Archive for September, 2013

Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Friday, September 20th, 2013

OUCH

• Centralia police arrested a woman yesterday for allegedly biting a police officer while he was attempting to take her into custody. Alyssa F. Acord, 31, was wanted on a warrant and officers responding to the 400 block of South Iron Street about 1 p.m. ended up arresting her for possession of methamphetamine as well, according to police. She was booked into the Lewis County Jail for third-degree assault and the drug violation, according to police.

DISORDERLY PERSON

• Centralia police responded about 4 p.m. yesterday to a disturbance at the 100 block of South Tower Avenue and arrested a 48-year-old homeless man who allegedly tried to start fights with several people. Anthony D. Webb was booked into the Lewis County Jail for fourth-degree assault, according to the Centralia Police Department.

DRUGS

• A boy, no age available, was arrested for possession of unspecified drugs about 9:30 a.m. yesterday at the 800 block of Eshom Road in Centralia, according to the Centralia Police Department. He was booked into the Lewis County Juvenile Detention Center, according to police.

CAR PROWL

• An officer was called about 11 a.m. yesterday to the 1000 block of Scammon Creek Road in Centralia regarding someone trying to break into a vehicle.

VANDALISM

• Centralia police took reports yesterday of graffiti to buildings on the 200 block of South Pearl Street and the 500 block of North Tower Avenue as well as markings on a fence at the 800 block of North Tower Avenue.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, driving with suspended license, probation violation, other misdemeanor assault; responses for alarm, threats made, collision, suspicious circumstances, stolen bicycle; complaints of barking dogs … and more.

News brief: Now medicated, medic attacker set for prison

Thursday, September 19th, 2013

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS –  The man accused of biting, hitting and kicking three paramedics in an apparently unprovoked attack at a Centralia gas station earlier this year is a diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic who is now court ordered to comply with treatment recommendations for mental health and anger management.

Wade C. Buchanan, 48, will be doing that in prison.

Buchanan was sentenced yesterday in Lewis County Superior Court to a year and a day, following his guilty plea last Friday to one count of second-degree assault and two counts of third-degree assault. He actually made a so-called Alford plea in which he did not admit guilt.

Buchanan was arrested after the Jan. 26 brawl at the Chevron station on Mellen Street, near Interstate 5. The AMR medics were fueling up their ambulance when he approached them.

According to court documents, the Olympia resident with a bachelors degree in engineering began showing signs of the illness in his early 20s and before his arrest, had been hospitalized by crisis intervention services multiple times. He was reportedly not taking any medication when he was detained.

He was admitted to Western State Hospital this spring under court order and put on medications, according to court documents. Buchanan had no felony criminal convictions before now.

Upon his release, Buchanan will be supervised by personnel from the state Department of Corrections for 18 months.
•••

For background, read “Olympia man charged in attack of medics will be sent to Western State Hospital” from Friday February 1, 2013, here

News brief: Chehalis father jailed for stealing students’ money

Thursday, September 19th, 2013

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The Chehalis man who wrote himself checks out of a fund set up for the W.F. West High School senior class being managed by his wife is sitting in the Lewis County Jail now.

Robert N. Downs Jr., 43, remained free on his personal recognizance after being charged this past spring with first-degree theft and 14 counts of forgery. When police announced their conclusion the account had been tampered with to the tune of about $8,000, they indicated the money had already been paid back.

Downs, an employee at Green Hill School, the state juvenile corrections facility for boys in Chehalis, was sentenced yesterday to three months in jail. He pleaded guilty as charged in July in Lewis County Superior Court.

His lawyer asked the time be served at home with electronic monitoring. Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer asked he be sent to prison for one year and a day. Judge Richard Brosey gave him 90 days.
•••

For background, read “Chehalis parent pleads not guilty to stealing from high school senior fund” from Thursday May 23, 2013, here

Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Thursday, September 19th, 2013

Updated

CABIN BURGLARY

• The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reports a 19-year-old man was arrested for a break-in to an Ashford area summer cabin after a deputy followed a trail of knocked down brush to his nearby mother’s home and found missing property. The burglary at the 200 block of Skate Creek Road occurred sometime between Friday and Monday, but was discovered on Tuesday, according to the sheriff’s office. An arriving deputy observed several windows broken, the front door ajar and found security lights and camera smashed on the ground, according to Sgt. Rob Snaza. The neighbor’s son, Matthew T. Kelley, who is from Longview but has been staying with his mother was contacted on Tuesday, interviewed and then booked into the Lewis County Jail for first-degree burglary, according to Snaza. All of the stolen items were recovered, he said, such as fishing poles, a shotgun, a 22 rifle and various electronics.

