Archive for July, 2010

Update: Train kills man on tracks in Centralia this morning

Wednesday, July 7th, 2010
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Centralia police detectives examine the front of the freight train after it struck and killed a pedestrian on the tracks in Centralia this morning

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

A man was struck and killed by a freight train early this morning in Centralia.

Aid and police were called about 4:45 a.m. to the area near Summa Street.

Centralia Police Department detective Pat Beall said it appeared the man was walking, saw the train and didn’t make an effort to move.

Police officers and detectives were gathered on the east side of the BNSF tracks at Plum Street, and hung yellow police tape blocking off the area where the individual came to rest.

The engine of the northbound train was stopped just short of Main Street.

Beall said they didn’t yet know the identity of the man, but estimated he was older than 40 and younger than 60. He said he thought the man was walking northbound on the tracks when he got hit.

“There’s a video, we’ll have to wait for that,” Beall said. “We won’t have that for about a week.”

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Police officers and detectives investigate the area on the east side of Plum Street in Centralia where a man's body came to rest after he was struck and killed by a freight train early this morning

Train versus pedestrian in Centralia this morning

Wednesday, July 7th, 2010

Aid and police were called about 4:45 this morning to a train versus pedestrian accident in Centralia near Summa Street.

Riverside Fire Authority Firefighter-paramedic Mark Holmberg said firefighters stood by while police conducted a search. They returned to their station after a body was located, he said.

Holmberg said a freight train was stopped on the tracks in the area.

More to come.

Thousands of marijuana seedlings found in remote area north of Morton

Tuesday, July 6th, 2010

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office revealed today that deputies discovered more than 13,000 marijuana plants growing on several acres north of Morton.

Most of them were small starter plants less than 12 inches tall.

However, they also found some camouflaged tents, food and gardening tools as well as fertilizer, insecticide and animal poisons, according to the sheriff’s office.

Following up on a tip from early last week, two detectives and four deputies went to the site about 7 a.m. last Thursday, sheriff’s Cmdr. Steve Aust said this afternoon.

They were fully prepared to arrest multiple people, but nobody was there, he said.

Aust declined to reveal where the grow was except to say it was on several acres in a very remote area, amidst a 40-acre clear cut off of state Route 7.

“We’re trying to keep that a little bit private for now,” he said.

While the sheriff’s office has removed the seedlings, they still have investigative work to do, Aust said. Plus, they don’t want someone else later going out there to use what is now prime planting ground, he said.

The plants totaled 13,825. Among the supplies were tortillas, refried beans and goat cheese, Aust said.

Typically, three to five people will occupy such a site, according to Aust.

Detectives recovered items they believe will lead to the identity of those involved, according to this afternoon’s news release.

News brief: The sun is fun, but …

Tuesday, July 6th, 2010

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

By now, most everyone is probably giddy with the knowledge the temperatures may get up into the mid-90s over the next few days across Western Washington.

However, the Red Cross and the National Weather Service are reminding folks that kind of heat can cause health problems. It’s especially potentially dangerous to the very young and very old, the American Red Cross Mount Rainier Chapter says. And animals.

Dress lightly, drink lots of fluid and never leave a pet in a car, even for a few minutes, the Red Cross said in a news release this morning.

For more ways to avoid heat-related illnesses, read the Red Cross tips. (more…)

Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Tuesday, July 6th, 2010

CARS AND TRUCK STOLEN

• Centralia police took a report about 6:20 a.m. today that a 1990 Ford Ranger was stolen over the weekend from the 1100 block of K. Street.

• A blue 1998 VW Passat vanished from a driveway at the 100 block of Bowers Road outside Chehalis sometime between 10:30 p.m. on Friday and 6:30 a.m. on Saturday, the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reported this morning.

• A sheriff’s deputy took a report on Friday that a 1987 Mercury Grand Marquis was stolen from the 100 block of Morris Road in Randle. The $5,000 car was parked at its residence at 9:30 p.m. the night before and gone at 5 a.m., according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

BREAKING IN, BREAKING OUT

• Centralia police were called just after 9 p.m. last night about a burglary at a home on the 1400 block of View Street. The victim said two rings, some cash and approximately 100 baseball cards were missing from a bedroom, according the Centralia Police Department.

• Somebody stole a quad and parts for a Ford Mustang  when they got into a temporary storage area on the 400 block of West Main Street in Centralia, according to a report made to police just before 8 p.m. last night. Police described the quad as a blue and gray “Veto Bobcat”.

• A Bucoda-area resident returned home after the long weekend to find somebody had tried to break into her house. A deputy called about 5 p.m. on Monday to the home on the 20,200 block of Bucoda Highway Southeast was told the woman went to open the door between her garage and her her home and the metal catch fell to the floor. Nothing appeared to be missing, but the door frame was broken according to the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office. The outer garage door had been left unlocked, Lt. Chris Mealy said.

