Lewis County Sirens.com

Updated at 1:40 p.m.

“RAGING” MOTORIST TASED AFTER NEAR MISS OF POLICE OFFICER

• A 22-year-old man was taken into custody after he allegedly nearly ran down a Chehalis police officer yesterday who was walking downtown. Chehalis police said the car was driving the wrong way when Sgt. Gwen Carrell told him to stop. “According to her, he swerved at her and she had to jump out of the way,” Sgt. Rick McNamara said. It happened about 12:15 p.m. When Carrell and Chief Glenn Schaffer subsequently contacted the driver at the Jackpot on Main Street, he was agitated and raging and wouldn’t comply with their commands, so a Taser was deployed, McNamara said. The man, from Olympia, was taken to Providence Centralia Hospital for an unspecified reason and has not yet been arrested or booked, according to McNamara. “I don’t really know what was wrong with him,” McNamara said.

PET RABBITS KILLED IN CHEHALIS

• Chehalis police were called just after 6 p.m. yesterday to a home on the 100 block of Southwest 11th Street when a woman discovered someone had taken her pet rabbit out its cage, killed it and left it in the yard. A hole was ripped in the cage,  according to the Chehalis Police Department. The woman said it’s the second time this has happened, according to police. “She said she has no idea of who could have done it or why,” Officer Linda Bailey said.  How the animal was killed isn’t clear, there was no blood, Bailey said.

COPPER WIRE HEIST

• The sheriff’s office is investigating a break-in at a business storage area in which a spool with 2000 feet of three-strand insulated solid core copper wire was stolen. It happened at Avery Road East and Keasling Road south of Chehalis sometime between July 1 and Wednesday but was reported yesterday, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The loss is estimated at $15,000, according to Cmdr. Steve Aust.

FIREARM THEFT

• Someone stole a 9 mm pistol from an unlocked vehicle parked on the 1200 block of Long Road in Centralia sometime between midnight and 10 a.m. yesterday, according to the Lewis County Sherif’s Office. A deputy was told the SCCY Industries semi-automatic had been tucked between the seats of the vehicle parked at a residence.

BICYCLIST FLEES WITH SHOPLIFTED BEER

• Centralia police suspect a 48-year-old Centralia man stole beer from a store and fled on his bicycle yesterday afternoon. An officer called about 2:30 p.m. to the 600 block of North Tower Avenue did not find the suspect, but will issue a summons for third-degree theft for him, according to the Centralia Police Department.

PINK-HAIRED SHOPLIFTER SOUGHT

• Police took a report about 10 a.m. yesterday of a pink-haired female and 6-foot tall male shoplifting clothing from a store on the 1400 block of Lum Road in Centralia.

WHEELS AND TIRES TAKEN

• Centralia police were called about 8:30 a.m. yesterday to the 1100 block of Caveness Drive where tires and wheels from a vehicle had been stolen sometime during the previous week.

GRAFFITI

• Police were called around 12:45 p.m. yesterday to a report of graffiti painted on a building a the 400 block of South Iron Street in Centralia.

TATTOO INVESTIGATION

• Centralia police took a report yesterday morning alleging child abuse related regarding a father allowing his children to get tattoos. The case is under investigation, according to the Centralia Police Department. Sgt. Stacy Denham said police were called by the parent of the Centralia boy’s friend about a dragon tattoo on his chest and a little heart on his ankle. The boy is believed to be between the ages of 12 and 14, Denham said. Whether a crime occurred or even if it occurred in their jurisdiction is something officers are communicating with prosecutors about, Denham said.

Updated at 6:51 p.m.

THWARTED SCAM

• Chehalis police were called yesterday to Safeway when an employee got suspicious about a transaction a woman in her early 70s was attempting to conduct. The woman was apparently selling a time-share in Hawaii and she was wiring a buyer money and the buyer said he was going to mail her a check, according to the Chehalis Police Department. An arriving officer phoned the buyer who immediately hung up on him, Sgt. Gwen Carrell said. When the buyer then phoned the woman and the police officer answered, the man hung up again, Carrell said.

RECOVERED VEHICLES

• Centralia police yesterday afternoon recovered a Honda stolen last week. It was found abandoned in a parking lot with its ignition “punched,” according to the Centralia Police Department

• A 2009 Audi reported missing about 12:40 a.m. Sunday from Panisco Road near Cinebar was found just after 1 a.m. in the parking lot at Wal-Mart in Chehalis, according to police. The 49-year-old roommate of its owner was sleeping in the car and arrested and booked into jail. He is to be released from jail pending further investigation.

SHORT POLICE CHASE

• A 45-year-old Chehalis man was arrested for attempting to elude after a brief pursuit by police abut 11:40 p.m. on Friday that began near Fair Street in Chehalis. The pursuit was terminated but the officer soon came upon a trooper with Scott R. Mullins who had wrecked near Kresky Avenue and Summa Street, according to Sgt. Gwen Carrell. Mullins was released from jail yesterday afternoon.

THEFT

• Police took a report around noon yesterday about plywood stolen from a residence under renovation at the 400 block of South Tower Avenue in Centralia.

TOLEDO FIRE

• Three fire departments were dispatched just before 11 o’clock last night to a mobile home fire near Toledo. Lewis County Fire District 2 Capt. Tracy Summers said when they arrived to the 200 block of Kangas Road, flames were rolling out a window on one end. He described the trailer as a complete loss. Nobody was living in it, but the woman on the property used it as her sewing house, he said. No injuries were reported. Summers said it appeared to have originated near the circuit box.

MORTON RESIDENT SCAMMED OUT OF $6,000

• An elderly Morton man was tricked into sending thousands of dollars to an individual pretending to be from a law enforcement agency in Canada, who claimed the Morton man’s grown daughter had been arrested and needed $2,000 bail money. The man contacted the Morton Police Department last week after he realized what happened, Chief Dan Mortensen said. The victim got the first phone call about two days earlier telling him his grown daughter was in jail for driving under the influence and possessing marijuana, according to Mortensen. “They actually put him on the telephone with a person who identified herself as his daughter,” Mortensen said. “She sounded like his daughter, and called him a name she calls him.” Then the Morton man, whose name was not released, was called a second time and told something went wrong, so he needed to send another $2,000, the chief said. He was told to send it to Puerto Rico, because “the bail bondsman were all at a conference there.” A third phone call asked for $2,000 more for airfare so she could get home, he said. “I think at the time, the light came on,” Mortensen said. The man’s real daughter was on vacation, according to Mortensen. The chief said it’s a scam that’s been been going on for quite some time. The money is gone, the chief said. He had no expectation the Morton Police Department or any law enforcement agency could help the victim get it back, since the money was sent out of the country, he said.