Archive for April, 2013

Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Tuesday, April 23rd, 2013

Updated at 6:59 p.m.

DRUG BUST AT CHEHALIS HOUSE

• A 36-year-old Chehalis man was arrested at his home yesterday morning following an ongoing investigation into drug sales. A half dozen law enforcement officers arrived about 9 a.m. with a search warrant at the single family residence on the 500 block of Southwest William Avenue, according to the Chehalis Police Department. Three individuals were detained but police arrested only Jonathan A. O’Connor, for multiple counts of delivery of methamphetamine, detective Sgt. Gary Wilson said. The case regarding his 36-year-old girlfriend is being referred to prosecutors for evaluation of a possible charge of conspiracy to deliver drugs, Wilson said. Officers found minimal amounts of suspected meth, but confiscated packaging materials and scales, which suggest drug dealing, according to police.

THEFT OF CRIME STOPPERS SIGN

• Someone stole the Crime Stoppers sign right off its posts in Morton. It was near the 400 block of Second Street and police are looking for tips as to where it is now. Chief Dan Mortensen asks anyone with information to call Lewis County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-748-6422.

GARAGE AND TOOL LOOTING

• A weed eater, a power saw and motorcycle gear were reported missing yesterday from a garage on the 200 block of North Oak Street in Centralia. The theft occurred sometime during the previous couple of days, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• Police were called about 1:50 p.m. yesterday regarding tools missing from the front porch of a residence on the 800 block of Woodland Avenue in Centralia.

CAUGHT INSIDE VACANT HOME

• Centralia police arrested two women yesterday afternoon for allegedly breaking a window and entering an unoccupied home on the 200 block of West Magnolia Street. The 22-year-old and the 48-year-old were booked into the Lewis County Jail for second-degree burglary, but both were released without charges today pending further investigation.

BOOZE RUNS

• A 48-year-old woman was caught just before noon yesterday trying to steal a bottle of vodka from a store on the 500 block of South Tower Avenue in Centralia and then later around 8 p.m., a pair of males each shoplifted an 18-pack of beer from a business on the 1300 block of South Gold Street, according to the Centralia Police Department.

WRONG PEDAL PROBLEM

• Police officers were called about 7:25 p.m. yesterday to the 1200 block of Johnson Road in Centralia after a driver inadvertently stepped on the gas pedal while backing up and ended up hitting a vehicle, a travel trailer, a garage and two fences, according to the Centralia Police Department. The driver’s injuries were minor, according to police.

THOSE SNEAKY DEVILS

• Centralia police were called at 7 a.m. yesterday to the 100 block of Virginia Drive where a female said someone was deflating the tires on her car. They were called back to the same area just before 2 o’clock this morning where a male discovered someone had let the air out of one if his tires.

LEADERSHIP CHANGE AT RURAL CHEHALIS FIRE DISTRICT

• Longtime volunteer firefighter Jim Martin was recently sworn in as an interim commissioner for Lewis County Fire District 6. The 41-year-old rural Chehalis resident ran unsuccessfully for the position in 2011. Martin said he replaces Greg Pulver, who resigned his post to work outside the area. When he ran against now-Commissioner Kirk Johnston in 2011, the two men indicated neither would be very upset if the other won, as they shared many of the same views on how to run the department. Martin says he plans to run in November for a permanent six-year-term. He said he intends to continue as a volunteer firefighter-EMT. “My main focus is steering, to help steer, the district in the future, as one of three commissioners,” he said.

FLAMES LIGHT UP WINLOCK SKY

• A 30-foot long fifth wheel trailer burned last night south of Winlock and the cause is under investigation. Firefighters from four departments were called to the 9:15 p.m. call to a back field northwest of the intersection of state Route 505 and North Military Road, according to Lewis County Fire District 15. “It was fully involved when we got there,” District 15 Firefighter-EMT Patrick Jacobson said this morning. State Route 505 was shut down for about 30 minutes, because of the large number of fire trucks, he said. Nobody was living in the trailer and nobody was injured, Jacobson said. It didn’t seem suspicious, he said.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, misdemeanor assault; responses for burglar alarms, fender bender, found drug paraphernalia, noisy neighbors; complaints of disputes … and more.