• A deputy was called about 8 a.m. on Saturday to the Tenino area when an 88-year-old man’s caregiver discovered someone had broken out the window of his pickup truck. She thought it was unusual because she had locked the gate to the driveway the night before but when she arrived to the residence on the 19,900 block of Steelhead Court Southeast, it was open, according to the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office. Nothing was missing.

• Centralia police were called last night to the 400 block of South Oak Street where somebody had smashed the window of a pickup truck and tried to steal a laptop computer inside which was locked into a holder. They weren’t successful, according to the Centralia Police Department. About  a half hour earlier, at 8 p.m., an officer took a report of a vehicle prowl on the 400 block of West Main Street. A window was broken and missing a GPS device, an Ipod and approximately 50 CDs, according to police.

• The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reported this morning that somebody broke the lock off a truck’s tool box and took a chop saw, a screw gun, a skill saw and a battery powered tool kit. The estimated $600 theft happened sometime on Friday on the 1300 block of state Route 508 in Onalaska, according to sheriff’s Cmdr. Steve Aust.

OOPS

• A 53-year-old Salkum woman was arrested overnight after a small baggie fell out of her glove box as she was getting her registration for a police officer. A Chehalis tribal officer was checking on a suspicious vehicle about 2 o’clock this morning along the 19,000 block of Anderson Road in Rochester, according to the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office. Florence K. Montes said she was waiting for a friend and handed the officer an expired vehicle registration, sheriff’s Lt. Chris Mealy said. A sheriff’s deputy was called to assist and found a white substance which tested positive for amphetamine, Mealy said. Montes was booked into the Thurston County Jail for unlawful possession of a controlled substance, according to Mealy.

INHALING TOXIC FUMES

• A 22-year-old Winlock woman was jailed yesterday when deputies picked her up at a Winlock address. She was wanted by Chehalis police for inhaling toxic fumes, a misdemeanor. Law officers from Chehalis and the the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office said they come across it from time to time and it grew out of former glue sniffing law. Detective Sgt. Rick McNamara and sheriff’s Cmdr. Steve Aust said the people they come across are using spray paint and even engine cleaner and either spraying it into their hand, a rag or a paper sack and then inhaling it to get  kind of high. “It’s been a problem,” McNamara said. “They’re not only hurting their brain and lungs, they can kill themselves.” Ashley E. Howland was also arrested on a warrant in connection with a misdemeanor theft, according to police.

Toilet explodes, guns fired from rooftop, but holiday ends without serious injuries

Monday, July 5th, 2010

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Firefighters in Centralia and Chehalis found the Fourth of July surprisingly accident-free, although police had their hands full with the annual fascination with explosive powder.

Somebody blew up a toilet in the men’s bathroom at the skate park off Harrison Avenue in Centralia with an unknown type of firework, according to a report made to the Centralia Police Department about 10:20 p.m. on Saturday.

And officers were called about the same time last night to Eckerson Road where neighbors said a 19-year-old man was on his roof shooting guns into the air.

Witnesses told police he had fired some 50 shots with his .22 rifle and 12-gauge shotgun.

When police arrived, Dana M. Rook, of Centralia, was still on top of his house, but eventually came down, according to police. Officers reported he was intoxicated and tried to struggle with them after he was handcuffed in the back seat of a patrol car.

He was arrested and booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to police, for unlawful discharge of a firearm, minor in possession and resisting arrest.

In Chehalis, firefighters heard lots of racket overnight but it appeared citizens were either careful, or lucky, Fire Chief Kelvin Johnson said this morning.

And responders from Centralia’s Riverside Fire Authority found their night pleasingly uneventful, according to Firefighter-paramedic Rob Smith.

Around 10 o’clock-ish, they were called when a ball from a Roman Candle went out of control and smacked a woman on the backside, but she got away with probably no worse than a little red mark, Smith said.

Residents seem to have made it through the holiday with all their fingers intact, according to Smith. The “old-timers” at the downtown station could hardly believe they got a good night’s sleep last night, he said.

“Not a single fire call all night,” Smith said. “We were just laying there with one eye open and there were no calls.”

News brief: Tenino woman charged with stealing overtime pay from DOT

Monday, July 5th, 2010

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

A Tenino woman who worked for the state Department of Transportation is facing criminal charges in connection with allegations she collected more than $74,000 in unearned overtime compensation by altering her time cards, according to the Washington State Department of Transportation.

Rachel Taylor of Tenino was charged with four counts of first-degree theft and was arraigned in Pierce County Superior Court on Thursday, according to a news release from the state agency.

One of Taylor’s responsibilities as she worked as a secretary at a WSDOT Pierce County construction office was entering the office’s time sheets into the timekeeping system, according to the news release.

Her overtime was flagged by management during a routine review last year and the agency’s internal audit division followed up finding issues during 2007 through last year, according to Lloyd Brown of WSDOT.

She resigned last year instead of being fired, Brown noted.

A civil suit seeking restitution for the state is underway in Thurston County Superior Court, according to Brown.