Lewis County Sirens.com

NEW TWIST TO ‘DINE AND DITCH’ HITS TWO LOCAL EATERIES THURSDAY

• A group of people from Oregon were reportedly involved in the theft of cash from a Chehalis restaurant yesterday afternoon and within about a half hour, police in Centralia were called when a cafe owner caught a man trying to steal cash from his register. Officers responded about 3:10 p.m. to the 200 block of North Tower Avenue in downtown Centralia where they found the owner holding the suspect down, according to the Centralia Police Department. Michael A. Monk, 43, of Salem, Ore., was arrested and booked into the Lewis County Jail for second-degree robbery, according to police. Chehalis Police Department Deputy Chief Randy Kaut said this morning his officers arrested three of the group for the earlier incident at Once Upon a Thyme Deli on the 1000 block of Northwest State Avenue. Arrested for third-degree theft were Monk, Heather K. Spinks, 21, of Salem, Ore. and Kiefer K. Kettonton, 22, of Keizer, Ore. Kaut said his officers were called about 2:40 p.m. after a deli employee decided some customers who got a sandwich were acting suspicious. One of the males kept standing near the cash register, he said. When they left, she got a description of their van and saw it had Oregon license plates, Kaut said. Missing from One Upon a Thyme was nearly $500 that came from either the cash register or a bank bag, Kaut said. The Chehalis Police Department seized the van, Kaut said.

HONDA CAR STOLEN FROM CENTRALIA

• A gray 1994 Honda Civic was discovered stolen from the 200 block of North Ash Street in Centralia just before 5 o’clock this morning, according to Centralia police. The owner told an officer the car had been locked.

VEHICLE PROWL

• Centralia police took a report about 7:40 a.m. on Thursday that somebody took the registration out of a vehicle on the 200 block of Tilley Avenue in Centralia.

MAN BRANDISHES KNIFE, STEALS ‘FRIEND’S’ CASH IN TOLEDO, POLICE SAY

• The 19-year-old man arrested for allegedly wielding a knife and robbing an 18-year-old Toledo man told police the victim wanted to buy pills, like Ecstasy or Oxycontin, authorities reported on Thursday. Richard R. Viers was charged on Thursday with first-degree robbery, following his Wednesday arrest at his sister’s home in Toledo, according to charging documents. Viers’ address is listed as in Glenoma. The victim told the police it happened about 4 p.m. on Tuesday after the former classmates met up at the IGA grocery and decided to walk around town, according to the documents. The 18-year-old told Police Chief John Brockmueller they were near the public fishing area at South First Street when Viers presented a knife in a threatening manner, pointed it at him and demanded all his money, the documents report. He handed over $215 because he was afraid, he told the police chief.

PAIR WITH GUN BARGE INTO CENTRALIA HOME

• Police were looking for a black Honda-type car after a home invasion robbery overnight in Centralia. A 29-year-old resident of the 1000 block of Yakima Street called police about 1:20 a.m. and reported two males kicked his door in and one of them stuck a shotgun in his face, according to the Centralia Police Department. They demanded and got his wallet and cash, according to detective Sg. Pat Fitzgerald. Described at this point only as “a large guy and a small guy” the pair left quickly and then were seen getting into a car like a Honda, Fitzgerald said. The sergeant said it did not appear to be random, as the house sits far enough back from the road, no one would know it was there in the dark.

ASSAULT

• Police took a report about 9:25 p.m. last night that an individual was assaulted outside his home on the 900 block of North Washington Avenue in Centralia by several males who fled in vehicles before officers arrived. Further details of the assault weren’t readily available.

NO ROOM FOR HIM AT THE INN

• A 22-year-old man was arrested early this morning in Chehalis for breaking into a hotel room. Staff at the Chehalis Inn found the plastic covering a broken window was torn and called police. An officer who went to the Interstate Avenue inn looked, and “there he was, asleep in the bed,” detective Sgt. Rick McNamara said. Levi S. Ramirez has no permanent address and has been warned by police numerous times he officially is not welcome there, according to McNamara. Ramirez was booked into the Lewis County Jail for burglary.

METH

• Donald J. Green, 23, of Centralia, was arrested and booked into the Lewis County Jail for unlawful possession of a controlled substance after a traffic stop just before after midnight this morning at B and East Fifth streets in Centralia. According to the report, Green tried to conceal a yellow package and then dropped it on the ground and stomped on it. The remains tested positive for methamphetamine, according to detective Sgt. Pat Fitzgerald.

