Lewis County Sirens.com

ATTEMPTED LURING AT CHEHALIS PLAYGROUND

• A 43-year-old man was arrested yesterday after allegedly trying to lure a 5-year-old boy away from Penny Playground in Chehalis. Chehalis police detective Sgt. Rick McNamara said an individual at the park off 13th Street Southwest was uneasy after the man tried to talk to their child and flagged down a passing deputy after the man was then talking with another child. McNamara said William L. Baskett of Centralia asked the boy to go with him to look for something. Baskett was arrested for child luring and booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Chehalis Police Department. Baskett was released from jail in the afternoon without being charged, pending further investigation.

CHILD HIT BY CAR

• A toddler reportedly escaped any injury after running in front of a passing car and being struck on South Tower Avenue in Centralia yesterday evening. Police and aid were called just after 7:15 p.m. to the area near South Street and found the 2-year-old unhurt, according to authorities. Riverside Fire Authority Capt. Greg Schwartz said the car was traveling very slow and the child apparently didn’t even get knocked over. Centralia police reported the driver was not cited.

MINOR SCHOOL BUS ACCIDENT

• Nobody was injured in what was described as a minor accident between a school bus and another vehicle yesterday morning in Centralia. Police and aid were called just after 8 a.m. to Lum Road and West Reynolds Avenue. Riverside Fire Authority Capt. Scott Weinert said responders verified with the children and the driver everyone was okay. Centralia police did not report if any citations were issued.

THEFT AND FRAUD

• Centralia police took a report yesterday evening about a burglary on the 100 block of West First Street in which two gaming consoles were reported stolen.

• Centralia police are investigating a case from yesterday in which a woman received a check in the mail at the 1900 block of Harrison Avenue stating she had won a large sum of money.

• Police were called yesterday to the 100 block of East Carson Street where a woman reported somebody used her credit card she had lost, according to the Centralia Police Department.

ASSAULT IN WINLOCK

• A 42-year-old Winlock man was ordered held on $50,000 bail following his Monday arrest in Winlock for second-degree assault and four lesser charges related to a domestic incident. Defense attorney Bob Schroeter told a judge yesterday afternoon Scott M. Wallin’s situation involved a divorce case. Deputy Prosecutor Colin Hayes said it involved an allegation “he ran his vehicle into her vehicle with her in it.” Wallin is scheduled to be arraigned on the charges tomorrow.

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This was updated on Thursday Sept. 30 at 7:42 a.m.

SUSPECTED STOLEN VEHICLE DRIVER FOUND HIDING NEAR ROCHESTER HIGH SCHOOL

• The subject of police pursuit yesterday that prompted the lockdown of Rochester High School and the grade schools south of there was a Chehalis man wanted on a Chehalis DUI warrant who was apprehended about 1:15 p.m., according to the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office. Richard N. Mayer, 44, was booked into the Thurston County Jail after he was found hiding near a home on the 20,000 block of Carper Road Southwest, adjacent to the high school, sheriff’s Lt. Chris Mealy said this morning. The situation began around 6 a.m. when law enforcement officers from Grays Harbor County and then Thurston County pursued a stolen vehicle along U.S. Highway 12 and into Rochester, Mealy said. The driver ditched the Chevrolet Silverado near the 7400 block of James Road and a police dog tried to track him but he apparently went into the Chehalis River, Mealy said. At about noon, 911 began getting calls, including one of a man seen walking into a wooded area near the primary school’s soccer field. Deputies advised the Rochester Primary School, Grand Mound Elementary School and the high school to lock their doors as a precaution, Mealy said. Mayer was arrested for possession of a stolen vehicle.

MAN ARRESTED AFTER “PEEPING TOM” REPORTS IN CHEHALIS

• Chehalis police arrested a 42-year-old man after getting two different reports of a man peering into windows on South Market Boulevard. It happened around 9 p.m. on the 1600 block and the 1800 block, according to detective Sgt. Rick McNamara. Jose N. Gonzalez-Lemus, whose home is listed in Anaheim, Calif, was arrested for criminal trespass, a misdemeanor, McNamara said.

THEFT FROM PATIENT REPORTED AT CHEHALIS RETIREMENT HOME

• Chehalis police were called yesterday home to a retirement center on Northwest Quincy Place to investigate the theft of $40 from a patients room.

PURSE STOLEN FROM PARKED CAR

• The Thurston County Sheriff’s Office reported today they took a report of a vehicle prowl on the 20,100 block of Dakota Court Southwest in Centralia. Somebody took a $220 navigation system from a Honda and also stole a purse containing a checkbook and $132 dollars of tip money, according to sheriff’s Lt. Chris Mealy. It happened late on Sept. 19 or early the following morning. The victim said her car may have been left unlocked, he said.

SCAM REPORTED IN CENTRALIA

• Centralia police are warning the public about a scam they say has reached the local area. Basically, according to police, if a person ever receives a check in the mail they are asked to deposit and then return some amount of money back to the sender: it is a scam. The recent case involves a letter congratulating the potential fraud victim for being chosen to pose as a customer service evaluator at selected stores, according to a news release. The target is asked to deposit the enclosed check, conduct certain purchases and then return the leftover money via Western Union, according to police. Anyone who receives such a letter is asked to call their police department and advised not to cash the check.

TARGET OF CHILD SEX STING GETS MORE THAN SEVEN YEARS IN PRISON

• A 24-year-old Tumwater man caught in a sting operation in which he thought he was meeting a mother and her 13-year-old daughter for a sexual encounter but was instead met by waiting Lewis County Sheriff’s Office detectives, was sentenced this morning to a minimum of seven and a half years in prison. Michael J. Eplett will be subject to supervision by the state Department of Corrections for the rest of his life following his sentencing in  Lewis County Superior Court for second-degree attempted rape of a child, according to the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office. Eplett was charged in May and in August, a jury returned a guilty verdict in just nine minutes. As part of his sentence, Eplett must get a sexual deviancy evaluation, submit to the recommended treatment and may not access the Internet, according to a news release.