Lewis County Sirens.com

BARN FIRE MAY HAVE STARTED FROM STORED CHICKEN POOP

• A fire that destroyed an Onalaska barn with five tractors parked inside was probably ignited by decomposing hay or chicken manure stored inside, a fire investigator said this morning. The fire went unnoticed until a worker arriving Friday morning to the structure off the 200 block of Griel Road found the barn had burned and the roof collapsed, according to Fire Investigator Ted McCarty. The hay was still burning, he said. The 100-foot by 50-foot structure sits behind a grove of trees at the end of a dead end road kind of out of sight, McCarty said. There were no chickens in the building at the Matthiesen family farm, just the manure, according to McCarty.

BURNING T-SHIRT FOUND INSIDE HOME

• Firefighters called about 1:30 p.m. Saturday to the 200 block of Tennessee Road near Winlock found a smoke-filled home and a smoldering T-shirt sitting on top of a speaker in a bedroom. They used a fire extinguisher to put it out, according to Firefighter Kevin Anderson of Lewis County Fire District 15. Sheriff’s deputies were reportedly looking into the incident.

ASSAULTS

• Chehalis police were called about 2:30 a.m. on Sunday to North National Avenue where a man with a fat lip said he had been beat up. He said he woke up by the mint factory, and had been at one of the bars, but couldn’t remember where it happened, according to Chehalis police.

• Centralia police were called just before 10 p.m. on Saturday to the 500 block of Harrison Avenue where a male was assaulted and an attempt was made to take a cell phone, according to the Centralia Police Department.

POLICE PURSUIT

• A police pursuit on Saturday afternoon in Randle ended with the arrest of a 37-year-old man who was driving with a suspended license, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. A deputy observed a vehicle traveling more than 60 mph and in the oncoming lane at a blind curve on the 100 block of Cispus Road, according to the sheriff’s office. The driver sped up but then parked his vehicle on a bridge and fled into the woods, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said this morning. Jake N. Dunaway of Randle, was arrested and booked into the Lewis County Jail for attempted eluding, reckless driving and resisting arrest, according to Brown.

PIECE OF SAFETY EQUIPMENT SNATCHED FROM TRAIN TRACKS

• BNSF reported somebody stole a 100-pound steel safety device from railroad tracks near Bucoda, the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office reported this morning. The yellow-painted item went missing from the area between 184th Avenue Southwest and Bucoda sometime between Wednesday and Thursday, according to the sheriff’s office. The object, called a “Hayes derailer” was mounted on a side track and meant to prevent any parked railroad car which might drift from getting onto the main tracks, sheriff’s Lt. Chris Mealy said.

BREAK-INS AND THEFTS

• Somebody snuck into a vacant residence and cut the copper plumbing pipe to a washing machine and hot water heater on the 5900 block of 189th Lane Southwest. The pipe was left behind but it will cost an estimated $5,000 to repair, according to the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office. A real estate agent holding an open house heard water running and the damage beneath the house was subsequently discovered, the sheriff’s office reported. It apparently happened sometime between Thursday and Friday.

• Chehalis police were called about 8:45 p.m. yesterday to a break-in to an apartment on Southwest 20th Street. A resident returned home to find a closet door open, according to police.

• Centralia police were called just before 6 a.m. on Sunday to an apartment building on the 1300 block of Harrison Avenue after the discovery of a burglary to an office there. Doors were forced open and computer components stolen, according to police.

• The back door to a business was kicked in on the 300 block of Harrison Avenue in Centralia, according to a report made to police  about 8:40 p.m. on Saturday.

• A storeroom on the 2500 block of Mount Vista Road in Centralia was burglarized, according to a report made to police about 11:30 a.m. on Saturday.

• Police were called about 4:15 a.m. today when an individual “interrupted a suspect’ attempting to siphon gas from a rental vehicle on the 1400 block of South Gold Street, according to the Centralia Police Department. However, the suspect fled, police reported.

• A deputy was called Sunday to the 6900 block of Creekside Lane Southwest in Rochester where somebody had cut a gate lock and stole utility trailers, a $5,000 generator, tools, including two edge trimmers, and two duffel bags filled with U.S. Marine Corps gear belonging to the victim’s grandson, according to the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office.

• Somebody cut and stole eight extension cords valued at $2,400 from Adventure RV on the 18300 block of Albany Street Southwest in Rochester, according to a report made Sunday to the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office.

• A green Craftsman riding lawn mower valued at $1,400 was stolen from a garden shed on the 10,300 block of Case Road, according to a report made Sunday to the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office.

• Somebody stole a Honda EM3500 generator from a travel trailer on Mima Road, according to a report made Friday to the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office.

• Police were called about 3:40 p.m. on Saturday to the 3500 block of Galvin Road where somebody shot at windows numerous times with a BB gun, according to the Centralia Police Department.

DRUGS

• Starla D. Parker, 29, of Centralia, was arrested for possession of suspected methamphetamine about 3:30 a.m. today near M and West First streets in Centralia, according to police.

COURT

• The Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office announced this morning a jury found a Morton couple guilty on Friday of making a false insurance claim. Jennifer Mau, 30, and David Eden, 47, were in Lewis County Superior Court in connection with a claim filed involving a U-Haul trailer. The couple are the founders of the Mount St. Helens Chapter of a Texas-based group called Guardians of the Children, a group which was instrumental this summer in the search for 16-year-old Austin King, whose body was found a month after he vanished from his Morton-area home. The conviction of a class C felony means the possibility of up to 12 months in jail, according to a news release. Mau plans to appeal, saying she does not feel she is guilty of the charge.
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This was updated Tuesday Sept. 28, 2010 at 7:44 a.m.

