Lewis County Sirens.com

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CENTRALIA – The Centralia police officer who fired three shots at a stolen pickup truck after it ran into his patrol car during a pursuit in late July is back on regular duty after a review concluded his actions were within department policy.

Centralia Police Officer Michael Lowrey is shown as he fires at a pickup truck driving away after it struck Lowrey's patrol car.

Centralia Police Department Chief Bob Berg said this week he gave a letter to Officer Michael Lowrey in mid-August saying he concurred with the findings of a review panel.

In a nutshell, according to Berg: “The policy says a police officer has the right to defend themselves or others to apprehend someone committing a felony.”

Lowrey, an 11-year veteran of the department, had been put on modified duty after the incident on July 29 in a north Centralia residential neighborhood.

It happened after a 32-year-old man stole a 1999 Ford F350 from South Gold Street and was chased through town by police officers as well as a pair of men who witnessed the theft. A residential surveillance camera captured the moments on videotape and showed Lowrey’s patrol car facing north on Euclid Way as the truck came south on the same street.

The videotape shows the truck strike the front of the patrol car, back up and then move forward again as though to make a U-turn and strike the patrol car a second time. It shows Lowrey exit his vehicle and take aim with his handgun as the pickup drove away.

The police chief said on Thursday he doesn’t agree the truck was retreating.

“The guy tried to kill him, so he shot at him,” Berg said. “He thought he was gonna ram him again, or (ram) Officer Croy’s (nearby patrol car).”

Lowrey was on medical leave for five days for a minor injury to his head.

Joshua A. Fitchhorn, 32, of SeaTac, was sentenced to almost five years in prison in mid-September, admitting to attempting to elude, hit and run, vehicle theft and third-degree assault in a plea deal. The last charge was lowered from second-degree assault, according to the deputy prosecutor who handled Fitchhorn’s case, because it looked in the video tape as though the brakes on the truck locked up and Fitchhorn was trying not to hit the patrol car.

Berg said he doesn’t place much value on what a deputy prosecutor thinks happened.

The review board selected by the chief consisted of three command-level officers – two from an outside his agency. Washington State Patrol Lt. Ron Rupke, Chehalis Police Department Deputy Chief Randy Kaut and Centralia Police Department Cmdr. Dave Ross met on Aug. 17 to look over officers’ reports and department policies. They also interviewed the officers involved, according to Berg. Their conclusion, Berg read from their memo:

“It is the board’s view this use of force was justified and is within the Centralia Police Department’s policies and procedures.”

The chief’s letter to Lowrey on Aug. 19 released him from modified duty, noted he was required to get re-qualified at the shooting range and let him know counseling was available should he desire.

The firing of guns in the line of duty by Centralia police officers is relatively rare.

The last time a Centralia officer had shot at a suspect was in January during a robbery at the TwinStar Credit Union. Officer Neil Hoium wounded the suspect in that case.

Berg has said he could recall four such incidents in the past 30 years, including one fatal shooting of a robbery suspect in the 1970s.

While the suspect was not hit by a bullet in July’s shooting, he narrowly escaped being struck, according to the chief and others who have seen the damage from the two rounds Lowrey fired.

One traveled through the rear passenger window of the truck, through the passenger headrest and out the lower driver’s side of the windshield. The other bullet entered the driver’s side door just about at ear level.

Chief Berg on Thursday described a simultaneous inquiry that followed the July 29 shooting.

In early August, Berg sent an email to Lewis County Prosecutor Michael Golden requesting his opinion about any potential criminal charges against Lowrey, along with reports from Centralia police on the events.

The following day, Golden responded, according to Berg. The chief read the response aloud on Thursday; he hasn’t yet released any of the documents involved.

“From the information we got, the suspect intentionally rammed the patrol car,” Berg said Golden wrote.

Officer Lowrey would have a valid defense as to the use of force by a peace officer under state law, and the circumstances do not support any criminal charge, Golden concluded, according to the chief.

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Watch the uncut video posted by kirotv.com showing the truck striking the front of the patrol car and the officer getting out and firing at the truck.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The court hearing for accused murderer John Allen Booth Jr. this morning was low key compared with the Onalaska man’s previous appearances in front of a judge.

John Allen Booth Jr.

Booth, 31, pleaded not guilty to two counts of aggravated murder, new charges in the August triple homicide in Salkum which could potentially bring a death penalty.

“Do you have any questions of the court at this time?” Lewis County Superior Court Judge Richard Brosey asked.

“Nope,” Booth responded.

Whereas his first appearance in a Chehalis courtroom and his arraignment with Ryan J. McCarthy attracted crowds of family and friends of both victims and defendants, this morning’s hearing drew only a handful of spectators, including Lewis County sheriff’s detectives and Booth’s fiancee.

