Lewis County Sirens.com

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A 28-year-old man is sitting in jail after allegedly stealing the Centralia Police Department’s Humvee and then stalling it along Interstate 5 after traveling about four miles and being detained by passersby.

“These guys stopped to help him and learned he had stolen it, and called police,” Centralia Sgt. Dave Clary said.

It happened about 6 p.m. yesterday

Police say David L. Reser went into the city’s fenced compound on the 1400 block of Mellen Street and drove off with the vehicle, knocking down a light pole along the way.

He headed northbound on the freeway and came to stop just on the north side of the county line, according to police.

Clary said Reser was the one who told the men he’d stolen the Humvee.

The Washington State Patrol processed Reser for driving under the influence, according to Clary. The Centralia resident was booked into the Lewis County Jail for second-degree burglary and theft of motor vehicle.

It was just last week when the Chehalis police chief’s patrol car was stolen, allegedly by a 17-year-old who tried to outrun a trooper on the freeway and left his car at a Chehalis golf course, jumping into the unmarked Chevrolet Impala as law enforcement searched for him.

Clary said the gate was not fully closed to the city’s fenced compound yesterday evening.

“The compound is not quite as secure as we’d like,” he said.

Tree lays along U.S. Highway 12 after roadway is cleared. / Courtesy photo by Bill Serrahn

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Two people were injured when a large tree fell onto their van as they were headed through Packwood on U.S. Highway 12 today.

Troopers called to the scene about 1:45 p.m. report the 2007 Honda Odyssey minivan was totaled.

John E. Lange, 45, and his passenger Stephanie C. Lee, 39, both from Olympia, were transported to Morton General Hospital,  according to the Washington State Patrol.

It happened near near Skate Creek Road. The pair had been traveling westbound, according to the state patrol.

Photos shared by a Packwood area resident show what appears to be a cottonwood laying along the roadway and the van with a crushed roof.

The van was impounded to Beslow’s Towing, according to the patrol.

The state Department of Transportation noted the roadway was cleared shortly after 3 p.m.

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Van is impounded after getting struck by tree. / Courtesy photo by Bill Serrahn

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Chehalis Police Department spokesperson Linda Bailey said officers are all out after a patrol car was stolen, believed to belong to Chief Glenn Schaffer.

Bailey said she understood the state patrol was involved in a vehicle pursuit in the area of Airport Road, and then she heard a patrol car was taken.

Schaffer drives a gray unmarked Chevrolet Impala, she said.

Bailey said she couldn’t confirm other details at this time.

More to come

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Firefighters and police called to a small fire in an apartment on the 300 block of North Tower Avenue in Centralia yesterday morning learned a resident was trying to kill cockroaches with an improvised flame thrower.

They found light smoke in the area and a little pile of burned papers on the bathroom floor, which had burned itself out, according to the Centralia Police Department. It was just before 9 a.m.

He said he was using the bug spray Off and a cigarette lighter, but caught some paper on fire, Officer John Panco said.

He got scared, ran out and yelled at others to get out of the building, Panco said. There was no damage, but police arrested Calvin J. Byrd, 24, for reckless burning and booked him into the Lewis County Jail, he said.

Members of Lewis County Fire Districts 5, 15, 2 and 8 along with Lewis County Medic One responded for five vehicle collision on U.S. Highway 12. / Courtesy photo by Alicia Pentecost

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Three vehicles were totaled in a multiple-vehicle rear-end chain reaction collision that sent seven people to the hospital this afternoon on U.S. Highway 12 about two miles east of Interstate 5.

Troopers called at 2:14 p.m. found that Jacob I. Hadaller, 29, of Mossyrock, was westbound approaching Jackson Highway where four pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles were stopped for the traffic light.

Hadaller’s 2006 Dodge Ram collided with the rear of a 2011 Dodge Dakota, pushing it into a 2016 Nissan Rogue SUV, which was shoved into a 1998 Ford Expedition SUV, which in turn ran into the back of a 2006 Ford Escape SUV, according to the Washington State Patrol

Firefighters and medics from Lewis County Fire District 5 responded, assisted by personnel from four other departments.

District 5 Lt. Laura Hanson indicated the seven patients were transported to Providence Centralia Hospital for evaluation and treatment.

Hadaller was reportedly uninjured but cited for second-degree negligent driving, according to the state patrol.

The intersection is commonly known as Mary’s Corner.

The driver of the Dodge Dakota, Martin K. Fisher, 49, of Olympia was also uninjured, but three of his passengers were. They are ages 15, 15, and 51, all from Olympia.

The driver of the Nissan Rogue, Diane K. Wilkie, 61, Ilwaco, was hospitalized as was the driver of the Ford Expedition, William G. Dix, 32, Centralia, according to the state patrol. Dix’s passenger Amanda L. Ailes, 39, Salkum, was also injured.

General L. Cothren, 71, Winlock, was driving the Ford Escape and reportedly unhurt. His passenger, Gregg Robinson, 65, Winlock, was transported.

Only the Expedition and the Escape were able to be driven from the scene, the investigating trooper reports.

The incident was blamed on inattention.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Chehalis Fire Department Chief Ken Cardinale said they are looking at a malfunction of the hay baler as causing the fire that burned through acres of fields yesterday along Rice Road in south Chehalis.

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The chief said about 30 firefighters from around the county worked to extinguish the flames and personnel from the state Department of Natural Resources were called in.

Several structures were threatened but none were damaged, he said.

It was a fast moving fire through hay fields, fanned by winds of 15 to 20 mph, he said.

Key to getting it under control, was getting a bull dozer from Lewis County Public Works that cut a fire line, he said.

“The dozer coming in at the time that they did was instrumental,” Cardinale said.

The chief was deeply appreciative of law enforcement shutting down the two-lane, shoulderless Rice Road, noting it felt like everyone in Chehalis decided to drive by.

“It’s like moths to a flame,” he said. “They don’t realize.”

Early this morning, Cardinale said he understood the fire covered a bit more than 100 acres before it was stopped.

A spokesperson for DNR said later this morning it was measured by GPS at 66 acres.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A 58-year-old man was killed after his motorcycle wrecked along U.S. Highway 12 about eight miles east of Packwood yesterday.

Troopers called to the scene near milepost 138 at about 12:40 p.m. determined that the 2003 Harley Davidson Electra Glide had been traveling eastbound when its operator failed to negotiate a curve to the right. The motorcycle hit the westbound guardrail and the driver was ejected, according to the Washington State Patrol.

The Harley continued on and went off the roadway on the eastbound slope, according to the state patrol.

William R. Ballard was 58 years old and from Forest Grove, Oregon, the investigating trooper reports.