Lewis County Sirens.com

BABY DELIVERED AT FIRE STATION, BY DAD

• Firefighters in Maytown got to help deliver a baby overnight, sort of. West Thurston Regional Fire Authority Battalion Chief Jacob Yake said a couple arrived at the fire station on Reeder Road about 3:30 this morning. “The car pulled into the fire station then started laying on its horn and as he was calling 911, he basically caught the baby.” A crew of three came outside and took mother and infant to the hospital, Yake said. The father returned later to announce it was a healthy baby boy, Yake said. It’s not uncommon for emergency responder to help with child birth, according to Yake, but “I don’t know we’ve ever had ’em in the parking lot of the station.”

SPINOUTS AND ROLLOVERS

• Firefighters from Chehalis through Littlerock were kept super busy for about a two-hour period last night with calls for cars slipping off the roadways in the snow. No injuries were reported. The Chehalis Fire Department responded to one vehicle at Devries and Shorey Roads that had slid back down a hill, rolled and went down an embankment, narrowly missing a pond, according to Acting Capt. Derrick Paul. The calls began about 7 p.m. and added up to a half dozen, Paul said. Firefighters from Grand Mound, Rochester, Maytown and Littlerock must have answered close to a dozen calls of in the same period, according to West Thurston Regional Fire Authority Battalion Chief Jacob Yake

MYSTERY OPERATOR PUTS LOGGING EQUIPMENT TO WORK

• The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reported this morning somebody took a Cat 527 for a joy ride near where it had been parked along the 3000 line off Lincoln Creek Road outside Centralia. The subject also drove a 330 Cat shovel/loader sometime before early Monday morning and used the logging equipment to clear some brush and trees and lift up a gate belonging to the state Department of Natural Resources, according to Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown. The damage to the gat is estimated at $4,000.

FORGERY

• A woman who accidentally left her wallet in a shopping cart at K-Mart in Chehalis called police about 8:30 p.m. last night to say she learned somebody had used her credit card and before the night was over, police had tracked down a suspect who was arrested. Police detective Sgt. Rick McNamara said K-Mart called and said the card was being used a second time and somebody got a license plate of the connected vehicle. An officer found the motor home parked at a Chehalis apartment complex and contacted Noelle I. Straggi, 43, who was booked into the Lewis County Jail for forgery and possession of stolen property, McNamara said. The case involving a 53-year-old Centralia woman who was with her was referred for possible charges as well, McNamara said.

FIREARM THEFT

• A sheriff’s deputy took a report on Tuesday of a Springfield .45 caliber gun stolen from the 200 block of Jones Road in Winlock, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. An investigation led to Shannon L. Kerssen, 33, who was arrested and booked into jail for theft of a firearm, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said.

ATTEMPTED BURGLARY

• Centralia police say a 38-year-old Centralia man trespassed onto property where a house was being remodeled and tried to steal “property” before he was apprehended yesterday afternoon in Centralia. Douglas W. Lohman was arrested and booked into the Lewis County Jail for attempted burglary an incident about 10:45 a.m. related to the 1000 block of Long Road, according to the Centralia Police Department.

DRUGS

• Centralia police arrested a 40-year-old man yesterday afternoon for an outstanding warrant and possession of methamphetamine. James A. Mueller of Chehalis was booked into the Lewis County Jail following his contact with an officer at the 300 block of Railroad Avenue, according to the Centralia Police Department. The case was not charged, pending further investigation.

DEPUTIES FIND WANTED MAN HIDING IN BEDROOM

• Deputies ended up Tazing a man who allegedly punched them as he was being arrested yesterday afternoon in Onalaska. Deputies went to a home on the 100 block of Third Street East about 3:30 p.m. yesterday looking for a person wanted on several outstanding warrants, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. After a 44-year-old woman said he wasn’t there, but allowed them to look around, he was found in an upstairs bedroom, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said this morning. The 21-year-old Salkum man refused to cooperate and began assaulting the deputies, Brown said. His case is being referred for possible charges of third-degree assault and resisting arrest. The woman, Jacqueline L. Benard, was arrested and booked into the Lewis County Jail for obstruction.

MAN PULLS GUN ON PAIR AT PARK

• Chehalis police weren’t able to find anybody after a report on Friday night a man came out of some bushes at Penny Playground, began yelling at a pair of 20-year-old men in a car there and pulled a handgun out of his pants. Chehalis detective Sgt. Rick McNamara said the Chehalis men were making some phone calls when it happened. The man, who headed toward 13th Street, was described as being about 6 feet tall and in his mid-to late 20s, McNamara said.

THIEVES REPEATEDLY TAKING POWER CORDS FROM FREEWAY JOB SITE

• A deputy took a report yesterday of about 450 feet of power cord getting stolen from where it was being used in a work area along Interstate 5 in Centralia. Sometime between Friday and Monday, several lengths of the cord – connected to pumps – went missing, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The supervisor from Tri-State Construction said it has happened several times over the past few months, mostly on weekends. The sheriff’ office is asking anyone with information to contact Lewis County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-748-6422.

CAR PROWL

• A cell phone and a camera were taken from a vehicle on the 1400 block of South Tower Avenue in Centralia, according to a report made to police about 3:30 yesterday afternoon.

VANDALISM

• Police were called around noontime yesterday about a vehicle window smashed out on the 1600 block of South Gold Street in Centralia.

RACING CARS

• Centralia police issued a citation to a driver spotted racing another motorist northbound on Tower Avenue about 9 o’clock last night. Brandon J. Weber, 25, of Centralia, was ticketed, according to the Centralia Police Department. The other car wasn’t found, police reported.

DRUGS

• A 22-year-old Centralia resident was arrested for possession of methamphetamine and an outstanding warrant after contact with a police officer about 10:50 a.m. yesterday on the 1300 block of Lakeshore Drive in Centralia. Spencer R. Barney was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department.

CHEHALIS MAN BOOKED FOR TOUCHING 14-YEAR-OLD

• Chehalis police arrested a 51-year-old Chehalis man on Sunday night following a report he inappropriately touched a 14-year-old girl at a Chehalis church several days earlier. Kurt B. Hartman was booked into the Lewis County Jail for third-degree child molestation, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

CHIMNEY FIRE IN CENTRALIA

• Firefighters spent about an hour last night at a Centralia home putting out a chimney fire. Riverside Fire Authority called about 9:30 p.m. to the Eshom Road residence put water inside the fireplace insert but found it continued to burn higher inside the chimney. They then attacked it from the roof with their “chimney nozzle”, according to Fire Capt. Greg Schwartz.

BAD CIRCUIT BREAKER SPARKED WEDNESDAY ROCHESTER HOUSE FIRE

• A fire on Wednesday that burned part of a Rochester home and destroyed its garage as well as a travel trailer appeared to be caused by an electrical issue in the trailer, according to West Thurston Regional Fire Authority Chief Robert Scott. The chief said the early morning blaze on the 13,000 block of Southwest 188th Avenue was related to a bad circuit breaker. Four people were displaced by the fire that burned the upper part of the single-story house and left substantial smoke damage.