Booth is charged with murder and extortion in connection with the gunshot deaths on Aug. 21 of David J. West Sr. 52, his son David J. West Jr., 16, and Tony E. Williams, 50, of Randle. He is charged with attempted murder of 51-year-old Denise Salts. The aggravated murder charges are for the deaths of the younger West and Williams.

At the request of defense attorney James Dixon, the judge this morning appointed a second lawyer to assist in the case. The new attorney is among a small number in Washington state qualified to work potential death penalty cases.

Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher told Judge Brosey he understands the arraignment triggers a 30-day deadline for prosecutors to decide whether to seek the death penalty, but said he anticipated the new lawyer might want to request an extension.

The two attorneys and the judge discussed allowing Booth his own copy of the  “discovery” – comprised so far of three three-ring binders of investigative materials as the defense prepares for trial.

“I would like a copy for Mr. Booth to review on his own time, without me having to be there,” Dixon said.

Meagher opposed the request, but Brosey agreed, provided identifying information about witnesses is blacked out and that Booth may not show or discuss with anyone its contents.

Outside the courtroom, Booth’s fiancee expressed frustration that he has been painted as a monster. She said people don’t know a lot about the man who was just released from prison in December.

“This is a man who was gainfully employed, he was employed from the time he got out and was signing up for a college class,” Shawna Trent said. “He had his (life) together. We were making a new life together.”

Until Booth was arrested, he was working in Tacoma at a supplier of foam upholstery to the marine and automotive industries, according to Trent. They knew he was a felon, she said.

“They were giving him that chance, and he took full advantage of it,” she said.

Trent, a nursing student, said the couple was engaged in March, underwent what she called a Sharia wedding – an Islamic marriage ceremony – in June and had a December date set for a civil wedding ceremony.

The two decided to go ahead and marry in the near future, even though Booth is locked up, she said.

Those plans got put on hold however, she said, after she called the jail and asked how to go about arranging the civil ceremony. Within days she discovered his collect phone calls to her were blocked and she was barred from further visitation.

Trent, 35, was told her name was on a witness list so she is prevented from having any contact with her fiance.

A trial date has not yet been set for Booth.

If convicted of the higher charges, the only two possible penalties are life in prison without the possibility of release or death.
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Read some of the previous stories on the case:

• “Death penalty is on the table” in Salkum slayings from Thursday Sept. 30, 2010 here

• “West Sr. pointed shotgun telling pair of ex-cons to leave his house, triggering triple homicide, unsealed court documents allege” from Saturday Sept. 4, 2010 here

• “Unsealed document: More details on Salkum slayings” from Monday Sept. 6, 2010 here

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

An out of work logger who blew up his own rural Chehalis mailbox in an attempt to make people believe he was a “private eye” with key information about a $90 million Ponzi scheme under investigation has been convicted of numerous federal charges in a trial that ended this week in U.S. District Court, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Kevin W. Williams, 45, was taken into custody Wednesday and faces up to 20 years in prison when he is sentenced, according to a news release.

Williams was convicted after a seven day jury trial in Tacoma of nine federal felony charges, including extortion, wire fraud and possession of firearms either unregistered or without a serial number, according to U.S. Attorney’s Office spokesperson Emily Langlie.

According to case records and trial testimony, Williams hatched a scheme in 2007 to make money by claiming he had information of value to victims of a massive Ponzi scheme fraud based in the Atlanta, Georgia area, Langlie wrote. His step-mother and brother-in-law were victims of the Ponzi fraud, according to case documents.

In a bid to gain credibility, the Doty resident blew up his own mailbox on Chandler Road with a pipe bomb on Oct. 21, 2007, according to federal prosecutors. The blast, which would have badly injured Williams if it had occurred as he described, was investigated by Lewis County sheriff’s detectives and ultimately by ATF agents and U.S. Postal inspectors, according to case documents.

Williams suggested he was targeted by someone who didn’t want him to reveal the information he had about the Ponzi scheme, according to case documents.

The U.S. Attorneys’ Office case documents go on to describe Williams threatening the Atlanta fraud victims who he wanted to be hired by. In the spring of 2008, Williams showed up for the Atlanta Ponzi trial and was arrested when local police searched his van and found a variety of guns, ammunition, blasting caps, rocket motors, metal pipe sections and a copy of the “Anarchists Cookbook”, assistant U.S. attorneys wrote.

After his arrest, one of William’s friends sent a note to the F.B.I. about the October mailbox bombing Williams had staged, prosecutors wrote.

In July 2009, Williams was indicted in the Western District of Washington and in June of this year, further charges were added, according to the assistant U.S. attorneys.

A jury deliberated about three hours and convicted Williams on all counts, according to Langlie.

He is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 23.