Archive for June, 2010

Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Monday, June 14th, 2010

By Sharyn  L. Decker, Lewis County Sirens news reporter

TENINO MAN ARRESTED FOR ALLEGEDLY USING BASEBALL BAT ON ANOTHER TENINO MAN

• A 35-year-old man was hospitalized with a head injury after a fight broke out Sunday morning in the Tenino area when a woman and her brother were trying to load up her belongings after she and her boyfriend separated. Her brother, the 35-year-old Tenino man whose name was not released, was hit at least twice in the head with a metal baseball bat, the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office reported this morning. Her former boyfriend, Sean P. Wilson, 35, of Tenino, was arrested and booked into the Thurston County jail for first-degree assault, according to sheriff’s Lt. Chris Mealy. The incident began as a call about a disturbance about 6:30 a.m. The sheriff’s office was told the woman learned her boyfriend was “burning her stuff”, so she, her brother and another individual went to the home on the 6000 block of Skookumchuk Road Southeast to retrieve her belongings, Mealy said. The brother brought the bat and at some point he and Wilson each used it to smash the rear windows of each other’s Ford pickup trucks, according to Mealy. As the pair fought, Wilson reportedly picked up the bat from the ground and hit the brother in the head, Mealy said. As of yesterday, the brother was in the intensive care unit at Providence St. Peter Hospital in Olympia with a serious head injury, Mealy said. Wilson was also booked for fourth-degree assault as he reportedly punched his former girlfriend in the face, Mealy said.

BREAK-IN OCCURS WHILE ROCHESTER MAN WORKS OUT IN HIS YARD

• Alert neighbors tried to track down a suspicious man they saw fleeing a Rochester home yesterday morning after somebody broke in and stole about $200 cash, the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office reported this morning. The resident was working on his mower on one end of his property when somebody apparently pried open a door and went inside, according to Lt. Chris Mealy. The victim, a 46-year-old male, found somebody had rifled through his roll top desk, taken the cash and scattered papers around. It happened about 11 a.m. on the 17,700 block of Pendleton Street Southwest. A sheriff’s office dog and its partner tracked down Jeremy R. Bunting, 28, of Tumwater. He was arrested for burglary.

FORGERY ARREST AT CASINO

• Deputies arrested a Chehalis man yesterday after he attempted to cash a suspicious check at the Lucky Eagle Casino in Rochester. Ronald W. McNeal, 49, was booked into jail for suspected theft and forgery, according to the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office. He told the deputy he took the check from an individual to whom he sold a ring and some ear rings, but the Quiznos check, with his name imprinted on it, for $1226.37 had a notation “final paycheck.” The owner of the Centralia Quiznos confirmed the business had not issued the check, Mealy said.

LOTTERY TICKETS STOLEN IN CHEHALIS BURGLARY

• Approximately $1,400 of Washington State lottery scratch tickets were discovered missing after a sheriff’s deputy responded to a business burglary alarm early Saturday morning outside Chehalis. The deputy found somebody had entered the unnamed business on the 1100 block of Highway 6 through a broken window, the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reported this morning.

BURGLARIES IN CENTRALIA

• Centralia police were called after somebody broke into a building on the 1400 block of Lum Road and stole clothing. Details about how much and exactly what was taken weren’t initially available, as the owner of the goods being stored there wasn’t the individual who called police on Sunday morning, according to police Sgt. Stacy Denham.

• Centralia police took a report of a security camera stolen from a business on the 800 block of B Street at mid-day on Sunday.

• A laptop computer and two gold rings were reported missing from a hotel room on the 700 block of Harrison Avenue in Centralia on Saturday evening.

• Jobie K. Watson, 24, of Centralia, was arrested after she allegedly got into a locked camper at her mother’s home on the 900 block of Ham Hill Road in Centralia and made off with a check and a handful of Oxycontin and other pills, according to Centralia police. She was booked into the Lewis County Jail for second-degree burglary, according to Sgt. Stacy Denham.

