Lewis County Sirens.com

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

This news story was updated at 11:30 a.m.

CHEHALIS – A 44-year-old man is hospitalized after a knife attack last night in Chehalis and a suspect is in custody, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

It happened at a residence in the 500 block of Southwest McFadden Avenue near Cascade Elementary School.

Officers arrested Dennis P. Kelly, 57, at his home nearby. He was booked into the Lewis County Jail for first-degree assault.

The victim, whose name was not released, was flown by helicopter to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

Officers, called about 10:40 p.m. to a report of an assault, were told by several people at the residence the two men were arguing, according to a news release. Police said Kelly then attacked the man with a knife.

The victim sustained extensive, but not life-threatening injuries, according to police. He is a Chehalis resident who was staying at the residence, according to Deputy Chief Randy Kaut.

Kaut said he didn’t believe the two men knew each other before last night.

Police searched Kelly’s home this morning in an attempt to secure additional evidence, according to Kaut.

The Chehalis Police Department noted the reason for the dispute is still under investigation.

A two-bedroom house on Young Road in Mossyrock burns tonight. / Courtesy photo by Firefighter Taryn Houghtelling

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Firefighters are at a Mossyrock house this evening mopping up after a blaze last night that rekindled twice.

Nobody was home when fire broke out about 11:20 p.m. last night at the residence on the 500 block of Young Road, according to Lewis County Fire District 3 Chief Matt Hadaller.

About 17 personnel, including four from neighboring District 8, battled the fire until about 2:30 a.m., Hadaller said.

It was extremely windy and they had to keep an eye on sparks headed toward a barn and watch an outbuilding to make sure it didn’t catch, according to Hadaller.

“We put a good stop on it, we thought we had everything out,” he said.

But, they were called back about 7:30 this morning when something in the two-bedroom home ignited again. It was fully involved, again, and they fought it for  couple hours, he said

It still wasn’t all the way out. Hadaller spoke this evening from his third visit to the scene.

He said they had pulled out all the “hot” items and even walked through with a thermal imaging camera.

“It had cedar shakes with a metal roof over it,” he said. “That’s a firefighter’s nightmare, is a metal roof.”

Firefighters were not trying to extinguish it this evening; the son of the man who owns it told them to let it burn, according to Hadaller.

They had already salvaged what they could, including a “grandma’s cedar chest” which contained what he described as sentimental items.

“It was there through the whole two fires,” he said. “We pulled it out and everything inside was still okay.”

The owner is convalescing elsewhere after a tractor accident about two months ago that left him with a broken hip, the chief said. His family was breaking the news to him tonight.

Hadaller said he didn’t yet have any ideas about what caused the fire.

Home on Young Road in Mossyrock continues to burns tonight. / Courtesy photo by Firefighter Taryn Houghtelling

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

A 39-year-old woman was hospitalized this morning after she lost control of her pickup truck on ice and and slid down an embankment near Mossyrock.

A trooper was called about 6:50 a.m. to the scene on state Route 122 just east of Birley Road.

Samantha H. Kennedy, of Mossyrock, had been traveling eastbound before her Dodge Ram left the road and came to rest against a tree, according to the Washington State Patrol. The vehicle was described as totaled.

Kennedy suffered scrapes to her shoulder and chest and was taken to Morton General Hospital, according to the investigating trooper.

She was to be cited for speeding, the state patrol reported.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Police arrested a Chehalis couple and turned three children over to CPS after a raid last night at a Chehalis house where detectives believe as many as eight drug sales per night were being conducted.

Some 18 officers from the Chehalis Police Department and the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office served a search warrant at 9:30 p.m. at the home on the 1900 block of South Market Boulevard, according to Chehalis Police Chief Glenn Schaffer.

The arrests followed a three-week investigation into suspected heroin sales from the home, according to Schaffer.

Small amounts of heroin and methamphetamine were found, as well as drug paraphernalia and a firearm, according to police.

Arrested were Kristi Henderson, 28, and Zachary Gallagher, 25.

Henderson was booked into the Lewis County Jail for three counts of possession and delivery of narcotics. Gallagher was booked for the same, as well as first-degree possession of a firearm, according to police.

The children who were in the home at the time, ages 11, 6 and 4, were turned over to Child Protective Services who will work to work to determine the children’s health and future placement, according to a news release.

Pre-schoolers on a field trip learn about Deputy Brady Taylor's job.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Overheard in front of the Lewis County Law and Justice Center in Chehalis yesterday …

“We spray it in their eye and it stings, and then we put the handcuffs on them.”

Lewis County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Brady Taylor showing a group of pre-schoolers on a field trip some of the tools he keeps on his belt such as pepper spray, handcuffs and his flashlight.

“We don’t want to them to fight, because if they fight, somebody gets hurt,” he tells the Lewis County Head Start group.

“If they need a time out and we have to take them for a ride, we want to do it in the best way possible,” he says.