Lewis County Sirens.com

A LifeFlight helicopter picks up crash victim from post office in Vader. / Courtesy photo by Cowlitz-Lewis Fire District 20

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A motorcyclist in his 20s was injured when he lost control on a curve on state Route 506 west of Vader last night.

Cowlitz-Lewis Fire District 20 was called to the scene near Brim Creek Road just before 8 p.m.

Assistant Chief Ruth Crear said he sustained multiple injuries. No other cars were involved she said.

The patient was flown by LifeFlight to Southwest Washington Medical Center in Vancouver, according to Crear.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Local law enforcement is cautioning members of the public not to provide their credit card information to phone callers in light of a large number of reports about scammers.

So many reports came during the month of June to the Centralia Police  Department, the Chehalis Police Department and the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office that they jointly issued an advisory.

“The callers are identifying themselves as the IRS or warrant service companies,” Centralia police detective Patty Finch stated. “In most reports, the callers are telling the victims that a warrant has been issued for their arrest or they are being sued.”

They are coming from various long distance numbers and some have asked for credit card information, according to Finch.

The detective shared a statement from the Internal Revenue Service that notes the federal agency “does not threaten taxpayers with lawsuits, imprisonment or other enforcement action” and “will never ask for credit or debit card numbers over the phone.”

Finch advises people to never provide account information over the phone until after independently confirming it’s a legitimate reason.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A memorial service has been scheduled to honor Reign, the Chehalis police dog who passed away late last month.

Reign

K-9 Reign died suddenly and unexpectedly while training on duty with partner Officer Warren Ayers in Chehalis the night of June 27.

The dog’s body was taken to Washington State University where an exam was unable to ascertain the cause of death but it’s presumed related to an unknown medical condition, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

He was five years old and served four years with the department.

The service will take place at W.F. West High School beginning at 11 a.m. on July 25.

Any law enforcement wishing to participate in the processional should be to the Southwest Washington Fairgrounds at 9 a.m.

The fairgrounds are located at 2555 N. National Ave., Chehalis. The school is at 342 S.W. 16th Street, Chehalis.
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For background, read “Chehalis police dog passes away unexpectedly” from Wednesday June 28, 2017, here

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Crews were on the scene for about two hours yesterday when a long-vacant house near Interstate 5 east of Vader went up in flames.

Three fire department responded to the approximately 1:40 p.m. call at the 300 block of Foster Creek Road, according to Lewis County Fire District 2.

Chief Mike Dorothy said they arrived to find the two-story wood home fully involved with fire.

It was a total loss, according to Dorothy. Nobody was hurt, he indicated.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Members of the public concerned about protecting their homes from wildfire can attend a free informational session on the topic.

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The event is hosted by the Fords Prairie Grange #33, located at 2640 Reynolds Road in Centralia and will be held on Monday July 24 at 6:30 p.m.

The program will be presented by Riverside Fire Authority, Chehalis Fire Department and Washington State Department of Natural Resources.

The idea is to assist citizens in learning more about wildfires, according to RFA Chief Mike Kytta.

Expect to hear from fire service personnel about prevention, what to do if it happens and how to get connected to the Lewis County Alert system.

Kytta expects the evening to last one and a half to two hours.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The man fatally shot in the woods south of Randle last week died from a gunshot wound to the head, the Lewis County Coroner’s Office said today.

Dusty Phelps, 51, encountered a 63-year-old Glenoma man and his wife in their vehicle in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest on July 4. The man, whose name has not been released, said he fired one round in self defense.

Phelps was camping on Forest Service Road 2801 off Cispus Road and the couple drove into his camp site to contact him about discharging firearms in an unsafe manner, the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office has said.

The sheriff’s office said the Glenoma man called 911 and described what preceded him using his weapon this way:

“(T)he decedent approached the driver side door of their vehicle and produced a firearm, firing multiple shots, to include one round into their interior of the vehicle.”

The sheriff’s office has not revealed what types of guns were involved.

Coroner Warren McLeod has concluded the death is a homicide, but no arrest has been made. The sheriff’s office has said once the investigation is complete, they will forward it to the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office for review.
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For background, read “Randle homicide: Glenoma man says he fired one round after camper shot into his vehicle” from Friday July 7, 2017, here

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A 33-year-old Chehalis man was sentenced in federal court for production of child pornography, getting more than 20 years and then supervised release for the rest of his life.

Brandon K. Phelps was arrested in January 2015 following an investigation that began months earlier with a cyber-tip concerning his online exchange of child porn with others, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

At the hearing late yesterday afternoon in U.S. District Court in Tacoma, Judge Benjamin H. Settle imposed a 228-month sentence on top of an 18-month sentence Phelps has already served in state custody, saying, “Deterrence is very important … word must be out there for others like you that, if you engage in these crimes (child sex offenses), you will receive very long sentences,” according to a press release from prosecutors.

According to records filed in the case, during 2014 Phelps babysat three children, one of whom was a 9-year-old girl he forced to engage in sexually explicit conduct and made photos with his phone.

He made additional sexually explicit photos of another young girl while she slept, according to the press release.

Phelps was sentenced in February of this year in Lewis County Superior Court for a 2009 incident of child molestation and for raping his adult girlfriend while she was incapacitated, according to U.S. Attorney’s Office spokesperson Emily Langlie.

He was already serving more than 15 years for those cases, and his time will be served at the same time as the sentence handed down yesterday, according to Langlie.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Grady Leupold in coordination with the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office.