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Fifth wheel trailer burns in Winlock / Courtesy photo

Read about cause of death remains elusive for body found three years ago near Toledo …

Tuesday, April 23rd, 2013

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

The (Longview) Daily News reports a police investigation suggests the man whose body was found three years ago on property near Toledo may have committed suicide, but the cause could remain officially undetermined because a key piece of evidence – his head – was missing.

Travis Seeber was 35 years old when he went missing in 2008 while he was a suspect in an attempted sexual assault of a teenage babysitter south of Winlock. His truck, with his driver’s license on the seat, was found by law enforcement soon after abandoned off Cougar Lane.

The identity of the remains was only finally confirmed this year by DNA. Seeber was described by the coroner as a resident of Toledo and by the sheriff’s office as living in Winlock.

News reporter Natalie St. John writes one of the interviewees told deputies he believed Seeber committed suicide to avoid going back to prison and others said he was an IV meth user who was “whacked” out the night of the incident with the 18-year-old girl.

Read about it here

News brief: Blaze destroys Littlerock business

Tuesday, April 23rd, 2013
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A cinder block building burns behind the remaining structural pieces of a different building, which was destroyed by fire many years ago.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

An early morning fire gutted a former mill in Littlerock.

About 25 firefighters responded to the call just after 5 a.m. to the 6500 block of 128th Avenue Southwest, according to West Thurston Regional Fire Authority.

The roof of the large cinderblock building collapsed and a live power pole ignited, according to department spokesperson Lanette Dyer.

“Nothing in there is salvageable,” Dyer said.

Dyer said the 40 foot by 60 foot structure was a wood mill at one time and she believes it is currently used for welding and some type of fabrication. She didn’t know the name of the business.

Crews remain on the scene cooling the debris down with water and expect to be there all day, she said.

The cause is unknown, but didn’t appear suspicious, she said.

Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Monday, April 22nd, 2013

Updated at 6:56 p.m.

SHOE BOX SCARE AT CENTRALIA CITY HALL

• Police shut down a portion of North Pearl Street in Centralia after a small box was discovered sitting on a sidewalk next to City Hall, specifically outside police department offices, at about 9 a.m. this morning. Bomb technicians from the Washington State Patrol were summoned, who X-rayed what Police Chief Bob Berg said he thought was a shoe box, finding it empty. Nobody was evacuated, but personnel moved to a different part of the building, Berg said. The chief said it was sitting atop an access grate. The street was reopened about 11:45 a.m.

FIREFIGHTERS EVACUATE CHEHALIS MOVIE THEATER

• Firefighters summoned last night about a smokey haze inside the movie theater in Chehalis searched the building and finally discovered the transformer that feeds a neon sign above the concession stand had shorted out. Employees suspected it was the popcorn machine and didn’t evacuate the building until after firefighters arrived, according to Chehalis Fire Department Capt. Rob Gebhart. The call to the Midway Cinemas on Northeast Hampe Way came about 8:30 p.m., he said. After a manager noticed the sign wasn’t illuminated, crews found the charred wiring, Gebhart said. Gebhart said workers asked movie-goers in each of the theaters to exit the building, and estimated some 50 customers waited outside for 10 to 15 minutes before they were allowed back in. Gebhart said it was odd in that the incident didn’t trip the circuit breaker, but an electrician was going to come out today.

REALLY? ON VOICE MAIL?