MORE METH

• When police arrested Robert S. Russell, 46, of Centralia, for unlawful possession of a firearm on Tuesday night, they also found a “significant” amount of methamphetamine in his car, according to detective Sgt. Pat Fitzgerald. He described it this morning as: if one could mold it into a a clump, it would be the size of a tennis ball.

FLY FISHING EQUIPMENT TAKEN FROM CAMP SITE

• The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office this morning said it took a report of an estimated $2,700 of fly fishing gear stolen from the back of a pickup truck at a camp spot outside Randle. A deputy was told about it yesterday, but it happened sometime after midnight and before 3 a.m. on Sunday off Forest Road 25, according to Cmdr. Steve Aust. Taken were a fishing vest, two tackle boxes, more than 400 “flies” and equipment including a Sage rod, a Croix rod, an Orvis reel and two other spinning reels, Aust said.

BREAK-IN AT ESPRESSO STAND

• At about 5 o’clock this morning, Centralia police took a report somebody broke the drive-up window to an espresso stand on North Pearl Street and stole a small amount of cash from a bank bag inside.

MEDS MISSING

• Centralia police took a report yesterday afternoon of medication stolen from a residence on the 2700 block of Russell Road.

THEFT OF WIRE

• Somebody has been removing wiring from a vacant building on the 1700 block of Lum Road in Centralia, according to a report made to police yesterday afternoon.

BICYCLE HELMETS GET THE ATTENTION OF ASSISTANT CHIEF

• Assistant Chief and Fire Marshal Larry Allen gave safety citations yesterday to a pair of little girls he spotted wearing helmets while they were riding their bicycles. The Chehalis Fire Department firefighter saw the children with their parents in the parking lot at Yard Birds on his way back from a meeting and gave them the citations, which are each good for one fat-free ice cream at McDonalds. “We pull over and give a citation to them, explaining that we caught them doing something smart, following the rules of the road,” Allen said. He has handed out four since the program with Chehalis police and firefighters started at the beginning of May.

HOME ALONE

• A Centralia mother was arrested overnight when she reportedly left her 3-year-old child home alone and went to the Lucky Eagle Casino. Centralia police said Tanna M. Novak, 25, left her home on the 1400 block of View Street in Centralia about 11 p.m. Tuesday. The father arrived there about 1 a.m. to pick up the girl and nobody answered his knock on the door, according to the police department. When he saw the toddler unclothed and uncovered asleep on a hide-a-bed in the living room, he called police, Officer Ruben Ramirez said. “The door was unlocked and anybody could have come in,” Ramirez said this morning. Police called Novak and asked her to return to the home. She said she had left her 29-year-old brother in charge, but he was sleeping in a detached garage on the property, Ramirez said. Novak was arrested for reckless endangerment and then released. The girl went home with her father, according to Ramirez.

WINLOCK PAIR JAILED FOLLOWING ATTEMPT TO CASH FAKE MONEY ORDER

• Two Winlock residents were arrested yesterday for allegedly trying to cash a counterfeit money order at Wal-Mart in Chehalis. Police were called to the retail store on Northwest Louisiana Avenue about 3:40 p.m. because an employee was suspicious about the $875 money order, according to the Chehalis Police Department. Daniel L. Smith, 43 and Katherine D. Smith, 40, were arrested and booked into the Lewis County Jail for forgery, according to detective Sgt. Rick McNamara.

GUNS

• Police arrested and booked Robert S. Russell, 46, of Centralia, for unlawful possession of a firearm last night on the 900 block of North Tower Avenue in Centralia.

• A .22 caliber rifle, an old 9 mm handgun with a picture of its owner on its handle and at least one other firearm were reported missing yesterday, taken from a home on the 1400 block of Lewis Street in Centralia while the resident was on vacation, according to Centralia police.

BREAK-INS IN CENTRALIA

• Centralia police took a report just before 10 a.m. yesterday of a break-in to a residence in which somebody cut the phone lines and disabled the burglar alarm on the 800 block of Rainier Avenue. The subject apparently crawled through a small hole beneath the home and got into the garage, according to police. Nothing seemed to be missing, according to the report.

• Centralia police were called just before noon yesterday to a home on the 1300 block of Rhobina Street where somebody had entered through a window and rummaged through several boxes.

CARS TRASHED AND PROWLED

• Centralia police responded to three vehicle prowls yesterday, the first on the 600 block of H Street in which a stereo was taken. Four hours later, police were called to the 900 block of G Street where two vehicles were broken into. Missing were a wallet and some change, along with an iPod charger and connector, according to police.

• Several windows were broken out of a vehicle on the 1100 block of Woodland Avenue in Centralia, according to a report made to police about 11:10 a.m. on Tuesday.