Lewis County Sirens.com

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Nobody was hurt but a detached two-car garage was ruined when a fire broke out there late yesterday afternoon in Chehalis.

Firefighters were called about 5:15 p.m. to the 300 block of Southwest Fifth Street, and joined by personnel from Lewis County Fire District 6 and Riverside Fire Authority, according to the Chehalis Fire Department.

“It was well-involved when we got there,” Fire Capt. Rob Gebhart said.

They knocked the flames down in about 10 minutes and kept the home from catching fire, Gebhart said. Crews were on scene “overhauling” and making sure it was all extinguished until about 7 p.m., he said.

Gebhart said there was no obvious cause for the blaze, so an investigator planned to return today.

The resident had a table inside, undergoing some type of woodworking project and lost items like a bicycle, a small motorcycle and tools, according to Gebhart.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Centralia police are looking for a man who allegedly pulled a knife on his girlfriend, threatening to cut her up and eat her.

Officers called about 12:40 a.m. today to the 1000 block of Eckerson Road in Centralia learned the victim was able to get away and call 911.

According to police, there was a protection oder in place between the two but they had disregarded the court order.

“During an argument the male took out a knife and threatened to slash the victim with the knife and eat her,” Centralia Police Department Sgt. David Ross wrote in a summary of the incident.

Officers were not able to locate the suspect, according to Ross.

The case is being sent to prosecutors for consideration of a charge of first-degree assault against 36-year-old Michael R. Kennedy Jr., according to police.

Updated

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Centralia police ended up arresting two people after a complaint by an “escort” against a 40-year-old Centralia man yesterday.

The woman called 911 about 10:25 a.m. in the morning to report she’d been raped, according to the Centralia Police Department.

According to police, she told a dispatcher the customer refused to pay her after they had sex, and in her mind, that was rape.

Centralia police say the man however, secretly recorded their conversation, which confirmed once he refused to pay her, she told him she was going to call the police and report that he forcibly raped her.

The “date” associated with a location on the 2100 block of North Tower Avenue, came out of a advertisement on Backpage.com, that got her to agree to his proposal to pay her for sex if she came to his home, according to police.

Both parties were booked into the Lewis County Jail. The Centralia man for patronizing a prostitute and the 31-year-old woman for malicious prosecution, according to police.

Officers will ask prosecutors to also consider a prostitution charge for the woman, according to police.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Nobody has been arrested following the weekend baseball bat beating of a 40-year-old man by a group of people in Centralia.

Centralia police detectives don’t even know how the victim is doing.

Detective Sgt. Pat Fitzgerald said the man was conscious and able to speak to an officer, but said he didn’t want to, when asked to give a taped statement.

Without the victim’s cooperation, detectives can’t get his medical information from the hospital, Fitzgerald said today.

Police were called at 3:36 a.m. on Sunday, not by the victim, but by a friend who said he just wanted him to get some medical help. The friend said the 40-year-old was attacked earlier at West Fourth Street and Washington Avenue, Fitzgerald said.

Officers and aid responded to that call, to the 200 block of North Ash Street. The victim, who has a Chehalis address, had been repeatedly struck in the head and body by as many as five individuals, according to police.

“He told the officer he’d been jumped, and it was in retaliation for something to do with his ex-girlfriend,” Fitzgerald said.

The person who phoned for help left the scene, he said. Detectives know the victim was transported by AMR to Providence St. Peter Hospital in Olympia.

But without his cooperation, detectives don’t know much more, and there’s not much more they can do, the sergeant indicated.

“We know it was a group of people, he may have known some of them, he was not sure,” he said.
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For background, read “News brief: Violent Halloween night in Centralia puts one male in hospital” from Sunday November 1, 2015, here

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

An individual was beaten by a group of people with baseball bats early this morning in Centralia.

The victim, described only as a male, was transported to the hospital for his injuries, according to the Centralia Police Department.

Officers were notified at 3:36 a.m. of the incident and responded to the 200 block of North Ash Street, according to police.

The victim had been repeatedly struck in the head and body, according to police. His current condition is unknown.

No suspects were located, as of about 7:40 a.m. today, according to police Sgt. David Ross.

A 23-year-old Centralia man was arrested earlier in the morning for another assault, this one at a home on the 100 block of North King Street.

Police report that during an argument at a party, Gregorio Cordero punched a person and then tried to stab them with a knife.

Cordero reportedly ran off but was found by officers and booked into the Lewis County Jail for first-degree assault, according to Ross.

Flames rip through a Nix Lane home early Sunday. / Courtesy photo by Dianna. Yandrich

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Neighbors woke up a sleeping Centralia woman whose home was on fire overnight, helping her to escape the blaze uninjured, according to Riverside Fire Authority.

A dozen firefighters from Centralia and Chehalis responded to the 2:10 a.m. call to the 100 block of Nix Lane, just off Centralia-Alpha Road.

The damage is estimated at about $20,000; the single-wide mobile home is described as a total loss.

Fire Capt. Terry Ternan noted the residence had no smoke detector.

The Red Cross was requested to assist the displaced homeowner, according to Ternan.  The cause of the fire is under investigation.