Lewis County Sirens.com

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Some of the victims complained of itchy skin and burning eyes but nobody had to be hospitalized following the cleaning chemical accident that caused a portion of the Lewis County Jail to be evacuated over the weekend.

The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office said today an inmate working in the kitchen inadvertently mixed together a mild bleach solution and a de-limer.

The instant reaction involved an odor and concerns about fumes, Chief Deputy Dusty Breen said.

Two staff members and approximately eight inmates were removed from the kitchen area and evaluated by jail medical personnel. The sheriff’s office said it happened shortly after 3:30 p.m. on Saturday and the main jail population was unaffected.

The Chehalis Fire Department responded to ventilate the area. Personnel from the state Department of Ecology disposed of the bucket of material, Undersheriff Wes Rethwill said today.

“They said it was a mild reaction,” Rethwill said of DOE.

Rethwill called it an unfortunate situation in which the inmate was trying to do the right thing, but grabbed the wrong solution.

“We’re still trying to figure out how we can do better,” he said.

The kitchen was cleared for use by 5 p.m., according to Rethwill.
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For background, read “News brief: Jail kitchen emptied out because of chemical exposure” from Saturday July 8, 2017, here

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The Tenino motorcyclist who was in critical condition yesterday morning from a Friday evening wreck passed away yesterday, according to authorities.

Sky M. Lelo, 38, was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle following the collision on state Route 507 near O’Connor Road in south Thurston County.

The Washington State Patrol has only said that he was traveling on a Harley Davidson XL1200 when he attempted to avoid traffic and was ejected. He was wearing a helmet and its unknown if drugs or alcohol played a role, according to the investigating trooper.

The state patrol initially said Lelo was headed northbound but in information released yesterday evening said the Harley was headed southbound.
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For background, read “News brief: Tenino motorcyclist in critical condition” from Monday July 10, 2017, here

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The 54-year-old rural Chehalis man who struck another vehicle during a lengthy high-speed police pursuit along U.S. Highway 12 at the east end of the county in May has been sentenced to the mental health alternatives program

James P. Sauter was contacted by police at least three times that month in Centralia, Chehalis and then finally when he turned his truck into a field and got it stuck on a log about 21 miles east of White Pass on May 25.

Callers to 911 reported the white Dodge pickup truck with emergency lights installed in its grill was traveling at a high rate of speed and forcing other drivers to pull off the road. Authorities said he had a silver badge pinned to his vest and a can of pepper spray in his pocket when he was apprehended.

Lewis County Prosecutor Will Halstead told a judge in Lewis County Superior Court on Friday he combined the charges with cases from municipal courts.

Halstead and defense attorney Jacob Clark entered into a plea agreement which Judge Joely O’Rourke accepted.

Sauter pleaded guilty to attempting to elude, hit and run attended, use of drug paraphernalia, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct. Only the first count is a felony and it carried a standard sentencing range of two to five months in jail.

He had already spent about 49 days in jail and the lawyers asked the judge to suspend the rest of his time for two years with various conditions related to the mental health alternative program and allow him release on Friday.

Clark said he felt it was a resolution which would help keep both Sauter and the community safe.

He said his client would be taken directly to a short stay at a hospital diversion house. He said Sauter would be back in court for reviews, weekly at first.
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For background, read “Driver with flashing grill lights, badge arrested after police chase” from Friday May 26, 2017, here

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A 38-year-old Tenino man was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle after he wrecked on his motorcycle yesterday evening north of Centralia.

Troopers called just after 6:30 p.m. to the scene at state Route 507 near O’Connor Road determined Sky M. Lelo was traveling northbound when he attempted to avoid traffic, according to the Washington State Patrol.

The 2002 Harley Davidson XL1200 came to rest on the road and Lelo was ejected, according to the state patrol. He was wearing a helmet.

The collision is under investigation.

The scene was not cleared until after 3:30 a.m., according to the state Department of Transportation.

Pollman Road off Logan Hill Road. / Courtesy photo by Lewis County Fire District 6

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Smoke and flames were visible by residents more than five miles away from a fire that broke out this morning southeast of Chehalis.

Firefighters were called just after 4 a.m. to the 200 block of Pollman Road where a large metal-sided barn building was burning, according to authorities.

Lewis County Fire District 6 was joined by firefighters from Chehalis, Napavine, Winlock and Onalaska, according to District 6’s DJ Hammer.

Hammer reported just before 6:30 a.m. the fire was knocked down.

“Tyler Rentals has been called upon for assistance in using an excavator to move debris around so crews can finish extinguishing hot spots,” Hammer stated in a Facebook post.

The structure and its contents are a total loss, but nobody was injured, according to Hammer. The cause is under investigation.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The driver who died when his car crossed the centerline and struck an oncoming pickup truck west of Tenino on Tuesday morning has been identified as a Tenino resident.

Robert J. Hughes, Jr., 37, from Tenino, had been traveling northbound on Old Highway 99 near Tilley Road just before 8 a.m., according to authorities.

The driver of the 2007 Chevrolet pickup, a man in his 60s, was flown to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. The Thurston County Sheriff’s Office was investigating the collision.
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For background, read “News brief: Head-on crash west of Tenino leaves one dead” from Wednesday July 5, 2017, here

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Sheriff’s deputies are checking in and around Mineral Lake looking for signs of a resident said to have gone into the water from a boat yesterday.

Deputies were dispatched just before 4 p.m. yesterday to the north Lewis County community along state Route 7 where they contacted a woman who was adrift in a boat.

She said her significant other had gone into the water and was believed to have drowned, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

The missing man is a 54-year-old who resides in Mineral, Chief Deputy Dusty Breen said.

The sheriff’s office is investigating the circumstances of what occurred, according to Breen.

The plan this morning is to check the area by boat and by foot, according to Breen.