Lewis County Sirens.com

Centralia police have recovered virtually truckloads of stolen goods as they searched a home and an undisclosed location following last week’s surprise find by one of its own officers of property stolen from his residence.

Centralia Police Department detective Sgt. Pat Fitzgerald said today he didn’t have an estimate of the monetary value, but going through the items and attempting to return them to their owners has been time consuming.

“We’re talking lawn mowers, pressure washers, just huge amounts of tools,” Fitzgerald said. “Lawn care equipment, weed eaters, imagine what you would keep in your garage.”

Fitzgerald said he took phone calls all day Wednesday and Thursday from members of the public wondering about their own missing items after the find was publicized early last week.

Officers didn’t actually load up all the loot into trucks, but arranged for theft victims to come and pick it up.

Police have searched the house on the 700 block of Reynolds Avenue three times now, Fitzgerald said.

It was kind of a fluke that one of the men police believe is connected with the case was arrested on Thursday afternoon, for possession of several different kinds of drugs, according to Fitzgerald.

Fitzgerald said he was on his way to court to get one of the search warrants signed, when he spotted 49-year-old Daniel J. Miller Sr. driving in the south end of town. Miller was booked and then charged Friday for possession of methamphetamine, oxycodone, methadone and hydrocodone.

The searches began after a Centralia police officer went to the Reynolds’ Avenue residence with a man who said he was going to retrieve a vehicle registration for the officer to prove a car he was trying to start with a screwdriver belonged to him. While standing at the door, the officer reportedly saw several items he recognized as having been stolen from his garage in Chehalis a few days earlier, according to police. Fitzgerald declined to name the officer at the officer’s request.

Much of the found property has been confirmed to have been taken from homes, garages, sheds and storage units in Centralia and Chehalis over the past few months, police reported.

A man and woman escaped safely when a Salkum area home caught fire early yesterday morning thanks to a working smoke alarm, according to Lewis County Fire District 8.

Four fire departments responded to the pre- 7 a .m. call at the single story house off of Shanklin Road, Assistant Fire Chief Don Taylor said this morning.

“When we arrived we had a pretty good fire through the roof which was knocked down pretty quickly,” Taylor said.

The blaze destroyed a large portion of the roof and left heavy smoke damage inside, he said.

A fire investigator was looking into the specific cause.

Saturday’ sunshine brought out multitudes of motorcycle riders, and one of them crashed in Glenoma when his bike slid into a ditch and struck a culvert.

James K. Nelson, 39, of Glenoma, was thrown about 20 feet and his Kawasaki KX250 went airborne, according to the area’s fire chief and the Washington State Patrol.

Nelson was taken by aid car to Morton General Hospital with back pain after the approximately 2:20 p.m. wreck, according to authorities.

He was reportedly not wearing a helmet.

“He was very lucky,” said Chief Ed Lowe of Lewis County Fire District 18.

It happened on the 100 block of Martin Road as Nelson attempted to negotiate a curve to the left, according to the state patrol. The responding trooper estimated about $500 damage to the 2009 off-road motorcycle.

The state patrol reported Nelson was to be cited for no helmet, no motorcycle endorsement and operating an off-road vehicle on a road. Information about his condition was not available from the hospital this morning.

CHEHALIS – After laying off four employees and eliminating a top position, Lewis County Prosecutor Michael Golden is now facing the departure of two more of his deputy prosecutors.

Elected prosecutor Golden announced Thursday the men will be will be leaving his office in the next two weeks to take positions with other local governments.

“There is never a good time to lose good people, but even when the economy isn’t cooperating, people have to pursue their dreams,” Golden said in a news release. “Good people do it every day, but we will miss them, just the same.”

Senior Civil Deputy Prosecutor Douglas Ruth has represented the county in nearly every facet of the civil division in an exemplary fashion over the past eight years, Golden stated. Ruth resigned with much sadness, according to Golden, to take a job with the city of Auburn so he can be closer to his Seattle-area family.

Deputy Prosecutor Jonathan Richardson has been working for Golden in a position funded by grant money which is set to run out this month, according to Golden.

Richardson has been with the office almost three years, assigned to drug court, juvenile cases and then since last July in superior court. Richardson will move to the Whatcom County Prosecutor’s Office in Bellingham, and is anxious to return to the community where he attended college, Golden said.

The prosecutor noted his previously announced intention to retain at least one position by using money from a new fund created from money seized from illegal online gambling in Lewis County. He stated that money can be used for prosecution and abatement of fraud and gambling.

The money to replace the civil deputy position does not exist, he said. It’s not clear from the news release if Golden will use the new fund to replace Richardson. Golden didn’t return requests for comment.

One of the cut backs was the elimination of his chief criminal deputy position. The time range of when that and the lay offs occurred wasn’t noted in the news release.

CENTRALIA – Centralia police detectives are conducting searches this afternoon in connection with stolen property and and yesterday’s arrest of a 49-year-old man for manufacture, delivery and possession of drugs.

Centralia Police Officer John Panco said the search warrants were being served at more than one location, but didn’t disclose details as police were still “knee deep in the middle of everything.”

Daniel J. Miller Sr., 49, of Chehalis, was arrested without incident after he was found was driving in a south Centralia neighborhood yesterday afternoon, Panco said. Miller was booked into the Lewis County Jail about 9:30 p.m. last night.

The drug involved was methamphetamine and the stolen goods included “a little bit of everything” including  tools, Panco said. He didn’t know how large of quantities were involved, he said.

Russell L. Lamb, 42, of Centralia, was picked up shortly after Miller, in connection with the case, Panco said. Lamb was arrested and booked into the jail for being a felon in possession of a firearm, Panco said.

Coming soon: other news and information of crime, police, fire, courts in greater Lewis County, Wash. (more…)