Lewis County Sirens.com

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

A 23-year-old man wanted in the beating and robbery of a hitchhiker in Tenino last month was arrested early this morning after a police chase that began in Centralia and ended in Tenino.

Centralia police say an officer attempted to contact the driver of a stolen vehicle in north Centralia at about 12:30 a.m. The vehicle fled north on Interstate 5 at speeds of up to 110 mph and then out Highway 99, according to the Centralia Police Department. He was stopped when a Thurston County sheriff’s deputy ended the chase by intentionally colliding with it and spun it out, Centralia police Sgt. Carl Buster said.

Tony L. League, 23, was arrested for possession of a stolen vehicle and warrants as well as for the Aug. 22 incident in which a hitchhiker was punched and ordered at gunpoint to empty his pockets, according to police.

Centralia police list League as a Tenino resident. Tenino police have said he resides in Olympia.

Tenino police are still seeking a second man, Andrew B. Miller, 20, of Yelm, in connection with the robbery.

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For background, read “News brief: Hitchhiker robbed, beaten in Tenino” from Monday August 27, 2012, here

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The trial for Ricky Allen Riffe in the 1985 kidnapping and fatal shooting of Ed and Wilhelmina Maurin of Ethel is going to take at least two weeks and possibly three, according to the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office.

Attorneys and the defendant went in front of a judge yesterday briefly to review the status of the case and reschedule the trial.

Lewis County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Will Halstead said he has in excess of 100 witnesses, some from out of state.

Riffe, 53, was arrested in July at his home in Alaska in the old case.

Prosecutors believe the former Lewis County man and his brother abducted the elderly couple and forced them to withdraw money from their bank in Chehalis before shooting them and dumping their bodies near Adna.

Lewis County Superior Court Judge Richard Brosey will preside.

Halstead has turned over more than 12,000 pages of discovery to the defense and asked Brosey yesterday to remind Seattle-based attorney John Crowley the rules for sharing evidence apply to both sides.

Halstead noted media reports in which Crowley said he spoke with a witness who could help his client’s case.

Crowley only replied the timely turning over of documents and such applies to witnesses one intends to call upon during trial.

The defense attorney said the trial was moved from October to the week of November 5 because there is so much material for him to wade through.

Outside the courtroom, he said he’s found more good news for his client as he’s studied the materials

“One thing I didn’t know is there’s a witness who confessed, or a suspect who confessed,” Crowley said. “In a handwritten note to his wife.”

Riffe has pleaded not guilty. His younger  brother John Gregory Riffe died earlier this summer of ill health before charges were filed.

Wilhelmina Maurin, also known as “Minnie”, was 83, her husband was 81 years old.
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For background, read “Maurin homicide: Riffe pleads not guilty, his attorney hints at proof” from Thursday August 23, 2012, here

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Two vehicles were damaged but nobody was hurt when a log truck’s too-tall load hit the Chamber of Commerce Way overpass above Interstate 5 in Chehalis about 1:30 p.m. today.

It happened in the northbound lanes and the pilot car sustained an estimated $1,000 damage from falling debris, according to the Washington State Patrol. A southbound van struck debris in the road and was damaged as well, according to the state patrol.

The damage was to the bridge was minimal enough the overpass stayed open, but one lane of the freeway was closed for bridge inspectors.

The northbound lanes on the freeway were backed up almost five miles as late as 5:30 p.m.

The driver, Darren M. Lumbert, 47, of Chehalis, was expected to be cited for over-height load, according to the investigating trooper.

The state Department of Transportation indicates motorists should expect delays until as late as 8 p.m.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

A crew from Morton’s fire department were en route this evening to join firefighters battling a wildfire near White Salmon in Klickitat County.

Washington State Patrol Chief John Batiste authorized the mobilization of state firefighting resources to assist with the blaze that began this afternoon and has grown to an estimated 1,300 acres and is threatening approximately 50 residences.

Read more about the fire here.