumpkin from Rutledge Farm. There will be free hot dogs.

The even is hosted by West Thurston Regional Fire Authority.

For more details, call 360-352-1614 or see West Thurston RFA on Facebook.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Forty-five miles of U.S. Highway 12 are shut down for an undetermined length of time after a washout of the roadway just east of the summit of White Pass.

The closure will continue overnight as workers determine options; the hillside continues to erode, according to the Washington State Department of Transportation.

Limited local access will be allowed on the west side, between the closure near the state Route 123 junction and the summit; as well as on the east side from the closure near milepost 183 to milepost 158, according to DOT.

The summit is near milepost 151; the washout is near milepost 154.5.

The alternate routes are state Route 123 and state Route 41, both of which prohibit commercial traffic, the state agency notes.

Updated

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office says an internal investigation into whether a jail guard had an inappropriate relationship with an inmate is nearing its end, although the corrections officer has turned in his resignation.

Jamie Rees, who had worked at the Lewis County Jail a little more than a year, was placed on paid administrative leave in early August, according to the sheriff’s office. He quit about a week later, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said.

“We were unable to find evidence he was involved with her while she was in the jail,” Brown said.

However, after the inmate’s release, the sheriff’s office concluded through surveillance of Rees’ home in Centralia that the woman was living with him, Brown said.

Corrections officers and other employees of the sheriff’s office, are prohibited by policy from having relationships with known felons, according to Brown. Such conduct jeopardizes the jail, the sheriff’s office and the employee, she said.

Rees, 32, resigned when confronted, according to Brown.

The former inmate – a 24-year-old Centralia woman – was sentenced in February to six months in jail in connection with a bar fight a month earlier in which she stabbed another woman who attacked her, reportedly with a pair of brass knuckles. She had no prior felonies.

The initial complaint came not from the young woman, but from an anonymous source, according to Brown.