Archive for December, 2010

Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Wednesday, December 8th, 2010

CASH MACHINE TAMPERED WITH

• Police were called to Anchor Bank on the 600 block of South Tower Avenue yesterday morning after damage to an ATM machine was discovered. It appeared someone tried to pry it open, according to Centralia police.

OOPS THAT’S NOT THE BRAKE

• Police were called just before 10 a.m. yesterday after a driver accidentally stepped on the gas pedal and ran into a business shattering the front door on the 1700 block of South Gold Street in Centralia. Further details were not readily available.

THEFT WITH CREDIT CARD NUMBER

• The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reported this morning deputies have a person of interest in the unauthorized use of a credit card after a 35-year-old Aberdeen man yesterday reported finding a more than $200 purchase from Cabellas on his Visa card. There were two other smaller online transactions as well. The victim said he last used his card at the Packwood Inn to rent a room on Nov. 12, according to the sheriff’s office.

CASH LEFT ON TOP OF CAR DISAPPEARS

• Police were called yesterday morning after an individual accidentally left money in a cup on top of a parked vehicle and the money vanished. It happened on the 400 block of South Tower Avenue, according to Centralia police. The amount missing isn’t yet known as an officer wasn’t able to contact the individual for a full report.

DRUGS

• A 39-year-old Centralia man was arrested for possession of methamphetamine after contact with police about 2 p.m. yesterday on the 1000 block of L Street in Centralia. Shawn E. Owre was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department.

News brief: Identity confirmed of slaying suspect found dead at Riffe Lake

Tuesday, December 7th, 2010

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office is reporting the body of a man found this summer at Riffe Lake is the 49-year-old Denver resident they suspected it might be.

James A. Sprague was found dead July 28 on the shore’s edge in a cove on the northwest portion of the lake.

DNA was used to make the identification because of the advanced decomposition, according to a news release from the sheriff’s office.

ID in a backpack found next to the body belonged to Sprague, who was wanted in connection with the slaying of his girlfriend in March in Denver, Lewis County Sheriff Steve Mansfield said in July.

Detectives continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death, according sheriff’s Cmdr. Steve Aust.

•••

Read “News brief: ID found with body near Mossyrock belongs to murder suspect, sheriff’s office says” from Friday July 30, 2010 here

Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Tuesday, December 7th, 2010

BURGLARY, NOTHING TAKEN

• Centralia police responded to a report about 5:40 this morning to a break-in at a building on the 1300 block of South Tower Avenue. A back window was broken and an alarm activated but it didn’t appear anything was missing, according to the Centralia Police Department.

FELONY ASSAULT

• Brian S. Baimbridge, 48, was charged Monday with second-degree assault, harassment and interfering with domestic violence reporting for an incident that allegedly occurred Saturday in Silver Creek. Senior Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher said the suspect choked the victim until she couldn’t breathe, loaded an air pistol in her presence and threatened to kill her and himself. He was ordered by a Lewis County Superior Court judge to be held on $75,000 cash or bond.

SEXUAL ABUSE OF A CHILD

• Troy C. Connatser, 29, Castle Rock, was charged Monday with two counts of rape of a child or in the alternative child molestation both in the first degree in connection with incidents that allegedly occurred between 2009 and March of this year. He was ordered by a Lewis County Superior Court judge to be held on $15,000 cash or bond.

Man found dead in tent off Kresky in Chehalis

Tuesday, December 7th, 2010

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

This news story was updated at 11:17 a.m.

A homeless man was found dead inside a tent on the hillside off Kresky in Chehalis yesterday afternoon.

Police say there were no obvious signs of trauma or a struggle but are investigating.

Chehalis Police Chief Glenn Schaffer in a news release described him as in his mid-60s and a client of the state Department of Corrections.

Community corrections officers found him dead when they went to check on him after he missed an appointment earlier in the day, according to Shaffer.

The fire department and police were called about 4:30 p.m. to the camp, in the trees about 150 yards east of Kresky along the 2200 block near the Lewis County Mall.

His identity has not been released.

Chehalis detective Sgt. Rick McNamara said the individual is not someone he is familiar with. He probably hadn’t been dead more than a day or so, McNamara said.

The man had been pretty routine about showing up at DOC’s Chehalis community corrections office, said Scott Albert, the supervisor there. The office is in the Lewis County Mall.

“I would see him here regularly Monday around 8 or 9 a.m.,” Albert said this morning.

The deceased, who Albert said was 67 years old, has been under their supervision for two years after getting out of prison. He was incarcerated in July 1999 and was a level one registered sex offender, Albert said.

It’s not unheard of for some of their clients to be homeless or live in tents, according Albert.

“He was homeless, he didn’t have any resources,” Albert said. “A lot of people get labeled as a sex offender and nobody wants to house them,” he said.

The man had been in prison for first-degree rape of a child, he said.

It appears he was compliant with the conditions imposed on him and had about a year more of being under their supervision, Albert said.

One lane of Kresky was shut down until about 9:30 p.m. as police conducted their investigation.

The cause of death is yet to be determined but at this point in the investigation appears to be related to natural causes, according to police.

Both the fire department and Albert indicated it initially didn’t appear as a natural death, for reasons they didn’t specify. McNamara said there was a little blood around his nose and mouth.