• A 27-year-old Winlock man was jailed on Friday after he allegedly left voice messages for his girlfriend of five years following their break up saying he would kill her and dispose of her body where it wouldn’t be found. Ross C. Lawrence was contacted and arrested for felony harassment, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

BUSTING IN TO THE MASONIC TEMPLE

• Chehalis police were called just after 7 a.m. yesterday when someone observed a subject break through the front door window of the Masonic temple on the 100 block of West Main Street. Arriving officers searched the building and found a trail of blood – presumably from a glass cut – leading out the back door, according to the Chehalis Police Department. Nothing was taken, detective Sgt. Gary Wilson said.

SNEAKING INTO GIRL’S HOUSE

• Police were called about 7 p.m. on Saturday when someone saw a subject crawl through an upstairs window at a neighbor’s home on the 600 block of Southwest Pacific Avenue in Chehalis. Officers caught a 15-year-old boy coming back out the window, police said. It was his former girlfriend’s house, nobody was home at the time and the teenager was booked into the Lewis County Juvenile Detention Center for burglary. Detective Sgt. Gary Wilson said he didn’t know what the teen was doing there.

GLENOMA BURGLARY

• A deputy was called about 1 p.m. on Saturday to the 7500 block of U.S. Highway 12 in Glenoma where someone had gone into a mostly empty residence and stole a blanket, pillows, a fishing vest, jumper cables and a Garth Brooks CD collection, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

COINS, CURRENCY MISSING FROM CENTRALIA HOME

• A 45-year-old Centralia man called the sheriff’s office to his home on the 1500 block of North Pearl Street in Centralia on Friday afternoon after discovering someone had got into his gun safe and stolen numerous collectible currency and coins, including a Kennedy half dollar. No forced entry was found into the residence or the safe, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The loss is estimated at $500.

DRUGS

• A 31-year-old Centralia man was arrested in Centralia on Friday in connection with an ongoing Chehalis Police Department investigation into alleged drug dealing. Joseph L. Nickols was booked into the Lewis County jail for delivery of drugs and also possession of a controlled substance because he had a patch of Fentanyl – a potent pain medication –  without a prescription, detective Sgt. Gary WIlson said.

ALLEGED VANDALS CAPTURED

• Centralia police arrested three teenage boys after they were caught spray painting graffiti on a business at the 1900 block of North Pearl Street in Centralia yesterday afternoon. Further details were not readily available.

GRILL TAMPERING

• Centralia police were called about 3:50 a.m. today to the 500 block of North Pearl Street where an unknown subject apparently had entered a fenced area, turned on the propane to someone’s gas grill and then left.

WRECK

• A 17-year-old Mossyrock girl escaped with minor injuries when  she lost control of her car on the 400 block of Salmon Creek Road, traveled down an embankment, impacted a tree and landed on its top on Friday night, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The girl said it happened about 9 p.m. and she walked home, according to the sheriff’s office. Her Ford Focus was totaled, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said. She was cited for wheels off the roadway and will likely be in trouble for driving with a suspended license, the sheriff’s office reported.

FROM THE COURTHOUSE

• The man who found himself shot when he confronted a resident inside an unlocked rural Chehalis home one night in February has pleaded guilty and apologized for what he did. Brian L. Creed, 51, was high on methamphetamine when he encountered an armed and just-awakened young man inside the manufactured home on the 400 block of Highway 603 west of Chehalis, according to authorities. Court documents say 24-year-old Joshua Norman ordered Creed out, but Creed charged him, Norman fired his 40 caliber handgun and then Creed tackled Norman on February 10. Norman held him at gunpoint until deputies arrived. Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Shane O’Rourke said Norman and his wife didn’t attend Friday’s court hearing in Lewis County Superior Court, but Creed read aloud a statement in which he told them and the court he was sorry. He pleaded guilty to first-degree burglary, although O’Rourke indicated it still wasn’t exactly clear what Creed’s intentions were for entering a stranger’s home. Creed, who was shot in the abdomen and hospitalized for about 10 days, was sentenced to just shy of three years in prison. He was also sentenced to 90 days for a separate second-degree trespass. He has two past convictions for felony theft and two more for misdemeanor theft.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants; reports of shoplifting; responses for burglar alarms, suspicious circumstances, a high school student who was “verbal” to staff at the school; complaints of loud neighbors, a woman’s child’s grandparents harassing her on Facebook … and more.

