Lewis County Sirens.com

Updated at 5:10 p.m.

BUSINESS BURGLARS

• Two mornings in a row, Centralia police have responded to burglaries at businesses in which cash was stolen. An officer checking out an alarm about 3:10 a.m. today at the 2300 block of North Pearl Street found the building had been broken into. Yesterday morning about 8:30, an officer was called to a business on the 200 block of South Pearl Street for a burglary as well, according to the Centralia Police Department.

MAN BITES GIRLFRIEND

• Police were called just before 7 o’clock yesterday morning to the 100 block of Virginia Drive in Centralia where a female said her 21-year-old boyfriend bit her in the shoulder. An officer was told it happened during an argument about him not wanting to get up with the baby, according to Centralia police. He left before police arrived, police said.

OUT OF CONTROL AT GREEN HILL

• A 16-year-old student at Green Hill School for boys is in trouble after he allegedly kicked, punched and spit at six staff members who were trying to place him in solitary on Sunday afternoon, according to the Chehalis Police Department. The case will be referred for possible charges of third-degree assault, Sgt. Gwen Carrell said.

FRAUD

• A 43-year-old Lincoln Creek area resident called the sheriff’s office yesterday to report she discovered her bank debit card was compromised online. An unknown individual somehow used her card to make a purchase from a business in Maine, totaling $378.06, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

HOME BURGLARY

• Two rifles, an X-Box and hunting gear were missing after a burglary on the 200 block of Schoonover Road near Mossyrock, according to the lewis County Sheriff’s Office. A deputy was told it happened sometime between Wednesday and Sunday, according to the sheriff’s office.

GIRLS RACING

• Two women allegedly caught racing on South Pearl Street near Centralia College were cited after being contacted by an officer about 10:20 p.m. yesterday.

OOPS

• A 21-year-old Olympia man, Blake G. Moreland, was arrested for driving under the influence when he was spotted traveling the wrong direction on North National Avenue in Chehalis just after 1 o’clock on Sunday morning, the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reported yesterday.

VANDALISM

• Police were called just after 5 p.m. yesterday about tires slashed on the 1400 block of Logan Street in Centralia. An officer took a similar report a few hours earlier at the 400 block of North Oak Street, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• Chehalis police were called yesterday morning to R.E. Bennett Elementary School where someone had spray painted a large swath of the backside of the building with graffiti. Similar graffiti was found on a business nearby on the 100 block of South Market Boulevard, according to the Chehalis Police Department. Sgt. Gwen Carrell said she could not decipher the gray-blue lettering.

EXPLODING MAIL BOX

• Somebody blew up a mail box on the 100 block of Cousins Road outside Chehalis causing grass and a tree to catch on fire, the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reported yesterday. A deputy called early Sunday morning was told it occurred about 11 p.m. the night before, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

PLASTIC GUN PICKED UP BY POLICE

• Chehalis police were called when someone found a small black handgun on a garbage container outside the St. Helens Apartments on North Market Boulevard on Saturday morning. It turned out to be a toy and was taken into lost and found, according to Chehalis police.

WATER PLAY

• Chehalis police were called just before midnight on Saturday about individuals dancing in the fountain in front of the library downtown. It appeared they had put soap in it. No arrests were made.

GRASS FIRE

• The Chehalis Fire Department was called about 9 p.m. yesterday to a grass fire at Southwest Newaukum Avenue and Sylvenus Street. It was knocked down in about 10 minutes, according to Fire Capt. Casey Beck.

CELL PHONE TRACKING EASY TO DO

• KOMOnews.com went to an award ceremony in Chehalis yesterday to tell the story of a 5-year-old boy who two weeks ago called 911 to get help for his ailing father. The Centralia boy, Quincy Hall, didn’t know his address but did know how to call for help. Read how dispatchers quickly found his location using tracking information from the cell phone the child used. See their video here

• The Seattle Times published a story yesterday about how cell phone companies are responding to thousands of requests each day from police for customer’s locations, text messages and call details, frequently without warrants and not just in emergencies. Read more here

A Toyota Prius, of course, can't clear the underside of a flatbed trailer. / Courtesy photo

