Archive for August, 2012

Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Friday, August 24th, 2012

ASSAULT IN CENTRALIA

• Deputies are looking for a 27-year-old Centralia man after taking a report yesterday he grabbed his ex-girlfriend by the throat and punched her. A deputy called about 11:40 a.m. to the home on 100 block of Grant Street did not locate the suspect there, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

THREAT TO KILL

• A 59-year-old Centralia man was arrested yesterday for allegedly threatening to kill his grown daughter. Officers called about 12:30 p.m. to their home on the 500 block of South Rock Street booked Richard B. Goodwillie into the Lewis County Jail for felony harassment, according to the Centralia Police Department.

CARPORT BURGLARY

• Someone stole shovels, rakes and a gas can from inside a carport on the 2900 block of Sandra Avenue in Centralia, according to a report made to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office yesterday afternoon. A deputy who responded to the call learned a neighbor had seen a blue and black car parked across the way for about 30 minutes earlier in the morning, with its lights off, according to the sheriff’s office. Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown urges the public to go ahead and call 911 if they see something suspicious, such as a vehicle out of place or something that just doesn’t look right. It can help them solve crimes, Brown said. “We do not mind coming out to make sure everything is okay,” she said.

DRUGS

• A 32-year-old Chehalis woman was arrested for possession of a controlled substance after an officer who knew she had a warrant spotted her at Wal-Mart yesterday evening. The officer found syringes, a pipe and waxed paper with a brown residue on it suspected to be heroin, according to the Chehalis Police Department. Melissa C. Church was booked into the Lewis County Jail.

MARIJUANA: HAND IT OVER

• A Chehalis officer who stopped a driver for expired license tabs last night smelled marijuana coming from the vehicle and asked the driver to hand it over. “He said okay and pulled it out” and gave it to him, Deputy Sgt. Randy Kaut said. The motorist, Corey J. Malinak, 32, of Chehalis, was cited for misdemeanor possession of marijuana and sent on his way, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

LITTLEROCK HOUSE DESTROYED BY FIRE

• Eight fire departments responded to a house fire north of Littlerock early this morning. The two-story home, built in the 1880s, was vacant and described as a total loss. West Thurston Regional Fire Authority called at 5:50 a.m. to the blaze at 110th Avenue and little Rock Road, said nobody was injured. Neighbors report there may have been transients living at the property,” Fire Lt. Lanette Dyer stated in a news release. There was no electrical service to the home so it is suspicious, according to Dyer.

TELEMARKETING SCHEME TARGETS AREA SENIORS

The (Longview) Daily News reports a consumer warning yesterday about phone solicitors targeting seniors is based upon incidents from Lewis, Clark and Thurston counties in recent days. According to a news release from the state Attorney General’s Office, telemarketers selling reverse mortgages are posing as state agents offering a senior property tax relief program. “All seniors who receive these calls are advised to refrain from giving out personal information over the phone to someone they do not know,” the Attorney General’s Office advises. “Seniors should contact their county assessor offices to find out more about property tax relief programs and the Department of Veterans Affairs (1-800-562-2308) for veteran’s benefits.”

Read about husband in Ronda Reynolds’ case resigns school principal job …

Friday, August 24th, 2012

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

The (Longview) Daily News reports Ron Reynolds will resign his job as  principal of Toledo Elementary School at the end of the month under a settlement agreement approved last night.

Reynolds was put on leave after an October coroner’s inquest jury ruled unanimously his then-wife Ronda Reynolds’ 1998 death was homicide and named him and his son Jonathan as responsible. No charges were brought for lack of evidence.

News reporter Natalie St John writes the district said the community was not  interested in him being principal anymore; it will pay him $3,880 a month for three years in exchange for his resignation.

Read more here

News brief: Five Rochester teens injured when car hits boulders, rolls

Thursday, August 23rd, 2012

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

A car full of teenagers from Rochester were hurt when its speeding driver skidded off a road and rolled west of Little Rock this morning.

Two including the 17-year-old driver were transported to Providence St. Peter Hospital, two were taken to Providence Centralia Hospital and one sustained only a minor injury, according to the Washington State Patrol.

The driver, whose identity and home town were not released, suffered a head injury, according to the state patrol. Possible charges are pending.

Troopers were called about 5:30 a.m. to the scene at Bordeaux Road near Marksman road, according to the state patrol.

The 1985 Nissan 300 was heading northwest at a high rate and approaching a right hand curve when the driver hit the brakes, left the roadway to the left and hit a ditch and large boulders before rolling over, according to the investigating trooper. The car came to rest on its driver’s side.

