Archive for July, 2010

Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Monday, July 5th, 2010

SPRAY PAINT SPREE

• Centralia police are investigating multiple occurrences of somebody spray painting cars, buildings and fences. The red, silver and orange graffiti was found sometime before Friday morning in several neighborhoods in Centralia, according to police.

MINOR MOTORCYCLE ACCIDENT

• A female passenger on a motorcycle sustained minor injuries on Saturday afternoon when a vehicle pulled in front of the motorcycle along the 1100 block of Scammon Creek Road in Centralia, according to the Centralia Police Department. The slow-speed crash around 3 p.m. knocked both the male motorcycle driver and the female to the ground, police reported.

MISSING MERCURY

• A blue 1993 Mercury Sable was apparently stolen during the Fourth of July Parade yesterday in Centralia. A Centralia police officer took the report about 8:50 p.m. from Yew Street. The four-door car bears a Washington license plate reading 724 ZSO, according to police.

BREAKING AND ENTERING

• Somebody broke the window out a vehicle on the 700 block of H Street in Centralia and took a cell phone, according to a report made to police about 11 a.m. on Saturday. Money was taken from another vehicle during the night on the 900 block of K Street, according to a report made just before that. And the same day, police took a report from the 800 block of Hamilton Avenue of a rear window being broken out during the night.

• Police took a report about 9:15 a.m. on Friday of somebody who climbed through a drive-through window of a business on the 500 block of West Main Street and stole about $100 in change.

• A wallet was reported missing from a vehicle prowl reported about 10:30 on Friday morning at the 1100 block of Roosevelt Avenue in Centralia, according to police.

Such a great story …

Monday, July 5th, 2010

There’s no Lewis County connection here, that I know of, but this story from today’s Seattle Times about the police chief in Granite Falls and his clash with the mayor, and with the mayor at his former post in Tieton is just so rich.

You can read it at www.seattletimes.com

News brief: Fire Lt. Laura Hanson says, ‘Have fun tonight, and please …’

Sunday, July 4th, 2010

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Lt. Laura Hanson of Lewis County Fire District 5 is hoping area residents can be encouraged to enjoy public fireworks displays tonight.

But if not and you light off your own fireworks, Hanson says, please:

• Keep water handy
• Don’t relight “duds”. Let fireworks cool then soak in water
• An adult should light all fireworks
• Keep matches and lighters away from children
• Keep pets indoors
• Fireworks should only be used outdoors and lit only one at a time
• If you purchase fireworks, please do so from licensed vendors
• Store fireworks out of reach of children

Last year, mostly on the Fourth of July, there were more than 1,000 fireworks-related fires and 200 injuries reported to the Office of the State Fire Marshal.

The property loss added up to more than $5.6 million across the state, according to the state fire marshal.

For the latest on the missing Mount Rainier climber; search ends …

Sunday, July 4th, 2010

The News Tribune of Tacoma this morning updated their Saturday night story, “Search for Mount Rainier climber called off”

Ground and air searchers on Saturday were unable to find Eric Lewis, 57, of Duvall, or uncover any further clues of his whereabouts, said Lee Taylor, a spokesperson for Mount Rainier National Park.

Lewis got separated Thursday afternoon from his two climbing partners at nearly 14,000 feet, and doesn’t have a sleeping bag, tent, food or a down jacket  with him, Taylor said.

You can read The News Tribune’s story at www.thenewstribune.com

Homeless man charged in Chehalis knifing says other guy attacked him

Saturday, July 3rd, 2010

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

The man accused of cutting another man across the back of the neck during a dispute at a Chehalis apartment building was charged Friday with first-degree assault, a class A felony with a maximum penalty of life in prison.

Chehalis police arrested Terry Lee Bryan, 30, described as a transient, after the 1:15 a.m. call on Thursday to the apartments on the 200 block of Northwest Chehalis Avenue.

According to charging documents, officers arrived and encountered several of the building’s inhabitants yelling and pointing out apartment numbers five and six.

When Sheldon Hardy emerged, he was shirtless and his face and upper torso were covered with blood, according to the documents. An officer placed him in a prone handcuffing position on the ground, and then the officer observed a large cut on the back of his neck, the documents say.

The officer entered the other apartment and found Bryan standing there. Bryan said Hardy had come in an attacked him, according to the charging documents.

Hardy, 36, who also had a laceration on his shoulder and another above his eye, was taken to the hospital, treated and then released later in the morning.

The weapon police recovered was a blue, folding box cutter type knife, the kind that uses a razor blade, according to Chehalis police detective Sgt. Rick McNamara.

Bryan has no stable address but has lived in the Chehalis and Centralia area for the past four years, has no income from any source and no felony history, according to police and the attorneys handling his case. However, he has some 22 misdemeanors, mostly trespassing citations, the lawyers told the judge on Friday afternoon in the Chehalis courtroom.

Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Steve Scott requested Bryan be held on $50,000 bail. Defense attorney Bob Schroeter asked Lewis County Superior Court Judge Nelson Hunt to consider $25,000 bail.

Judge Hunt set bail at $100,000.

Bryan’s poverty made him eligible for a court-appointed attorney. His opportunity to make his plea will come next Thursday.
•••
Read the original news story from Thursday, July 1, 2010 here.

News brief: Motorcyclist wrecks on state Route 508, breaks only his ankle

Saturday, July 3rd, 2010

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

A Tumwater man broke his ankle when he crashed his motorcycle this morning on state Route 508 about 11 miles west of Morton, according to the Washington State Patrol.

Troopers called about 10:15 a.m. reported that Rex A. Kellso, 58, was eastbound when he encountered bumps in the road at a curve, lost control and struck a guard rail.

His 2009 Harley-Davidson was described as totaled and he was taken to Morton General Hospital, according to the state patrol.

For an update on the missing climber on Mount Rainier …

Saturday, July 3rd, 2010

The News Tribune of Tacoma published a new story this morning about the search for the 57-year-old man from Duvall who vanished Thursday afternoon when he apparently unclipped from his two climbing partners as they rested at nearly 14,000 feet amidst winds upwards of 40 mph and visibility so poor they couldn’t see one another.

A spokesperson for Mount Rainier National Park said this morning approximately 30 individuals, including a Chinook helicopter from Fort Lewis and a commercial helicopter from Northwest Helicopters of Olympia, were expected to participate today.

If the weather holds, she said, they will expand their focus to the mid-elevation area of 7,000 feet to 10,000 feet in case Lewis has successfully descended to that elevation.

You can read The News Tribune’s story at www.thenewstribune.com