Lewis County Sirens.com

A crowd gathers as law enforcement officer investigate a two-vehicle wreck at Summa Street and South Tower Avenue in Centralia. / Courtesy photo by Kelli Taylor

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

A 16-year-old boy was taken to Providence Centralia Hospital after a two-vehicle collision yesterday evening when an off-duty police officer ran a stop sign in a south Centralia neighborhood.

Police and aid called just before 7 p.m. found Angie Humphrey’s 2004 Acura Sport Utility Vehicle had been westbound on Summa Street and T-boned a southbound Honda-type car with four occupants at South Tower Avenue, according to the Centralia Police Department.

Humphrey, 43, works for the Centralia Police Department, but was with her 13-year-old daughter on their way to the fair.

She said the sun blinded her after she crossed the railroad tracks and she took her foot off the accelerator, but “then all the sudden there was the Honda.”

Riverside Fire Authority said they saw five possible patients, four of whom declined to go to the hospital.

Centralia police Sgt. Stacy Denham called it a fairly minor-injury collision, considering the way it happened, and said one youngster had shoulder pain and was transported. His name was not released.

Denham said two individuals from the car left before police arrived. He described the car as totaled.

Humphrey was ticketed for failing to stop at a stop sign and openly admitted it was her fault, Denham said. There were no indications of high speed or gross negligence, he said.

The car’s driver, an 18-year-old from Chehalis, was ticketed for not having a valid license, he said.

Humphrey said she felt horrid.

“I got a ticket just like anybody else would, it was my fault,” she said. “I’m not perfect. It is what it is.”

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

A Chehalis man was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle after four passenger vehicles wrecked when traffic slowed to avoid running over two ducks on Interstate 5 south of Tumwater this afternoon.

Leo E. Morrison’s Toyota Corolla was totaled, as was a Chevrolet Suburban, according to the Washington State Patrol.

Troopers called about 3:15 p.m. to the southbound lanes near Israel Road report the only other injury was a 66-year-old passenger in a BMW, who was not hospitalized.

Morrison, 46, was first transported to Providence St. Peter and then flown to the Seattle hospital, according to the state patrol.

The investigating trooper points to driver inattention as the cause, but has not issued any citations yet, according to the state patrol. The ducks did not survive.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

A 32-year-old Rochester man was stabbed in downtown Olympia early this morning.

Police responded about 3 a.m. to the 300 block of Fourth Avenue where the man was found; he had been stabbed in the chest, according to the Olympia Police Department.

No suspects have been identified, and the motive remains unclear, according to a news release.

The victim, whose name was not released, was taken to Providence St. Peter Hospital where he is expected to recover, according to police. The investigation is continuing.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office is asking for the public’s help finding a man who didn’t return to jail from a one-day furlough.

Kevon L. Tracy

Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown indicated yesterday in a news release that Kevon L. Tracy, 41, of Chehalis, is supposed to be in custody in connection with an attempted first-degree malicious mischief. There are also pending charges of violation of a protection order, according to Brown.

Deputies have been to several locations in Lewis County looking for him, according to Brown.

He is described as a white male who is 5-feet 10-inches tall, weighing 175 pounds with blue eyes and grayish-brown hair with a receding hairline.

Brown asks anyone with information on his whereabouts to call 360-748-9286 or Lewis County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-748 6422.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Firefighters are on the scene of an overnight blaze that left a Napavine area family without a home.

Nobody was injured, but the residence on Koontz Road near Coulson Road – and its contents – are a total loss, according to Lewis County Fire District 5.

“It’s all the way on the ground, it’s just terrible,” Chief Eric Linn said this morning.

Crews called about 2:10 a.m. arrived to find roughly 75 percent of the structure burning, Linn said. The owner and his son were asleep, but had awakened and got themselves out, he said.

It was an older single-story house with a fairly recent addition of a garage and upstairs “bonus” room, Linn said. The fire appears to have begun in the new end of the structure, and seems to have been burning undetected for some time, he said.

Portions of the firefight were delayed while responders waited for workers to shut off the power to the building, while exploding ammunition increased the challenge, according to the chief.

“We couldn’t be really super aggressive, because it was just too dangerous,” Linn said.

Members of fire departments from Winlock, Toledo and rural Chehalis hauled in water by trucks, since the area has no fire hydrants, he said.

The Red Cross has been to the scene already to assist the residents.

Linn said this morning they are sifting through smoldering remains in an attempt to find the cause. He hasn’t yet determined a dollar amount for the loss, he said.

“It will be in excess of $100,000, as it was a relatively nice house,” he said.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Crime Stoppers of Lewis County will be available at the Southwest Washington Fair this week to help parents out by creating special laminated identification cards for youngsters.

A photograph, thumbprint and basic information will be put on the card, with one copy for the child to carry and a duplicate to put away in a safe place in the event it is ever needed, according to the organization.

Crime Stoppers will not retain any of the data from the cards, according to a news release.

The program being launched tomorrow is called “My ID Club” and is sponsored by Community Health Plans of Washington and supported by Valley View Health Centers, according to the news release.

The cards can be obtained between 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. starting tomorrow through the last day of the fair at the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office booth on the south fairway.

For more information, check My ID Club, here