Drugs or alcohol are not believed to be involved.

The four passengers and their injuries are identified as:

• Caleb Samuel Capo, 17, leg injuries
• Coy Forrest Belanger, 16, internal injuries
• Miranda R. Leaming, 15, back injuries
• Ryan Eugene Carter, 17, minor unspecified injury

News brief: Out of control driver exits Interstate 5 into Centralia pasture

Thursday, August 23rd, 2012

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

A Longview motorist got a laceration on his head and a DUI after he wrecked on Interstate 5 in Centralia today and launched off the right shoulder, through a ditch, over a side road and drove approximately 500 feet into a field.

It happened about 2:30 p.m. beginning in the southbound lanes near milepost 80, according to the Washington State Patrol.

His 1996 Ford pickup truck was totaled.

According to the state patrol, Tony R. Wyatt, 52, struck the inside concrete barrier and continued along it for about 100 feet before swerving right and hitting a semi truck. His pickup became broadside and accelerated sharply to the west crossing AIrport Way, the patrol reported.

Drugs or alcohol were involved, the investigating trooper noted.

The big rig left the scene before a trooper arrived.

Wyatt was taken by aid to Providence Centralia Hospital for treatment, according to the state patrol.

Maurin homicide: Riffe pleads not guilty, his attorney hints at proof

Thursday, August 23rd, 2012
2012.0823.rickyriffe.arraign_2

A jail guard directs accused killer Ricky Riffe to his seat in Lewis County Superior Court.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Ricky Allen Riffe arrived before a full court room gallery today, his gray hair and beard trimmed up for his arraignment in the kidnap and slaying of an elderly Ethel couple.

Riffe, 53, has been held on $5 million bail in the 1985 deaths of Ed and Minnie Maurin. He was just arrested last month in Alaska.

“Not guilty,” Riffe repeated seven times looking toward the Lewis County Superior Court judge who asked for his pleas.

His lawyer, Seattle-based John Crowley, indicated as they began to schedule a trial and other dates, he had yet to receive any police reports from the prosecutor’s office.

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Ed and Minnie Maurin

Senior Deputy Prosecutor Will Halstead stepped up and handed over a portable computer storage device he said contained 12,000 pages of discovery.

The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office has investigated and reinvestigated the case since December 1985 when the Maurins vanished from their home on U.S. Highway 12 and their bodies turned up days later off a logging road outside Adna.

Authorities believe the couple was taken from their house, forced to drive to their bank and withdraw money, before being shot in the backs and dumped.

Riffe and his younger brother who recently died have long been suspects. They moved to Alaska in 1987.

The former heavy equipment operator, through his attorney, denies any involvement.

Five sheriff’s detectives joined three jail guards in the crowded Chehalis courtroom, in part to keep an eye on family members from both sides of the case.

“You know, emotions get going. We don’t want to see anything happen,” sheriff’s detective Sgt. Dusty Breen said.

Riffe is charged with two counts each of first-degree murder, first-degree kidnapping and first-degree robbery, as well as one count of burglary.

Numerous aggravating circumstances are alleged including particularly vulnerable victims and deliberate cruelty. Ed Maurin was 81 years old, his wife 83.

Crowley spoke with news reporters after the short hearing and hinted at new evidence that could support his client’s innocence, but said he wasn’t prepared to reveal any details.

“This is an issue that’s developed, it’s quite interesting,” Crowley said.

The lawyer said he was contacted about a week ago by a woman who knows a lot of details about the situation.

“I talked to her for the better part of an hour,” he said. “I talked to Ricky about it, and he started crying.”

The trial was set for the week of Oct. 8. Crowley expressed his doubt he could be prepared that soon, given the thousands of documents involved.
•••

For more background, read:

• “Breaking news: Sheriff: Cold case solved in 1985 shooting death of elderly Ethel couple” from Monday July 9, 2012 at 9:13 a.m., here

• “Sheriff: It’s safe for further witnesses to come forward following arrest in deaths of Ethel couple” from Monday July 9, 2012 at 5:14 p.m., here

• “Maurin homicide: Accused murderer’s lawyer says no new evidence in old case” from Thursday July 26, 2012, here

• “Maurin homicide: “He definitely did not do it” from Tuesday July 31, 2012, here

Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Thursday, August 23rd, 2012

BURGLARY ARREST IN CHEHALIS

• A 22-year-old Chehalis man as arrested yesterday evening for burglary in connection with as much as $3,000 worth of tools and other items stolen from the 700 block of South Gold Street. Suspected methamphetamine and a pill were found when Richard E. Engel was searched, according to the Chehalis Police Department. He was booked into the Lewis County Jail, Officer Linda Bailey said.

