Lewis County Sirens.com

VANDALISM

• Police arrested an 18-year-old Centralia man last night after he was allegedly seen spray painting graffiti at several locations in Centralia. Garrett M. Giradin was booked into the Lewis County Jail for third-degree malicious mischief, according to the Centralia Police Department.

APPEAL: CONVICTION FOR MINOR WOUND GETS MINOR DO-OVER

• An appeals court has said a Centralia man should have been convicted of second-degree assault not first-degree in a case in which he was found to have stabbed his wife in the back of her neck, missing all her vital parts and leaving a small but deep puncture wound. Twenty-seven-year-old Yovany Hernandez Gomez was arrested and charged in May 2011 and the following September found guilty in jury trial in Lewis County Superior Court. It happened at the woman’s brother’s house on North Pearl Street where she had gone after a fight with her husband, police said at the time. According to court documents, he said it was accidental as he tried to hug her, but her testimony indicated it occurred as she was trying to get away from him and fell down briefly losing consciousness. A doctor described the one-centimeter wide but three-and-half-inch deep wound as one that could have killed her if the knife had penetrated at a slightly different angle, and said it would leave a “pretty minimal” permanent scar. Hernandez-Gomez’s appeals attorneys argued the state failed to prove the severity of the injuries met the standard of “the most serious injuries short of death” needed for first-degree assault. The decision from the Washington State Court of Appeals Division II– stating it viewed the evidence in the most favorable light to the state – focused on the injury itself being relatively minor, creating only soreness and sensitivity as it healed. The court looked at the difference between great bodily harm and substantial bodily harm. The court said the evidence showed the disfigurement may be permanent, but was not disfigurement of a “significant” or “serious” nature. The decision filed on Tuesday reversed Hernandez-Gomez’s conviction for first-degree assault and remanded to the trial court to enter a judgement and sentence for second-degree assault.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrant, driving with suspended license, driving under the influence; responses for minor collisions on Harrison Avenue in Centralia, small cooking fire, small grass fire, small fire under a house from a cigarette butt, lots of aid calls  … and more.

Updated at 4:24 p.m.

NEIGHBORHOOD FIGHT

• Police called about 9:20 p.m. yesterday to a dispute between neighbors at the 600 block of J Street in Centralia ended up arresting a 55-year-old man for harassment. James M. Wofford was upset about noise keeping him up and other issues, according to police. There was a scuffle, and Wofford allegedly threatened to kill the neighbor and burn down his house, according to Sgt. Stacy Denham. “Both claimed the other threatened the other one,” Denham said. Wofford was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department. He was to be released from the jail without charges.

THEFT

• Centralia police were called just after 9 a.m. yesterday to the 2700 block of Colonial Drive regarding the theft of approximately $300 from a resident’s lock box.

TRESPASSING

• Centralia police responded about 3 p.m. yesterday to a vacant residence on the 1200 block of South Tower Avenue where evidence was found someone had been inside. They left a pop bottle behind, according to the Centralia Police Department.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, driving with suspended license; responses for other disputes, other misdemeanor theft, possible drug overdose, minor injury or non-injury collisions; complaints about barking dogs, wandering dogs … and more.

COLLISIONS

• A 58-year-old Centralia man escaped serious injury when his motorcycle struck a deer overnight on Kresky Avenue in Chehalis. He was wearing a helmet and was taken to the hospital by a family member, according to the Chehalis Fire Department. It happened just after midnight near Scott Johnson Road.

• Police and aid responded about 7 a.m. today to a report of a vehicle versus pedestrian collision at Harrison Avenue and East High Street. Those involved indicated they did not wish to file a police report or go to the hospital, according to the Centralia Police Department.

THEFT

• Police were called to the 700 block of South Street in Centralia yesterday afternoon regarding the theft sometime during the previous week of a flat screen television.

• Centralia police took a report about 6 p.m. yesterday from the 1000 block of South Gold Street in Centralia regarding the theft of 10 gallons of gasoline from a rental truck.

CAR PROWL

• Someone stole a cell phone from a vehicle at the 1600 block of South Gold Street in Centralia, according to a report made to police yesterday afternoon.

BURNING CAR

• Firefighters were called to a fully involved vehicle fire on southbound Interstate 5 south of Chehalis yesterday evening. The flames were extinguished, no one was hurt, according to Lewis County Fire District 6.

BURNING GRASS

• Chehalis firefighters were called about 9 p.m. yesterday to a grass fire near Southeast First Street and Adams Avenue. A passerby tried to extinguish  it and firefighters put water on it. A spent firework was found in the approximately three-foot by five-foot burned area, according to the Chehalis Fire Department.

KEEP COOL

• Lewis County Fire District 6 is inviting the public once again to hang out at their Jackson Highway station during the heat today. The “cooling station” will be open from noon until 4 p.m., according to Firefighter Mike Goodwillie.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, driving with suspended license, violation of protection order, misdemeanor domestic assault; responses for alarm, graffiti, fender benders, misdemeanor theft, suspicious circumstances, request to check on the welfare of an individual … and more.