Frosty’s burglary suspect denies entering through boarded up window, taking $15,000 from safe

Sunday, April 21st, 2013

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The 37-year-old homeless man accused of pedaling a bicycle to Frosty’s Saloon and Grill in Napavine for an overnight burglary in which some $15,000 was stolen from a safe the week before last has pleaded not guilty.

Lonzo W. Lawson remains in the Lewis County Jail pending trial, held on $100,000 bail.

Prosecutors allege Lawson recently learned from a cell mate at the jail – a Frosty’s employee – there would be a large amount of cash inside and was told the layout of the tavern. A board covering a broken window was pushed out and a knife was apparently used to pry open the office door.

When Lawson was arrested April 12 at a motel in Chehalis, police found he had a new computer, cash and other new merchandise, according to charging documents. He was high on heroin and with two women who were using drugs with him, prosecutors allege.

According to charging documents, he told two acquaintances of his plan and shared some of the money with them. One man told police the money was spent on drugs, clothing and at the Lucky Eagle Casino. At least $800 was recovered.

Lawson, who was described by police as a transient with no known connections to the West Front Street establishment, denied any involvement.

A stocking cap found on the floor when an employee arrived for work the morning of April 9 was taken for DNA testing.

Lawson was charged on Monday with first-degree burglary, first-degree theft, two counts of trafficking in stolen property and possession of heroin; he pleaded not guilty on Thursday.

His trial was scheduled for the week of May 27.

Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Sunday, April 21st, 2013

CHARGES FILED IN GAS STATION SHOTS FIRED CASE

• Bail was set at $100,000 for Gilbert Borquez after prosecutors filed charges in connection with Tuesday’s events outside an Adna gas station. Borquez, 36, told detectives he accidentally fired his sawed off shotgun into the ground when he and a group of others from Raymond were attempting to get a stolen car back from someone. Borquez on Friday was charged with first-degree assault, drive by shooting, second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm and possession of an illegal firearm. Prosecutors state in charging documents that a 911 operator was told one of the males fired a shotgun at a newer four-door vehicle. The participants and victim had fled by the time law enforcement officers arrived to the morning mayhem at the corner of Highway 603 and state Route 6.

BREAKING AND ENTERING

• A 45-year-old Centralia man was arrested last night after he was caught inside a vacant building at the 400 block of South Iron Street taking unspecified property. Brian H. Jones was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• Centralia police took a report on Friday morning of someone breaking into a house under repair at the 1200 block of Delaware Avenue in Centralia and posting graffiti.

• Someone broke into an empty garage on the 500 block of South Silver Street in Centralia and left with a wheelbarrow from the yard, according to a report made to police on Friday.

MISSING TRUCK

• A black Chevrolet S10 was stolen from the backyard of a home on the 500 block of East Maple Street in Centralia, according to a report made to police about 1 a.m. yesterday. It has a license plate of B20781K, according to the Centralia Police Department.

K9 FINDS WANTED SUBJECT UNDER BRUSH

• Police dog Lobo was called in to track down a wanted person just after 7 p.m. on Friday in the area of North Tower Avenue and East Third Streets in Centralia. Michael E, Bicker, 27, of Centralia, was located hiding under bushes behind a business on B Street and booked into the lewis County Jail, according to police.

OOPS

• Police called to the 1500 block of Windsor Avenue in Centralia for a dispute over a laptop computer late Friday afternoon discovered it was stolen. Officers will be working with Amtrak police to get it back to its rightful owner, according to the Centralia Police Department.

VEHICLE PROWL

• A shopper at the Centralia Outlets off Lum Road returned to their vehicle to find someone had broken in and stolen a backpack and two Xbox 360 game systems just after 9 p.m. on Friday, according to the Centralia Police Department.