CENTRALIA HOME BURGLARY

• Police were called just before noon yesterday about a burglary at a home on the 1000 block of Roosevelt Street in Centralia. Missing were electronics and jewelry, according to the Centralia Police Department.

STOLEN GOODS SOLD TO PAWN SHOP

• Centralia police arrested a 51-year-old California man yesterday for allegedly pawning unspecified items stolen from the 1200 block of Alder Street. Marcus Middlebrooks was booked into the Lewis County Jail for trafficking in stolen property, according to the Centralia Police Department.

STOLEN VEHICLE ABANDONED

• A vehicle stolen from Centralia was located yesterday evening abandoned at the 1000 block of Brotherson Road in Centralia. The Saturn which apparently had been there about two weeks appeared to have been rifled through but not stripped, according to the Centralia Police Department.

CAR PROWLS

• Chehalis police took a report yesterday afternoon of a car prowl that may have occurred while the victim was parked at the post office on Northwest Cascade Avenue. Missing from a backpack out of an unlocked vehicle were an iPad and garage door opener, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

• A deputy took a report yesterday of a vehicle prowl that apparently occurred on July 29 at a Chevron station on the 12000 block of U.S. Highway 12 in Packwood. The woman said there were young people in the parking lot when she went inside to pay and subsequently discovered binoculars, a National Geographic bird book and a pack missing from her vehicle.

FAKE PRESCRIPTION

• A 29-year-old man was arrested yesterday afternoon after he allegedly attempted to fill a forged prescription of Oxycontin, for a friend, at a pharmacy on the 1200 block of Harrison Avenue in Centralia. Jeromy Freitas, of Graham, was booked into the Lewis County jail for forgery and identity theft, according to the Centralia Police Department.

REPEAT GRAFFITI

• The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office took a report yesterday from a 65-year-old man on the 1600 block of Windsor Avenue in Centralia who found orange spray-painted graffiti on his garage doors, just two weeks after painting over similar graffiti. The lettering makes note of “South side” and “White PPL,” according to the sheriff’s office. On the same street another resident yesterday found an orange swastika an reference to “white power” on their garage, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said.

DEER 1, TRUCK 0

• A 30-year-old driver escaped injury when he totaled his 1990 Ford Ranger after he swerved to miss a deer on the 300 block of Henriott Road near Toledo yesterday. A deputy called about 10:30 a.m. found the truck grazed a telephone pole and went into a ditch, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

SMALL FIRE BREAKS OUT AT CHEHALIS PLANT

• Three fire departments converged on Draper Valley Farms’ plant at West Main Street and State Avenue in Chehalis about 3 p.m. yesterday for a fire call. It was a small  electrical fire in a unit in a loft up above, according to the Chehalis Fire Department. It was still sparking when firefighters arrived but workers there had it mostly put out, Fire Capt. Ted McCarty said. Crews used a dry-chemical fire extinguisher to finish it off, according to McCarty.

COWLITZ  DEPUTY CORONER ACCUSED OF STEALING FROM DEAD MAN

• The (Longview) Daily News reports a deputy coroner in Cowlitz County has been arrested for allegedly using a dead man’s debit card to steal nearly $12,000. News reporter Leslie Slape writes that Jeffrey W. Hart, 44, of Castle Rock, said he was tempted because of severe financial problems and thought he could get away with it since the coroner’s office was having difficulty locating the dead man’s relatives. Hart was fired. Read about it, here

Firearm-enhanced mole trap shoots Randle man

Thursday, August 23rd, 2012

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

An accident with a homemade mole trap fashioned from part of a 12-gauge shotgun injured a Randle resident yesterday when it shot him in the leg.

Aid and deputies were called about 3:40 p.m. to the man’s home on the 10,000 block of U.S. Highway 12.

The 59-year-old man said he had caught a mole with the trap in his front yard and was setting it up over a hole in his backyard when it tipped over on the slope and discharged, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

The device consisted of a shotgun barrel mounted on a metal plate and used a spring activation system with 12-gauge shells, according to the sheriff’s office.

The man was able to go inside his home and call 911, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said.

He was transported to  Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. The injury to his right knee was not life threatening, but potentially disabling, Brown said.