Lewis County Sirens.com

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

A former Bremerton police officer was sentenced today to two years in federal prison in a case that included undercover agents purchasing guns from him and others at gun shows in Centralia and Puyallup.

Roy Alloway, 56, pleaded guilty last fall to unlawful dealing in firearms and filing a false income tax return.

Alloway was warned twice in 2005, but continued to purchase and sell guns without a federal firearms license; much of his conduct occurred while he was an active police officer, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Western District of Washington.

He was one of four men charged last May following a lengthy undercover investigation into illegal sales at gun shows, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorneys Office.

The (Tacoma) News Tribune reports 77 of the firearms were seized in drug raids in which Alloway was either a participant or an insider with direct access to the weapons.

Some of the guns Alloway bought and sold later turned up at the scenes of a robbery, two assaults and in the hands of two felons, according to prosecutors.

“It was a breach of trust,” U.S. District Judge Ronald B. Leighton said at sentencing. “It was not a technical violation; it was a total abdication of his responsibilities under the law.”

Alloway deposited cash, checks and money orders into his bank account totaling about $192,000 from the sale of firearms, according to the news release. However he failed to declare that income on his tax returns. As part of his plea agreement, he has agreed to pay all back taxes, according to the news release.

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Read a story with further details about Alloway from yesterday’s issue of The (Tacoma) News Tribune, here

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Detectives are looking for information on the whereabouts of a 66-year-old Tenino-area man who hasn’t been seen since the middle of January.

Victor Shumate

Victor Shumate has a home on the 17000 block of Mima Acres Drive Southeast, where he lives alone, although it’s not believed he actually stays there because of the condition of the property, according to the Thurston County Sheriff’ Office.

Shumate gets around by foot or bicycle and is known to travel as far as Centralia, Yelm and Olympia, according to sheriff’s Sgt. Ray Brady.

He frequents the Tenino Timberland Library but hasn’t been seen there or by his neighbors since Jan. 13, the second day of a snow and ice storm, according to Brady.

Shumate is described as 6 feet tall and weighing 160 pounds, with brown hair and hazel eyes.

The sheriff’s office asks anyone who has seen him or knows where he might be to call the sheriff’s office at 360-786-5500 or 360-704-2740 or Crime Stoppers at 360-493-2222. Brady asks that callers refer to the case number 12-969.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

The fire that destroyed a north Centralia garage yesterday seemed to have started with a propane space heater, according to Riverside Fire Authority.

Assistant Chief Rick Mack said the resident was in the house waiting for the heater on to warm up the garage and when he observed flames emitting from the appliance, he shut off the fuel supply.

The fire off the 1900 block of Harrison Avenue was extinguished before it spread to the rest of the home, but a car and other contents of the garage were burned.

Mack said the heater was the probable cause.
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Read “Propane explosion, fire hits Centralia home” from Monday February 20, 2012 at 2:33 p.m., here

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Thirty-five-year-old Marta Aglubi-Blomstrom was supposed to get her chance to make her plea to one count of voter fraud yesterday, but prosecutors dismissed the charge.

Aglubi-Blomstrom, a Glenoma resident, was summonsed to Lewis County Superior Court earlier this month for allegedly registering to vote and then voting even though she’s not a U.S. citizen. She is from Ghana, a West African country.

Chief Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher said yesterday he dropped the felony charge last week for two reasons.

When he saw her in court, he realized her command of the English language was limited, Meagher said.

“I doubt that she really knew what she was signing,” he said.

Charging papers had stated she filled out her voter registration form online, at first answering no when asked if she was a U.S. citizen, and then changing her response to yes.

Meagher said the other issue that prompted him to dismiss the charge was the Lewis County Auditor’s Office had provided information to law enforcement about the registration that turned out to be mistaken. Meagher couldn’t recall the details, he said.

False information on an application for voter registration is a class C felony, punishable by a maximum of five years in prison or $10,000.

The issue came to the attention of the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office almost two years ago, when Aglubi-Blomstrom’s estranged husband contacted them about it, according to charging documents.

Charges were finally filed in December. Elected Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer said it was among a backlog of some 400 cases he found when he took office in January of last year.
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Read ” ‘Rare’ voter fraud case making its way through local criminal justice system” from Monday February 6, 2012, here

The Matz building from Tower Avenue side today. / Courtesy photo by Ali Hallam

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

The downtown Centralia fire that left more than a dozen people homeless and destroyed five businesses did indeed originate in Curious Betty’s boutique, authorities said this afternoon.

After demolition crews made it safe to enter a portion of the formerly two-story building, investigators were able to take a closer look, according to city spokesperson Officer John Panco.

They already knew it began on the first floor, and now they have concluded it started at the location where the boutique once stood, Panco said in a news release.

The chief fire investigator has said it was possible a candle in the shop ignited Tuesday’s early morning blaze. The official cause however remains undetermined, according to Panco.

The masonry Dr. Matz building, erected in 1889 at the corner of Tower Avenue and Main Street, was the oldest non-wooden structure in Centralia.

Demolition crews are expected to continue working tomorrow, but will shut down on Sunday and resume on Monday, according to Panco.

One lane of South Tower Avenue – the primary route through downtown – has been reopened.

Main Street between Tower and Pearl Street will stay closed to vehicles to allow trucks to carry away debris, according to Panco.

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Watch video of the Matz building coming down posted Thursday February 16, at 6:21 p.m. on Lewis County Sirens Facebook group page by David Troglin, here