Lewis County Sirens.com

Riverside Fire Authority responds to a house fire north of Centralia Saturday afternoon in a neighborhood without fire hydrants.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CENTRALIA – Firefighters rolled out more than 330 yards of five-inch hose across Harrison Avenue and down Prairie Avenue north of Centralia  to douse a blaze inside a house this afternoon.

Nobody was in the rambler at the time but unfortunately one pet cat perished and another was unaccounted for, Riverside Fire Authority Assistant Chief Mike Kytta said as crews came out of the home.

There are no fire hydrants in that area, according to Kytta.

Neighbors reported seeing black smoke, he said. Crews found what Kytta thought was a back bedroom burning and caught flames rising about five feet above the roof, the assistant chief said.

Firefighters from Rochester joined them and the blaze was under control within about 30 minutes of the approximately 3:55 p.m. call.

“It’s nice to be able to go out a rural area and find a fire as advanced as this was; and, they’re going to be able to repair this house,” Kytta said.

It followed a kitchen fire in a house south of Chehalis this morning.

Lewis County Fire District 5 was called at 10:30 a.m. to a home on the 800 block of Koontz Road.

A woman there had thrown bacon on the stove before going out to feed her horses and returned to find her house full of smoke, District 5 Firefighter Raymond Smerek said this afternoon.

Nine firefighters were on the scene. The fire was limited to an area in the kitchen, he said.

Volunteer Firefighter Corey Youngren gets ready to remove his outer gear after coming out of a house on Prairie Avenue north of Centralia on Saturday afternoon.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Seven vehicles – four of them semi-trucks – had to be towed from Interstate 5 yesterday afternoon after collisions that shut down the freeway north of Centralia and caused miles-long backups for hours.

It began about 1:30 p.m. when cars began slowing for traffic near the county line and a northbound 2004 Volvo tractor-trailer rig changing lanes rear-ended a Mazda pickup and then struck a Ford pickup, according to the state a patrol.

Twelve vehicles were involved but only three individuals sustained minor injuries, according to authorities.

It happened in the bottleneck area under construction, according to fire department Lt. Isaac Garza.

The congestion got so bad so quickly that responders from Centralia’s Riverside Fire Authority couldn’t get to the scene and ambulances from Rochester went there by traveling south in the northbound lanes, according to fire department officers.

“The road construction makes it really difficult to access because there’s no shoulders,” West Thurston Regional Fire Authority’s Garza said this morning.

Garza said a semi-truck pushed a passenger car up onto the right hand concrete barrier, crushing the car. The car’s two female occupants, from Portland, were taken by ambulance to Providence St. Peter Hospital in Olympia.

“They were very, very fortunate,” Garza said. “Normally we would have expected to see a higher level of injury there.”

The 2008 Camry was totaled, as was a 2002 Ford Explorer, according to the Washington State Patrol.

The state patrol blamed inattention, following too closely and an unsafe lane change for the pileup. Any citations or charges are pending the completion of the investigation, according to the investigating trooper.

Although Centralia firefighters couldn’t get to the scene, they assisted two individuals stuck in the traffic and in need of aid for other reasons.

Fire Capt. Scott Weinert said a pregnant woman began having contractions and they took her to the hospital; and a recently discharged heart patient was running low on oxygen and needed to get off the freeway.

By 3 p.m., the northbound lanes of Interstate 5 were backed up beyond the area south of the 13th Street interchange in south Chehalis, and city streets inside both Chehalis and Centralia were described as clogged.

The 12 drivers involved came from places as far away as Albany, Ore. and Zillah. A 27-year-old man from Tenino was reportedly uninjured.

Centralia resident Benjamin Alsterberg was the third individual who was hurt, according to the state patrol. The 24-year-old was taken to Providence Centralia Hospital with for injury to his neck and head

The northbound lanes were reopened around 5 p.m.

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Note from Sharyn: If any reader got a photo from this, I’d sure like it if you would email it me to share here. You can send it to me at sharyn.decker@lewiscountysirens.com

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CENTRALIA – The Centralia police officer involved in yesterday’s pursuit that led to shots fired in a north end neighborhood has been identified as Officer Michael Lowrey.

Lowrey, an 11-year veteran of the department, will be on administrative leave, as is standard procedure, pending the results of a review of the incident, according to the Centralia Police Department.

Images of a late model pickup ramming a Centralia patrol car Thursday afternoon are captured on a neighbor's surveillance camera.

Lowrey fired at least two shots at a suspect who police say rammed his patrol car twice during a chase that began on Kresky Avenue and ended in a residential area at the north end of town.

Nobody was hit by any bullet but one round struck the stolen late model Ford pickup truck being driven by a 32-year-old SeaTac man, according to Officer John Panco.

Panco said a resident of the area handed over a video of the ramming and shooting that took place on Euclid at Third street around 5 p.m. yesterday. The pursuit continued over railroad tracks and ended about a block later when the suspect bailed out of the truck and fled on foot.

Centralia Police Officer Michael Lowrey is shown as he fires at a pickup truck driving away after it rammed Lowrey's patrol car.

Joshua A. Fitchhorn, 32, was arrested shortly afterward on the other side of the Skookumchuck River in Rotary Riverside Park. He was checked out at the hospital because he was scratched up from the brush, according to Panco.

Lowrey sustained a minor injury to his head – complaining of a headache – from the ramming, Panco said. He too was taken to Providence Centralia Hospital and was released last night.

