Lewis County Sirens.com

Two people were taken to the hospital with back pain following a two-vehicle crash on Interstate 5 north of Centralia overnight that totaled both vehicles.

Aid and troopers were called about 1:25 a.m. to the northbound lanes of the freeway near the Lewis-Thurston county line, according to the Washington State Patrol.

The 28-year-old driver of a Honda CRV failed to slow for traffic and ran into the rear of a 2002 Jeep Liberty, according to the state patrol. The Honda’s driver, an Irvine, Calif. man, was cited for following too closely, the patrol reported.

He wasn’t injured, but a pair of Federal Way residents in the Jeep were transported by ambulance to Providence Centralia Hospital, the patrol said.

Drug customers from Lewis, Thurston and other nearby counties are going to find it harder to place their orders after yesterday’s sweep that took down a trafficking organization authorities say operated like a pizza delivery business using runners and dispatchers to distribute primarily heroin.

More than 65 pounds of black tar heroin were seized and 23 people arrested – mostly from the Tacoma area – during yesterday’s coordinated law enforcement effort targeting Mexican cartels distributing large amounts of heroin and methamphetamine in the region, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The investigation was led by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Thurston County Narcotics Task Force, the Grays Harbor Drug Task Force and the Lakewood Police Department. Numerous other agencies assisted.

“This investigation strikes a blow against a dangerous scourge in our communities,” United States Attorney Jenny A. Durkan said in a news release following this morning’s news conference in Tacoma. “Yesterday, in just one residence, agents found 58 pounds of black tar heroin – a stunning indication of the massive amounts of poison this group was spreading.”

According to the news release, drug customers from Pierce, Thurston, Lewis, Kitsap, and Grays Harbor counties could call a dispatcher and order drugs and would be told an intersection of where to park within a six-square mile area of south Tacoma.

The protocol included, according to the news release: the dispatcher would take a description of the customer’s car, and then the drug runner’s vehicle would drive slowly past as a signal to follow into a residential neighborhood where the transaction would be made.

During the 13-month investigation, and including yesterday, authorities seized more than 80 pounds of heroin, $400,000 cash, four firearms and more than four pounds of methamphetamine. Hundreds of thousands of dollars were being shipped to Mexico in hidden compartments built into vehicles, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Yesterday’s arrests and search warrants were part of a national effort dubbed “Project Deliverance” targeting the transportation infrastructure of Mexican drug trafficking groups in the United States.

A 70-year-old Longview man was hospitalized after a deer caused a two-vehicle crash yesterday evening on southbound Interstate 5 west of Toledo.

Troopers and aid were called about 6:10 p.m. to the scene near milepost 60.  William G. Bollie’s 2008 Acura MDX was described as totaled.

The Washington State Patrol reported a Chevrolet pickup truck driven by a Kent man struck the deer and then collided with the Bollie’s vehicle, which then hit the concrete barrier.

Bollie was taken by ambulance to St. John Medical Center in Longview with head and neck pain, according to the state patrol. He was treated and has been released, the hospital said this morning.

The 2007 pickup sustained an estimated $1,500 damage and was able to be driven away from the scene, the state patrol noted.

Two more suspects – including a Toledo man – are expected to be transferred into federal custody today from a local group authorities call a major methamphetamine-trafficking organization in Southwest Washington.

Anthony Wayne Reisbeck, 43, of Toledo and Randy Scott Chalupa, 47, of Longview, will move into the federal court system today; as did Erica Deann Lewis, 34, of Toledo, after her Friday arrest in Toledo, according to detective Sgt. Kevin Tate of the Cowlitz-Wahkiakum Narcotics Task Force.

The task force is looking at numerous Lewis and Cowlitz County residents as they begin their “second wave” of seeking federal prosecutions for previously locally charged individuals, Tate said.

Lewis was served a no-bail federal warrant and transferred to Tacoma for arraignment in U.S. District Court, according to Tate.

“This is an ongoing investigation, much more significant than it might appear to the public at this point,” Tate said this morning.

The task force alleges the network has primarily been purchasing from Mexican drug traffickers, and also trying to manufacture meth on a small scale.

The so-called first wave came from arrests in late February and early March, he said. Detectives seized two cars, one registered to Lewis, and found more than a pound of methamphetamine, he said.

Lewis was later arrested near Gee Cee’s truck stop. Her home and two others in Lewis County were searched on March 25. She was arrested Friday driving near her home, Tate said.

Lewis County Sheriff’s Office detectives have assisted, he said. The task force is made up of law enforcement officers from the Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Office, Longview Police Department, Kelso Police Department, the Washington State Patrol and as available from Wahkiakum County.

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This news story has been corrected since it was first posted. Randy Scott Chapula’s first name was inadvertently omitted.

The search for the body of the missing climber on Mount Rainier will hopefully resume later this week, a park spokesperson said this morning.

Mark Wedeven, 27, of Olympia, went missing after an avalanche early Saturday morning on the Ingraham Glacier. He was one of 11 people overtaken by the snow. The others survived, but Wedeven is presumed dead, according to Mount Rainier National Park spokesperson Kevin Bacher.

Ironically, the worst ever climbing accident in U.S. history was on Mount Rainier, on the same glacier and on the same route, Bacher said.

It happened almost 29 years ago, on June 21, 1981. It was also a “slab” avalanche, according to Bacher.

“In that case, 11 people were killed by the avalanche, so the similarities in this case were spooky,” he said.

This particular route is an off-shoot of one of the two most popular climbs on Mount Rainier. Climbers depart from Paradise for the hike, Bacher said.

A limited search took place yesterday for Wedeven, Bacher said.

Park rangers stationed at Camp Muir continue to be hampered in their ability to search due to dangerous avalanche conditions on the upper mountain, Bacher said.

The search will resume as soon as it is safe, Bacher said.

An 11-year-old boy on a bicycle was struck by a car on Harrison Avenue in Centralia yesterday.

Police and aid called just after 5 p.m. said the Centralia resident sustained cuts and a leg injury. He was taken to Providence Centralia Hospital.

Centralia Police Department Sgt. Carl Buster said the child came across the busy arterial from the south side near the Panda Inn restaurant and was hit by a westbound Mitsubishi Lancer. He was accompanied by three other young bicyclists, Buster said.

One driver stopped, but the 18-year-old driver of the Mitsubishi didn’t even have a chance to see the boy, Buster said. She was not cited, he said.

Traffic was clogged up on Harrison Avenue in Centralia yesterday evening after a three-vehicle collision, but no serious injuries were reported.

Troopers and aid were called about 5:20 p.m. to the wreck on the 2800 block of Harrison Avenue, about one mile north of the city limits.

The Washington State Patrol blamed the crash on inattention, when the 17-year-old driver of a 1990 Toyota Camry was distracted by something outside his car and rear-ended a 2009 Kia Optima, pushing that car into a Ford 450 flatbed truck.

A northbound lane was closed for about an hour and motorists were rerouted onto a side street, according to the Riverside Fire Authority.

The driver of the Kia, Rebecca L. Freeman, 41, was taken by ambulance to Providence Centralia Hospital with possible neck and back injuries, according to the state patrol. The Rochester woman was treated and has been released, the hospital said this morning.

The two cars were described as totaled and the truck sustained an estimated $1000 damage, according to the responding trooper.

Franklin C. Swenson, 17, of Rochester, was to be cited for second-degree negligent driving, according to the state patrol.