Archive for September, 2010

News brief: Hydroplaning car causes three-vehicle wreck on Interstate 5 at Chehalis

Saturday, September 18th, 2010

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A Centralia driver was cited after skidding in the rain and causing a three-vehicle accident on Interstate 5 in Chehalis last night.

No serious injuries were reported but two people were taken to Providence Centralia Hospital after the approximately 7:30 p.m. wreck.

A trooper called to the collision on Interstate 5 just north of the 13th Street interchange reported a 2003 Ford Focus was entering the freeway and hydroplaned crossing both lanes and striking the concrete barrier.

Twenty-four-year-old Daniel J. Bolin’s car was then hit by a Nissan Frontier which then ran into a Jeep Cherokee, according to the Washington State Patrol. Each vehicle sustained no more than an estimated $4,000 damage, the state patrol reported.

Bolin was cited for “speed too fast for conditions”.

News brief: Parents charged in assault of infant

Friday, September 17th, 2010

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Bail was at $25,000 for two Centralia parents charged with second-degree assault of a child today in Lewis County Superior Court.

Deputy Prosecutor Cailen Cecil-Wevodau told Judge Nelson Hunt it was a very serious charge involving a very young infant and broken bones.

Raymon E. Bell, 30, and Brandi J. Larson, 28, were arrested yesterday in a case that dates back to last year, according to the Centralia Police Department.

Both qualified for a court-appointed attorney. Larson works part time at Jack-in-the-Box and Bell, a Centralia College student, has no current income but just got a new job at a foundry, according to defense attorney Bob Schroeter.

The child in question is in state custody, Schroeter said. Larson is actively participating in a dependency case with her child, he said.

Cecil-Wevodau told the judge she intends to file identical charges on Monday involving another child.

They will return to court on Thursday to make their pleas.

News brief: Criminal charges filed in Onalaska teen’s alcohol poisoning death

Friday, September 17th, 2010

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office announced late this afternoon it has filed charges in the case of the Onalaska teenager who died from alcohol poisoning last September.

Nickolas Barnes, 15, died Sept. 21 two days after he was found passed out in the front yard at an Onalaska home at an underage drinking party, according to authorities.

The Onalaska High School student was found to have a blood alcohol level of .38, which is more than four times the legal limit for an adult while driving under the influence.

Prosecutors allege the resident James W. Taylor, 29, provided alcohol and/or allowed minors to drink at his residence.

Taylor was charged today with second-degree manslaughter, meaning prosecutors believe he negligently caused the teenager’s death, according to a news release.

He was also charged with failing to summon assistance for Nickolas Barnes and with seven counts of furnishing liquor to minors.

Taylor was arrested Oct. 1 at his Lacey workplace and booked for second-degree manslaughter, but was released as the investigation continued.

If convicted as charged, he could face as much as 27 months in prison, according to the news release.

Taylor is scheduled to make a court appearance on Oct. 5.

A candle light vigil in set for Tuesday night for Nickolas Barnes on the one year anniversary of his death.

The event is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Onalaska High School. Flashlights are advised as candles aren’t allowed.

News brief: Freeway shut down briefly for motorhome fire

Friday, September 17th, 2010

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

All lanes are open as of 6:20 p.m. after a motorhome fire shut down southbound Interstate 5 near the Maytown rest area.

The 5:55 p.m. fire was blocking all lanes, according to the Washington State Department of Transportation.

Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Friday, September 17th, 2010

ADNA MAN REPORTS HOME INVASION ROBBERY

• Deputies responded to an Adna home yesterday evening where a man told them when he answered a knock on his door, two males rushed in, knocked him out of his wheelchair and stole his prescription narcotics. The 56-year-old victim said the pair, in their late teens or early 20s, also kicked him in the face and ribs before leaving with a 15-day supply of Oxycodone and Vicodin, as well as two other medications, the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reported this morning. The 5:30 p.m. call to the 100 block of Robin Lane prompted a lockdown of the nearby Adna High School as deputies canvassed the area, according to Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown. Deputy Gabe Frase and his canine partner Leko conducted a track without success, she said. He described one of them as wearing baggy blue jeans and a dark hooded sweatshirt, weighing between 120 and 130 pounds, and being 5-feet 6-inches to 5-feet 7-inches tall, Brown said. He couldn’t describe the other subject, but said they were Hispanic, Brown said. The victim was taken to the hospital, according to Brown.