VANDALISM

• Centralia police took a report from a citizen yesterday that someone had broken out a window at the Borst home in Fort Borst Park.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants; reports of misdemeanor thefts … and more.

Mother of dead Centralia 2-year-old admits some responsibility in case

Friday, April 19th, 2013
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Becky Heupel watches while her lawyer confers with the deputy prosecutor during her court hearing today.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Koralynn Fister’s mother pleaded guilty today to her role in the circumstances that led to the Centralia toddler’s death.

Becky M. Heupel’s short term live-in boyfriend James Reeder has been convicted of the abuse, sexual and otherwise, that led to the child dying last May, but Heupel today agreed to pay with prison time for not acting on clues something was amiss.

“Guilty,” she answered when asked by the judge.

And when Judge James Lawler concluded all his questioning and pronounced the 31-year-old guilty of criminal mistreatment in the second degree, she began to dab at her eyes with a tissue.

Heupel was free to leave after the 30 minute hearing in Lewis County Superior Court. Her sentencing won’t take place until next month.

Prosecutors haven’t suggested the mother of two participated in any way or witnessed the 25-year-old unemployed boyfriend harming the 2-year-old girl in the weeks before she died. In fact, Deputy Prosecutor Shane O’Rourke confirmed today there was no evidence she did.

If there was, she would have been facing the same kind of sentence as Reeder, O’Rourke said.

But when Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer charged the mother last month, Meyer said spoke of Heupel’s inaction.

Meyer said he believed Heupel put her relationship with her new boyfriend ahead of the well-being of her child, ignoring warnings from others he was abusive and ignoring injuries on Koralynn she said would have prompted her to call police if they were on someone else’s child.

Koralynn died on May 24 of head injuries and drowning; Reeder told police he found her face down in the bathtub when he stepped out to get a towel. Heupel and her 4-year-old daughter had left the house about two and half hours earlier.

Reeder had moved into the household only about 10 weeks earlier. Prosecutors have said he suggested parenting duties be divided up and as a result, he spent a significant time alone with the little one, changing her diapers and giving her baths.

Prosecutors indicated a lengthy list of injuries, some old and some new found on the child’s body, such as palm-sized pieces of skin missing from her buttocks, signs of penetration, bruising, a missing toenail and more.

Last May, after Reeder’s arrest, Prosecutor Meyer called it the worst case of child abuse and neglect he’d seen in his career.

Heupel’s attorney, Paul Strophy, said today his client did see some injuries, but not any that suggested to her sexual abuse was occurring. In the final weeks, Heupel didn’t see Koralynn’s private areas, he said, adding that he believed her.

He suggested Reeder was a predator.

“On the surface, in her presence, he appeared very attentive, a good father figure,” Strophy said.

He offered to take a more hands on approach, and she appreciated it, he said.

“Obviously she now feels like she didn’t do enough and didn’t see the signs” Strophy said. “Had she known or realized what was going on, she would have put a stop to it, or got help from law enforcement.”

O’Rourke today said Heupel saw the injuries, or should have. Anybody who’s a regular parent would have, he said.

“There has to be some recognition, the fact that when you’re a parent, you watch out for this,” O’Rourke said.

Attorneys on the two sides have agreed to recommend a so-called exceptionally high sentence, but only by one day. They will suggest to the judge she go to prison for a year and one day.

Today, when Judge Lawler queried Heupel, and asked if she realized he would still be free to impose the maximum penalty of five years, she faltered.

“No,” Heupel said.

Her response prompted a 10 minute recess, during which she and Strophy left the room to talk alone.

It was after their return, and Heupel agreeing with the judge she understood that he pronounced her guilty.

She admitted to second-degree criminal mistreatment – recklessly creating an imminent and substantial risk of death or great bodily harm by leaving her child in Reeder’s care.

She will be sentenced on May 16.
•••

For background, read “Koralynn Fister: Dead toddler’s mother pleads innocent to putting little one in harm’s way” from Friday March 22, 2013, here