POLICE FIND PIPE, DRUG RESIDUE

• Alicia A. Oleachea, 29, of Centralia, was arrested after she was contacted by police responding to a report of someone cutting though yards and climbing fences in the area of the 300 block of Noel Avenue in Centralia about noon on Saturday. A search turned up a suspected methamphetamine pipe with residue and she was booked into the Lewis County Jail for possession of methamphetamine, according to Sgt. Stacy Denham.

VANDALS HIT CHEHALIS VEHICLES

• Chehalis police were called about 5:40 a.m. on Sunday by a woman who said she woke up to find tires slashed on both her and her husband’s vehicles. Just after noon, police took another call about slashed tires at an address unrevealed by police and the same officer dealt with four other incidents shortly after of third-degree malicious mischief. It’s not clear from Chehalis police information if all were slashed tires. Further details were unavailable.

FOUND MARIJUANA

• Eight marijuana plants were taken away by a deputy to be destroyed after a resident walking to his mailbox spotted several potted plants near his driveway on Friday afternoon on the 5000 block of 222nd Avenue Southwest outside Centralia, the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office reported this morning. The resident described damage to his own plantings and tire tracks that looked as though a vehicle had driven away quickly, sheriff’s Lt. Chris Mealy said.

News brief: Three hurt in Capitol Forest rollover crash

Monday, June 14th, 2010

By Sharyn  L. Decker, Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Responders from the fire station in Littlerock joined troopers in a call to a vehicle crash in the Capitol Forest on Saturday afternoon.

Three people were injured when a sport utility vehicle hit a ditch and then a tree stump and rolled onto its top, according to the Washington State Patrol.

The 1991 Isuzu Rodeo was described as totaled. It happened on Fall Creek Campground Road, according to the state patrol. The investigating trooper attributed the crash to speed and driving under the influence.

The state patrol reported Robbie D. Reading, 30, of Olympia, Jennifer A. Reading, 30, of Olympia and Alexander R. Villamil, 21, of Lacey, were all hospitalized. However, the hospitals to which they were reportedly taken had no information about patients by those names as being seen.

News brief: Child airlifted after Salkum-area motorcycle accident

Monday, June 14th, 2010

By Sharyn  L. Decker, Lewis County Sirens news reporter

A 5-year-old boy reportedly hit by a motorcycle near Salkum was hospitalized over the weekend.

Aid was called just before 7 p.m. on Saturday to the scene at Orchard Drive off Spencer Road, according to Lewis County Fire District 8.

The child was airlifted with a head injury, according to Assistant Fire Chief Don Taylor.

Taylor, who set up a landing zone for the Life Flight helicopter at the main fire station on U.S. Highway 12, said he wasn’t certain what hospital the boy was taken to. He did not report the boy’s name.

Taylor hoped to be able to get an update on the boy’s condition later today, to pass along to fellow responders. Accidents involving children are especially disconcerting, the assistant chief indicated.

“That brings everyone out of the woodwork, when it’s a small child,” he said.

News brief: Wrong-way motorist on freeway collides with patrol car

Monday, June 14th, 2010

By Sharyn  L. Decker, Lewis County Sirens news reporter

A Thurston County Sheriff’s Office deputy’s patrol car was totaled when it was struck by a wrong-way driver on Interstate 5 in Tumwater early Sunday morning.

Both Deputy Gordon J. Phillips, 45, and the other driver, a 29-year-old Tenino-area woman, reportedly sustained minor only injuries. Her 2001 Volkswagen Jetta was destroyed as well, according to the Washington State Patrol.

The state patrol reported it suspects alcohol or drugs were involved and the collision is under investigation.

Katie I. Dunn, 29, was traveling southbound in the northbound lanes of the freeway at about 3 a.m. when her car collided with the deputy’s 2005 Crown Victoria, according to the state patrol. It happened near Tumwater Boulevard.

Deputy Phillips was traveling with his lights and sirens activated as he and another deputy were responding to assist the state patrol to find a wrong-way driver reported on Highway 101, according to the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office.