CHILD ASSAULT

• Two individuals were arrested yesterday for second-degree assault of a child and distribution of a controlled substance to a juvenile in connection with a Centralia case that dates back to last year. Raymon E. Bell, 30 and Brandi J. Larson, 28, were booked into the Lewis County Jail. The children involved were a toddler and an infant, according to the Centralia Police Department.

ANIMAL ASSAULT

• Chehalis police were called Thursday evening by an individual who said some kids were torturing three kittens on Southwest 11th Street by putting them in a puddle and throwing them on the concrete. The children were reportedly 7 years old. Deputy Police Chief Randy Kaut said the officer had a talk with the parents and the cats were ok.

DRUGS

• Centralia police arrested a 38-year-old man overnight for possession of methamphetamine. Douglas W. Lohman of Chehalis was booked into the Lewis County Jail after his contact with an officer about 1:30 a.m. today on the 700 block of Harrison Avenue.

THEFTS

• Centralia police took a report about 4 p.m. yesterday about the theft of prescription medication – a narcotic – from the 1300 block of Alexander Street, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• The Thurston County Sheriff’s Office took a report yesterday that somebody broke into a vacant house for sale in the Tenino area and stole a gas cooktop and cabinet fronts from the kitchen as well as faucet handles and a bathroom mirror. The double-oven was tilted out as though someone tried to remove it as well, according to the sheriff’s office. It happened sometime between 8 p.m. and midnight on Wednesday at a home on the 14,600 block of Arrowwood Lane Southeast. The front door was kicked in.

• A 58-year-old man who went out in his boat about 8 a.m. yesterday near Toledo returned about 5 p.m. to find his camping gear gone. A deputy who responded to the call to the Blue Creek boat launch on the 1100 block of Spencer Road reported the Arlington man lost a two-person tent, a cot, a five pound sleeping bag and clothes, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

• A sheriff’s deputy took a report yesterday morning of a break-in to a shop in Mineral. A resident of the 100 block of Mineral Road North said he accidentally left it unlocked between Tuesday and Wednesday and somebody took a Stihl chainsaw and a Coleman battery-powered lantern, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

ROTTEN TREE CAUSES FIRE

• A brush fire near Vader that scorched an area approximately 30 feet by 50 feet was caused by a rotten tree that fell onto power lines, according to Lewis County Fire District 15. Firefighters from Winlock and Vader responded to the Tuesday afternoon call near Telegraph Road and state Route 506 and extinguished the blaze, District 15 Firefighter Kevin Anderson said. The power was out to the area for “some time”, Anderson said.

Read about one time Lewis County police officer leaving post as chief in Granite Falls …

Friday, September 17th, 2010

The Seattle Times is reporting today about the police chief in Granite Falls – a former Vader and Napavine police officer – and the end result of a clash between him and the mayor there in the small Snohomish County town.

You can read today’s story here.

Read the Seattle Times July 2010 story here  www.seattletimes.com

Read the latest on the Tenino bicycle trail homicide …

Friday, September 17th, 2010

The Olympian is reporting a judge has found the suspect in the death of a Yelm woman found dead near a bicycle trail in Tenino last month is not competent to stand trial.

2010.0810.Vanda Boone

Vanda Skau Boone, from her MySpace

Bernard K. Howell III, 26, is charged with first-degree murder. Vanda Skau Boone, 60, was found wrapped in a sleeping bag in the passenger compartment of Howell’s truck on Aug. 8, her throat cut.

The self-employed door-to-door meat salesman told deputies he had no part in her death. A judge ordered him evaluated by mental health specialists at Western State Hospital.

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Read The Olympian’s news story about yesterday’s court hearing here.
Read Lewis County Sirens most recent story here