It began about 4:20 p.m. when Fitchhorn allegedly stole the truck from Burkett’s Auto Sales on the 1100 block of South Gold Street. Lowrey spotted the pickup on Kresky and a chase ensued. A second Centralia police officer joined the pursuit just after the suspect rammed Lowrey’s patrol car, Panco said.

Panco said the front of the patrol car sustained some damage and the front of the pickup got minor damage.

Fitchhorn was booked into the Lewis County Jail for first-degree assault and possession of stolen property. He is expected to go before a judge this afternoon.

The last time a Centralia officer shot at a suspect was in January during a robbery at the TwinStar Credit Union, Panco said.

Other than that, it was “before my time and I’ve been here 21 years,” Panco said.

Today, Lowrey is on medical leave and after he is cleared medically, he will be placed on administrative leave, according to Panco.

After the criminal investigation is concluded, an outside agency will conduct an administrative review of the incident, Panco said.

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See photos and read yesterday’s story: Patrol car rammed; officer fires weapon during police pursuit in Centralia

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kirotv.com this afternoon posted the uncut video of the driver of the truck seen ramming the Centralia police car and the officer getting out and firing at the truck.

KING5.com has posted a portion of the video along with its today’s newscast about the incident.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The trial date for the Winlock grocery store manager accused of stealing lottery tickets has been pushed into October as attorneys go through a crate full of evidence and reports.

Benjamin C. Macy was charged in May with two counts of second-degree theft after a video surveillance camera allegedly showed him scratching off dozens of $20 tickets at 4:30 in the morning at the Cedar Village IGA.

The 51-year-old has pleaded not guilty and is free on bail.

Macy, a Winlock resident, has worked for the store for 30 years, according to charging documents filed in Lewis County Superior Court.

Charging documents give the following account:

Raleigh Stone, the owner of the grocery store contacted Winlock Police Chief Terry Williams in early May after he found several scratch tickets in the trash can in Macy’s office.

The tickets were sequential, and not played in the normal fashion. Just the hidden code was exposed – the code used by lottery merchants to verify winners.

Williams and another officer set up a hidden camera to record the service center in the store at night for a period of about two weeks. On two nights, the camera recorded Macy open up three packets, each containing 75 $20 scratch tickets. The video showed him scratch the area to expose the hidden code necessary to see if the tickets were winners.

On May 22, the police chief contacted Macy at the store and spoke with him.

Macy allegedly said he has been doing it for about three years, although not every day. He said he sometimes pays for the tickets. He was arrested.

A trial is set for the week of Oct. 18 and expected to last three days. Macy is represented by Centralia attorney Jonathan Meyer.

Police officers search the grassy area at Euclid and Third streets after a Centralia police officer fired upon a stolen truck when it rammed his patrol car this afternoon.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CENTRALIA – A police officer fired shots at a vehicle that rammed the officer’s patrol car during a pursuit of a stolen pickup truck in Centralia late this afternoon, according to Centralia police.

The chase began on Kresky Avenue and continued through downtown and into a residential neighborhood at the north end of Centralia.

A suspect was caught on the other side of the Skookumchuck River after bailing out of the truck and fleeing on foot, according to Centralia Officer John Panco.

“It doesn’t appear the suspect was hit,” Panco said just before 7 p.m. this evening.

Chris Wilson, a 21-year-old whose grassy side yard was cordoned off by police tape, said he came out of his house and saw a patrol car on the grass and an officer standing outside it.

“That’s when I heard shots being fired and then there’s a whole bunch of dust and smoke,” Wilson said.

Wilson said the big white truck and patrol car took off north across the railroad tracks.

It was just a block away where the suspect jumped out of the truck and started running, according to Panco.

It began with a report of a stolen vehicle from the 1100 block of South Gold Street at 4:22 p.m., according to Panco. The officer spotted the truck on Kresky and gave chase, he said.

The officer, whose identity was not released, had a minor injury and couldn’t pursue the man on foot, Panco said.

Centralia police were joined by officers from Chehalis, the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office and the Washington State Patrol in a search for the suspect. The SWAT team which happened to be training joined in, along with police dog Kayo and his handler Sgt. Brian Warren.

The suspect was found in Riverside Rotary Park and arrested for first-degree assault and possession of stolen property. Joshua A. Fitchhorn, 32, of SeaTac, was booked into the Lewis County Jail.

The officer was checked out at Providence Centralia Hospital and has been released, according to Panco.

Small yellow flags marked potential evidence in the grass next to Wilson’s home at Euclid and Third streets. Police officers scoured the area there, along the railroad tracks and even on a nearby roof.

The SWAT truck and another large police vehicle blocked off the area from traffic. Police expected personnel from the state patrol to be out there for hours taking measurements.

Panco said in a news release just before 9 p.m. the suspect rammed the patrol car twice and the officer fired at least two shots in self defense.

Neighbor Rich Butterton said he saw the cloud of dust as well. He was inside when he heard sirens and vehicles that sounded like they were driving way too fast for his street, he said.

“I heard smash, pop, pop, pop, pop,” Butterton said. Then he went out his front door and saw the cloud of dust.

“This is not supposed to happen here at home,” Butterton said. “This is like Seattle-Tacoma stuff; not Centralia stuff.”

Members of the Centralia Police Department return to the SWAT vehicle after a search for a subject who reportedly rammed a patrol car