OUT-OF-CONTROL TEEN

• A 14-year-old boy was arrested yesterday morning for harassment after he allegedly made threats to kill people at the 900 block of South Market Boulevard in Chehalis. Officers called to the home about 10 a.m. took the teen to the Lewis County Juvenile Detention Center, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

DOMESTIC INCIDENTS

• A 56-year-old woman who visited the Centralia Police Department yesterday asking about what crime it would be if her adult son pushed her, causing her to fall down and possibly break her arm and was told it would be a felony, decided she didn’t want to give a statement, according to police. A report was forwarded to the Lewis County Prosecutors Office for evaluation of a charge of second-degree assault, according to police.

• A 33-year-old Chehalis man was arrested after he allegedly kicked in a door to a residence he shares with a female on Southwest Johnson Avenue last night. Donnie S. Donahe was booked into the Lewis County Jail for third-degree malicious mischief, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

CENTRALIA BREAK-IN

• Police were called about 7:40 a.m. yesterday to the 1900 block of Honeysuckle Lane in Centralia to a report someone had broken into the home and damaged a toilet. The investigation is ongoing, according to the Centralia Police Department.

MISSING MEDS

• A Chehalis woman contacted police yesterday to report missing her prescription drug used for preventing cravings for other drugs, according to police. She didn’t know exactly where it may have been lost but was concerned about it getting out onto the street, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

STRANGER ENCOUNTERS

• Chehalis police were called to a residence on Southwest Ninth Street where an unknown person reportedly walked into the home and then left. Further details were not readily available.

• Deputies would like to find and talk with a man who contacted three teenagers waiting for a school bus early yesterday morning near Rochester. It was about 6:30 a.m. at the 10200 block of 179th Avenue Southwest when the brown haired man in a light colored four-door passenger car stopped and asked if they’d seen a girl and wanted to show them pictures, but when a father stepped out of his house, the subject quickly left, according to the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office. What he did wasn’t a crime, but it makes one wonder what he was really doing since he departed as another adult appeared, Sgt. Kenneth Clark said. A detective would just like to locate him and ask him about it, Clark said. He is described as an unshaven white male between 35 years old and 45 years old, possibly with a mustache, according to the sheriff’s office. The car is either light green or cream colored.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants; responses for suspicious circumstances, shoplifting and other misdemeanor theft, parenting conflict, disputes, hit and run; complaints of loud music, motorist talking on phone, eating ice cream ands steering with elbows … and more.

News brief: Two girls hospitalized after vehicle wrecks off state Route 6

Thursday, September 19th, 2013

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Three young people escaped serious injuries when a 16-year-old Pe Ell boy lost control of his car on state Route 6 about 12 miles west of Chehalis yesterday evening.

Troopers and aid called about 6:30 p.m. found the 2005 Saturn on its top, its roof was smashed.

The vehicle was eastbound in between the two ends of River Road when it traveled along the right hand ditch about 25 feet, rolled and possibly flipped, according to responders. The occupants exited through a side window, according to Lewis County Fire District 16 Chief Greg Feuchter.

“Very lucky, not having major injuries,” Feuchter said. “Very lucky.”

Justus Hoffman, 16, was not injured but 11-year-old Faith Hoffman of Pe Ell and 15-year-old Rylee White of Chehalis were taken to Providence Centralia Hospital, according to the Washington State Patrol.

The girls were transported more or less to be observed, Feuchter said.

The car was described as totaled. The driver was cited for improper lane usage, according to the state patrol.

Big Bottom Bust cases ending with plea deals

Wednesday, September 18th, 2013
https://lewiscountysirens.com/?p=19404

Jack W. Mullins, left, prepares to sign his sentencing documents in Lewis County Superior Court.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – His attorney says it was credibility issues with the confidential informant, the deputy prosecutor said he didn’t have enough confidence the informant would cooperate during a trial.

Fifty-seven-year-old Jack Wayne Mullins was sent to jail today for two and half months after making a plea deal, pleading guilty to possession of methamphetamine.