CAR SLAMS INTO SIDE OF FLATBED TRAILER ON SR 508

• A collision on the east side of the state Route 508 South Fork Newaukum Bridge early yesterday morning destroyed a Toyota Prius that slammed into the side of a trailer being pulled by a dump truck that was turning around on the highway. Aid called about 2:15 a.m. found the impact into the flatbed trailer sheered off much of the driver’s side of the car, according to Lewis County Fire District 1. The driver and his female passenger amazingly suffered only minor injuries, Fire Chief Mark Conner said. Conner said the truck driver realized he was over the weight limit for the bridge and was turning around. The speed limit is 55 mph there. The driver had an injury to his left leg, he said. They were taken to Providence Centralia Hospital. The bridge, about five miles east of Onalaska, was shut down about two weeks ago because of significant corrosion and was reopened with weight limits until it can be repaired.

JUST A LITTLE ROAD RASH ON US HIGHWAY 12

• Lewis County Fire District 3 was called about 11:30 a.m. yesterday to a motorcycle wreck on U.S. Highway 12 about two miles west of Mossyrock. The motorcyclist hit a piece of wood in the roadway, laid his motorcycle down and narrowly missed striking a guardrail, according to Fire Chief Doug Fosburg. His motorcycle was destroyed but he was very lucky, the chief said. “He was able to walk away,” Fosburg said. “He was wearing all the proper safety gear, including a helmet.” The man, who was with a group of riders the chief thought was from Tacoma, declined aid, he said.

POLICE SEEK KNIFE WIELDING BOYFRIEND

• Police are looking for a 52-year-old man who fled his north Centralia home Friday night bleeding after his girlfriend struck him in the head with a  wine bottle. Police were told Gerardo R. Espinosa threatened his live-in girlfriend with a knife at the 1500 block of Windsor Avenue. The bottle to the head gave her time to call 911 but Espinosa left, according to the Centralia Police Department. A track was conducted with a police dog, but Espinosa’s scent was lost about a quarter of a mile away near a friend’s house, Sgt. Stacy Denham said. Police think someone gave him a ride away, Denham said. The 45-year-old girlfriend was not injured, but he is wanted for first-degree assault, according to Denham.

VEHICLE STOLEN AND STRIPPED

• Centralia police were called about 5 p.m. yesterday about a vehicle that was stolen from a home and then subsequently found stripped in connection with an address on the 800 block of Long Road in Centralia.

THEFT

• Police were called yesterday morning about two Stihl chainsaws stolen about 10:30 a.m. from the 700 block of North Pearl Street.

• Police took a report about 12:15 a.m. today that a video camera was stolen from a business on the 800 block of B Street in Centralia.

CAR PROWL

• Centralia police took a report from the 300 block of East Pine Street that someone got inside a vehicle and stole the title and an insurance card sometime between last Tuesday and Wednesday.

CHILD FALLS INTO CAMP FIRE

• A 2-year-old boy was hospitalized after he fell into a campfire at Rainbow Falls State Park off state Route 6 west of Chehalis. Lewis County Fire District 11 Chief Michael Krafczyk said aid was called about 7:10 p.m. on Friday to the park. “He burned the palm of his hand and his knee but I don’t know the extent of his burns,” Krafczyk said, noting he did not personally respond to the call. The child was transported to Providence Centralia Hospital, the chief said.

Updated at 5:08 p.m.

PE ELL GARAGE BURNS

• Firefighters in Pe Ell had to tear the entire tin roof from a large two-story garage yesterday to extinguish a fire that snuck up a wall into the roofline. Crews from Lewis County Fire Districts 11, 13 and 16 were called about 3:25 p.m. to the building on Pe Ell Avenue near the school, District 11 Chief Michael Krafczyk said. They saved all the contents, which were a little bit wet, Krafczyk said. It appeared to have begun on the exterior, but the cause is undetermined, according to the chief.

ANNOYING HITCHHIKER

• Chehalis police arrested a 25-year-old man last night who witnesses said was rolling around in the street on Chamber of Commerce Way. Officers called just before 11 p.m. were told he was also stopping cars and trying to get inside. Chief Deputy Randy Kaut said it appeared the individual just wanted a ride and his way of doing that was just really aggressive. Donald B. Lindberg, of Chehalis, was arrested and booked for disorderly conduct, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

THEFT

• Chehalis police were called yesterday afternoon to an unoccupied building on Northeast Meridian Street where the owner said someone had been inside and stripped it of an estimated $30,000 worth of copper piping.