The deputy saw headlights coming towards him and saw a vehicle ahead of him swerve to the right, according to sheriff’s Lt. Chris Mealy. The deputy was able to avoid a head-on crash by angling his patrol car to the right, Mealy said. The Volkswagen impacted his car behind the driver’s compartment, Mealy said.

Mealy didn’t know the speeds at which the two cars were traveling, but said the deputy had begun to slow when he first saw the headlights.

News brief: Centralia woman hurt in Vader crash

Monday, June 14th, 2010

By Sharyn  L. Decker, Lewis County Sirens news reporter

A Centralia woman was injured after a two-vehicle crash near Vader on Saturday afternoon.

A trooper called about 4:30 p.m. reported Lana L. Brooks, 44, suffered a leg injury as well as back and neck pain after her SUV was hit by a pickup truck which ran a stop sign. Both vehicles were described as totaled.

According to the Washington State Patrol, Brooks’ 2006 Saturn Vue was traveling east on state Route 506 when a 71-year-old driver from Shelton northbound on Westside Highway failed to stop. The 1979 Ford truck, hauling a trailer, collided with her Saturn on the highway, the state patrol reported.

Brooks was taken by aid car to Providence Centralia Hospital where she was treated and has been released, according to the hospital. Everett D. Nichols of Shelton was reportedly uninjured.

News brief: Thurston County sheriff’s race; Bowling tonight for Snaza, concert planned for Mealy

Saturday, June 12th, 2010

It’s fundraising season for candidates and both individuals running for Thurston County sheriff have events coming up.

John Snaza, who is running as an Independent, is holding a bowling fundraiser tonight at 8 p.m. at Aztec Lanes at 2825 Martin Way E. in Olympia.

The cost is $25 per person – includes bowling shoes – and folks could register through his campaign website at www.snazaforsheriff.com

But, Snaza said this afternoon, people can just show up and participate.

Debbie Mealy, a Democrat, has scheduled a fundraiser concert featuring Chris Ward of The Chris Ward Band for Saturday June 26. It will be held at the Thurston County Posse Hall at 5949 Maytown Road S.W.

Tickets are $25 and are available at the door or through her campaign website, www.debbiemealyforsheriff.com, by going to the “events” page and clicking on the PayPal link.

Doors open at 7 p.m. and light beverages and snacks will be available for purchase, as will raffle tickets for an autographed Chris Ward guitar, according to the campaign.

Both Snaza and Mealy currently work for the sheriff’s office. One of them will replace outgoing Sheriff Dan Kimball.

Kimball has not endorsed either candidate, because they do both work for him, he says. He may eventually, but if he does, it won’t be until after the primary. Kimball decided not to seek re-election after four years in office so he can spend more time caring for his mother.

In other Thurston County races of interest: the close of filing week on Friday left current Thurston County Coroner Gary Warnock (D) unopposed and Jon Tunheim (D) unopposed in his bid to replace outgoing Thurston County Prosecutor Ed Holm.
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Other candidate upcoming events:
• Snaza: Wednesday June 23 from 4:30 p.m. until 7:30 p.m., a meet and greet at the Water Street Cafe.
• Snaza: Thursday July 15 at 4 p.m., meet and greet at the Capitol City Golf Course with hot dogs, chips and pop.

News brief: Extra aircraft noise expected next weekend in Thurston County

Saturday, June 12th, 2010

The Thurston County Sheriff’s Office wants to let folks know to expect noise next weekend from an air show north of Maytown.

The Olympic Air Show takes place next Saturday and Sunday, June 19 and 20 at the Olympia Regional Airport in Tumwater, according to the sheriff’s office. The hours are 12:45 to 4:15 p.m.

A practice session will take place Friday evening between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Noise or traffic complaints related to the event may be directed to the Olympic Flight Museum at 360-705-3925 or by email to info@olympicflightmuseum, the sheriff’s office states. The museum is offering complimentary ear plugs to area residents as well.