FIGHTING WITH THE POLICE

• A 19-year-old man ended up going to the hospital and then jail when he fought with a police officer trying to arrest him on an outstanding warrant early yesterday morning in Centralia, according to the Centralia Police Department. The officer saw Zachary A. Cadwaller at K and West First streets about 3:30 a.m. and in the struggle, the officer ended up with a hurt knee and Cadwaller got scrapes and bruises to his head, according to police Sgt. Kurt Reichert. Both were checked out at Providence Centralia Hospital and Cadwaller was booked for his warrant, Reichert said. The police department will recommend the 19-year-old be charged with third-degree assault.

GIRL FIGHT

• Centralia police took a report on Thursday of a misdemeanor assault at Centralia High School. It involved two 15-year-old girls, according to police.

PURSE SNATCHING

• An officer was called to the Amtrak station in Centralia about 3 p.m. yesterday after somebody grabbed a purse while its owner was loading baggage, according to the Centralia Police Department.

LOTS OF CAR PROWLS, PLUS AN ARREST

• On Wednesday morning, an officer took two reports of thefts from vehicles on the 900 block of North Tower Avenue.

• By lunchtime on Thursday, Centralia police took six reports of car prowls. Stereos were reported stolen from vehicles on 800 block of North Washington Avenue and the 800 block of West Sixth Street. A CD player was reported missing from a car on the on the 900 block of North Washington Avenue. Another prowl had occurred overnight on the 200 block of East Carson Street, according to the Centralia Police Department. Stereos were taken from two more vehicles on the 900 block of E Street, according to a report made about 5:20 a.m. on Thursday.

• Police arrested an 18-year-old man for vehicle prowl and recovered a car stereo about 2:30 a.m. on Thursday. Andrez Velasquez of Centralia reportedly was seen by an officer leaving an area near West Sixth and K streets where a motion detector had activated. The officer found a car door ajar and contacted Velasquez, according to the Centralia Police Department. He was booked into the Lewis County Jail.

• Police took a report yesterday morning of a stereo stolen from a vehicle on the 300 block of West Sixth Street in Centralia.

• Chehalis police were called Wednesday morning to a break-in to a taco wagon on the 600 block of North National Avenue. Missing was some Mexican money, according to Deputy Police Chief Randy Kaut.

AUTO THEFTS

• On Thursday morning, a deputy took a report of the theft of a truck from a timber company in Mineral. Somebody broke into the compound on the 300 block of Mineral Creek Road sometime between Tuesday and Wednesday and stole a white 2005 Ford F350, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. It has a license plate reading A74928XA. A lock was cut and a gate was damaged, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said.

• Two men were arrested Wednesday afternoon by a deputy in a vehicle reported stolen from Shelton the day before. Charles C. Longshore, 20, and Jacob R. Anderson, 23, were booked into the Lewis County Jail after the contact at Kehoe Road and U.S. Highway 12 in Randle a about 4 p.m., according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

BURGLARY

• Centralia police took a report Wednesday afternoon of a burglary on the 400 block of West Main Street. Computer equipment and loose change were reported missing.

DRUGS

• A pair of 18-year-olds were jailed early Friday morning for possession of marijuana after a trooper checking on what he thought was a disabled vehicle on U.S. Highway 12 smelled marijuana. He asked if they had marijuana in the vehicle and one of them said no, it must be a dead skunk, according to charging documents. A search of the vehicle turned up a little over 40 grams of suspected marijuana in an Orange Crush lunchbox, according to the charging documents. Matthew L. Nyman and Jordain C. Lagra were booked into the Lewis County Jail. They were released on $5,000 bail yesterday afternoon.

• Centralia police arrested a 19-year-old woman Thursday night at the 1200 block of Alder Street for possession of methamphetamine. Courtney C. Phelan was booked into the Lewis County Jail. She was released on $5,000 bail yesterday afternoon.

BURNED CHICKEN

• Firefighters were called about 8 p.m. Wednesday night to a cooking fire in an apartment on the 1400 block of Johnson Road. The building was evacuated and the smoking pan of chicken was taken outside, according to Riverside Fire Authority Capt. Scott Snyder.

DRIVER FALLS ASLEEP, RUNS OFF FREEWAY

• A Toledo man escaped with only a broken ankle when he reportedly fell asleep and his car left Interstate 5 traveling down an embankment and hitting a tree on Thursday. A trooper called about 10:45 a.m. to the scene off the northbound lanes just north of the Toledo-Winlock exit noted the 2000 Hyundai Electra was totaled. The driver, Mitchell K. Davis, 23, was cited for second-degree negligent driving and driving with a suspended license, according to the Washington State Patrol. On the same day, the Washington Traffic Safety Commission announced the lowest fatality rate ever on Washington roads. In 2009 there were 491 fatalities on state roads, according to a news release. The traffic fatality rate last year was .87 per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, according to WTSC. The year before it was .94.

MAN PLEADS NOT GUILTY TO THIRD-DEGREE CHILD RAPE

• A 21-year-old man pleaded not guilty on Thursday to having sex with 15-year-old girls on different occasions. Matthew A. Scott was charged with two counts of third-degree child rape in Lewis County Superior Court. In one case Scott reportedly admitted having sex at a Salkum motel in May with a girl he said he met previously at a party in Mossyrock, according to charging documents. In July, a deputy was contacted by the father of another 15-year-old. Both girls reportedly told a deputy the activity was consensual and not forced. Scott reportedly told a deputy the girls both said they were 15, going on 16. They were. Each were less than two months away from their 16th birthday, after which, they and Scott would have been  allowed under state law to engage in sex which would not have been a crime. Scott remains held in the Lewis County Jail on $20,000 bail.