• A Mossyrock man called the sheriff’s office yesterday after someone used his PayPal online service to make a purchase that morning of more than $900. The 66-year-old victim was alerted by PayPal and subsequently was able to prevent the iPad from being shipped, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Deputies have suspect information, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said.

• Police were called about 10:45 a.m. yesterday to a business on the 400 block of Union Street in Centralia about an overnight burglary. An unspecified amount of cash was stolen, according to the Centralia Police Department. Further details were unavailable.

• A pressure washer and battery-powered weed eater were among the items stolen from a covered area at the 2300 block of Eureka Avenue in Centralia sometime between Wednesday night and Thursday morning, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• A Lacey man who allegedly wheeled a shopping cart with two vacuum cleaners out of Wal-Mart without paying fled on foot when an employee tried to stop him yesterday afternoon. Police called about 5:45 p.m. to the retailer on Louisiana Avenue subsequently found Daniel P. Jacobson, 30, and arrested him for third-degree theft, according to the Chehalis Police Department. The cart was ditched before he ran, according to Deputy Chief Randy Kaut. Jacobson was booked into the Lewis County Jail. Kaut said vacuum cleaners continue to be a hot item for shoplifters, perhaps because they are a high-priced product that can be resold or returned at another location.

• A deputy took a report last night that sometime during the past week someone stole a sign from the end of the driveway at the 600 block of Cannon Road in Packwood. The wood sign painted with white lettering reads “Moon Mountain Lodging,” according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

• A 25-year-old Centralia man was arrested overnight for vehicle prowl after he allegedly removed a fire extinguisher from a large military vehicle that was on a rail car in north Centralia. A officer contacted Matthew T. Owen about 1:50 a.m. on North Delaware Avenue and Fulton Street, according to police. He and a companion, Joshua D. Clark, 22, Centralia, were both also arrested for trespass, according to the Centralia Police Department. They were then released.

VANDALISM

• Chehalis police were called yesterday morning about what looks like gang graffiti spray painted on the side of downtown building that houses the office of criminal defense attorney Bob Schroeter. Deputy Chief Randy Kaut said it appeared someone climbed on a roof to leave their mark up high and visible on the 400 block of North Market Boulevard, but didn’t seem to be targeting anyone specifically.

• Two tires were slashed on a vehicle parked on the 100 block of South Tower Avenue in Centralia, according to a report made about 1:40 a.m. today.

WRECKS

• A 2001 International fire truck sustained major damage when a driver-in-training failed to negotiate a curve, lost control and rolled it yesterday afternoon south of Ethel. The crew of three from the state Department of Natural Resources were unhurt, but taken to Morton General Hospital for evaluation, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. It happened about 4 p.m. on the 1300 block of Spencer Road, near the fish hatchery, according to responders. Lewis County Fire District 8 Chief Duran McDaniel said the truck was on its top in the ditch but its occupants were out when he arrived. Sheriff’s Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said it appeared the 18-year-old driver missed a gear, causing excessive speed. He was cited for “wheels off the roadway,” she said. The three are from Morton.

• Two drivers escaped serious injuries when their semi-trucks collided overnight on Interstate 5 just south of Vader in Cowlitz County. One of them, a 2007 International truck and trailer, was totaled when the driver dozed off and he ran into the back of a 2006 Mack truck hauling two trailers, according to the Washington State Patrol. They were both southbound about 2:30 a.m. when it happened, the state patrol reported. Harry Minges, 63, of Des Moines suffered leg injuries but declined aid, according to the investigating trooper. He was to be cited for second-degree negligent driving. The other truck was able to be driven from the scene.

• Centralia police say they were called about 12:25 p.m. yesterday when a vehicle ran into a building on the 1200 block of Lum Road and then left. Further details were unavailable.

• Police and aid were called about 9:50 a.m. yesterday when a van drove through a yard and came to rest at the front door of a house on South Gold and East Chestnut streets. The driver reportedly nearly struck an off duty police officer’s vehicle as well, according to Centralia police. Mitchell W. Sinclair, 43, of Chehalis, declined aid and was booked for driving on a suspended license and several outstanding warrants, according to authorities.

Van travels through fence and up to front door in Centralia. / Courtesy photo