Police will treat it as suspicious until they determine otherwise, according to McNamara.

Read about lawyers apologize for “article” in The Olimpian …

Monday, December 6th, 2010

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

The mock newspaper that published a comedic, made-up editorial by Lewis County Superior Court Judge Richard Brosey drew a formal complaint in the Thurston County courthouse for a satirical article a county worker said was racially offensive, according to a news story in The Olympian today.

News reporter Jeremy Pawloski wrote that Rob Hill and Clint Morgan of the Morgan-Hill law firm sent an apology to the presiding judge today.

The Olimpian, an occasionally published look at the “seamy underbelly of the local legal community, delivering all the news that is fit or unfit to print …” was distributed at the Thurston County courthouse last week, according to Pawloski.

Read news reporter Pawloski’s story here

•••

Read the current issue of The Olimpian

News brief: Attorneys argue on allowable questions at upcoming Onalaska murder trial

Monday, December 6th, 2010

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Ronald A. Brady pleaded not guilty today to first-degree murder in connection with April’s fatal shooting of a suspected burglar outside his Onalaska house.

2010.1012.mug.ronald.brady_2

Ronald A. Brady

Brady, 60, had already been arraigned in the case, but today’s court hearing followed the increase of charges from manslaughter to murder.

He remains free on an $50,000 unsecured appearance bond.

Deputy Prosecutor Colin Hayes and defense attorney Don Blair hashed out various issues today with a judge about what will be allowed at the upcoming trial.

Lewis County Superior Court Judge James Lawler nixed the deputy prosecutor’s attempt to charge Brady with first-degree murder, second-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter and second-degree manslaughter.

Hayes said it was a strategic move for the state to “cover its bases” while Blair called it the “wet noodle approach.”

Brady has admitted opening fire on Thomas McKenzie and McKenzie’s estranged wife Joanna McKenzie, telling sheriff’s detectives he was staying overnight at the unoccupied house in case burglars from earlier in the day returned. The 56-year-old Morton man died at the scene and his wife escaped uninjured.

Brady is charged with and has pleaded not guilty to first-degree assault for allegedly shooting at Joanna McKenzie.

Hayes told the court he wants to prevent Blair from telling the jury the details of Joanna McKenzie’s subsequent conviction for attempted burglary from that night.

He argued that she made a so-called Alford plea, not admitting guilt.

Lawler postponed making ruling on the issue. The attorneys expect to meet with the judge again to bring him more information about their reasoning.

A new trial date was scheduled for the week of April 25.
•••

Read “Onalaska shooting: Charges upped from manslaughter to first-degree murder” from Monday Nov. 22, 2010 here

Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Monday, December 6th, 2010

DEPUTIES PURCHASE MARIJUANA, ARREST THREE

• Sheriff’s detectives bought marijuana in the parking lot at the Chehalis K-Mart and subsequently arrested three people, the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reported this morning. Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said the sale was arranged after a citizen told deputies on Thursday they were being solicited to buy drugs by phone calls and texts by someone they didn’t know. Detectives began communicating with “Justin” who said he could sell a half ounce of marijuana for $160, Brown said. Arrested from the 1700 block of Northwest Louisiana Avenue were Hillary Wayland, 20, Justin D. Mask, 20, and Christopher A. Miller, 23, according to Brown. They are Woodland residents, she said. When they were arrested and what offense each was arrested for was not reported by the sheriff’s office.

GUN MISSING FROM CENTRALIA GARAGE

• A .357 pistol and tools were among items reported stolen in a burglary to a garage on the 1800 block of Hillview Drive in Centralia, according to a report made Saturday morning to Centralia police.

DRUG ARRESTS

• Centralia police made several arrests for possession of methamphetamine over the weekend. About 3 o’clock this morning, Felicia F. Harris, 39, of Centralia was arrested and booked following contact with an officer on the 700 block of North Pearl Street, according to the Centralia Police Department. A Spokane resident was arrested last night following contact with an officer on the 600 block of Harrison Avenue. Jeremy D. McCurdy, 28, was booked for methamphetamine as well as possession of stolen property and obstructing a police officer, according to police. Kassie M. Martin, 27, of Centralia, was arrested last night after contact with an officer at Kresky Avenue and East Summa Street, police reported. On Saturday night, Rebecca L. Hodge, 50, of Centralia, was arrested for possession of methamphetamine and heroin at the 1200 block of Harrison Avenue. And Brian M. Williams, 22, of Centralia, was arrested about 5 p.m. Saturday from the 100 block of South Gold Street.

STEREO STOLEN FROM VEHICLE IN WINLOCK

• A deputy took report of a car prowl from the 100 block of Tingle Road in Winlock, the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reported this morning. Taken was a stereo sometime between 2 a.m. and 2 p.m. last Thursday, according to the report.

MALICIOUS MISCHIEF

• Chehalis police took reports of four incident of malicious mischief on Cascade Avenue about 12:30 a.m. on Sunday. Further details were not readily available.

CRASH IN BOISTFORT VALLEY

• The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reported this morning a 60-year-old man was hospitalized with head and face injuries after a single-vehicle collision on Friday afternoon near Curtis. The driver was headed south near the 700 block of Wildwood Road when his vehicle left the roadway and came to rest in some trees and brush, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said.