Mullins was one of 10 people swept up in what was dubbed Operation Big Bottom Bust, a June operation in which some two dozen law enforcement officers from multiple agencies descended upon Randle in the Big Bottom Valley in east Lewis County and arrested 10 individuals following a months-long drug investigation.

One person was picked up only on a warrant, but the rest were jailed for allegedly dealing meth. Two were never charged.

Mullins, the oldest of the arrestees, is the sixth of the bunch to have entered into a plea agreement.

The remaining person, Marty Joe Mullins, 48, is scheduled for trial later this year.

The cases were distributed among four deputy prosecutors. Lewis County Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher is handling Marty Mullins’ case.

Meagher declined to say if any kind of plea arrangement was in the works.

“The trial’s a long ways down the road,” Meagher said today.

The investigation and raids were coordinated by the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office Regional Task Force. One of its members, sheriff’s detective Jeffrey S. Humphrey is on paid administrative leave after getting arrested a week and a half ago for driving under the influence in Chehalis.

Whether Humphrey remains a deputy will have no bearing if he can still be a witness, Meagher said. But whether his pending gross misdemeanor case could affect the one drug dealing case left, Meagher said simply, maybe.

Today, in Lewis County Superior Court, Jack Mullins listened as his lawyer and a deputy prosecutor told the judge they agreed he should spend 75 days in jail. He faced a sentencing range for drug possession of zero to six months as he has no criminal history.

Defense attorney Jacob Clark told the judge the $3,000 in fines and fees would be a hardship as his client earns money picking mushroom, with the season starting this time of year.

Jack Mullins asked Judge Nelson Hunt to give him more time before going to jail.

“I work the last four months of the year to pay my bills,” Jack Mullins said. “I’m going to lose my house if I don’t get my taxes paid.”

Hunt imposed the financial obligations, and said he could begin paying $25 each month starting 60 days after his release. Jack Mullins was handcuffed and taken away.

Among the other defendants, Byron O. Daily, 42, is in jail for 75 days having pleaded guilty to possession of meth. Twenty-five-year-old Leah D. Williams who lived with Daily and has children got herself into family drug court and was given 30 days of house arrest for possession, according to Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Shane O’Rourke.

Still to be sentenced is 52-year-old Diane L. Allison who lives with Jack Mullins; Keith A. Sanders, 42, and Robert D. LaChance Sr., 51. All live in Randle.

LaChance was arrested again earlier this month by the sheriff’s office for possession and delivery of methamphetamine.

Deputy Prosecutor Eric Eiseneberg said today LaChance was looking at  at least five years for one count of delivery of methamphetamine, and he will likely recommend the high end of the standard sentencing range because of the new case.
•••

For background, read “Seven charged for dealing meth in Randle” from Tuesday June 11, 2013, here

Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Wednesday, September 18th, 2013

BURGLARY SUSPECT BOOKED, ANOTHER AT LARGE

• Deputies arrested one person yesterday and are looking for a second individual in connection with an interrupted burglary to a garage on the 2400 block of Seminary Hill Road in Centralia that occurred on Monday morning. According to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office, a 56-year-old resident leaving his home around 8 a.m. noticed a vehicle parked down the road and had forgotten something so he returned home. He found two men in his garage who “plowed by him” to exit, according to the sheriff’s office. He tried to keep them from leaving and they fought back to get away, Sgt. Rob Snaza said. The burglars fled, but the man wrote down their license plate on his hand, according to Snaza. The sheriff’s office contacted Brad J. Christian, 41, of Centralia, yesterday and booked him into the Lewis County Jail for first-degree burglary, according to Snaza. They are looking for his companion, Henry M. Reilly, 50, of Centralia, who may be in the Cinebar area, Snaza said.

CHAINSAW THEFT

• Centralia police were called about 3:20 p.m. yesterday after the discovery of a burglary to a house on the 600 block of Jefferson Street. Someone pried open the back door sometime after 7 o’clock that morning, went inside and left with two chainsaws, according to the Centralia Police Department.

WRECK

• A vehicle which pulled to the side of the road at the 2700 block of Borst Avenue in Centralia yesterday afternoon and attempted a U-turn collided with another car and then struck a mailbox and a stone pillar., according to the Centralia Police Department. There were no life-threatening injuries, police said.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, misdemeanor assault, driving with suspended license; responses for alarm, protection order violation, theft of rental property; concerns about kids shoving each other into traffic, parked log truck obscuring other vehicles’ traffic vision; complaints of loud stereo … and more.