Archive for December, 2013

Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Tuesday, December 17th, 2013

Updated at 11:45 a.m.

DIAPER CHANGE LEADS TO BROKEN BONE

• A Centralia man was jailed yesterday evening after allegedly breaking his 6-month-old baby’s arm while changing its diaper. He grabbed it, the baby was crying and he was angry, Sgt. Brian Warren said. Police were called to the emergency room at Providence Centralia Hospital where the infant’s mother had brought the child, according to the Centralia Police Department. Police Sgt. Brian Warren said he understood it occurred earlier in the day at the family’s home on the 1100 block of Scammon Creek Road. Wayne P. Stalker was booked into the Lewis County Jail for second-degree assault of a child, according to police. The baby was treated and has been released to his mother, Warren said.

ATTEMPTED ASSAULT WITH SUV

• Centralia police responded just before 11 p.m. yesterday to the 900 block of F Street where a 39-year-old man allegedly intentionally drove over a curb onto the lawn of a victim nearly running him down. Police say the sport utility vehicle had driven around the block a few times and then stopped, where the resident came off his front porch to see what was up. Donald E. Thomas, a Centralia resident, allegedly gunned the engine and headed for the man who is dating his ex-girlfriend, according to police. He jumped away, nobody was hurt, according to police. Thomas was booked into the Lewis County Jail for first-degree assault, according to the Centralia Police Department.

BURGLARY

• A deputy took a report about 5 p.m. yesterday of a Campbell brand air compressor missing from a shed area on the 100 block of Waterloo Road in Glenoma. The victim said the item was stolen sometime since Sept. 1, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s office.

DRUGS

• A 41-year-old Centralia woman arrested on a warrant about 3 a.m. today at the 800 block of West Main Street in Centralia was also arrested for possession of methamphetamine. Angela M. Grussing was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• A 40-year-old Centralia man was arrested for possession of methamphetamine yesterday after contact with an officer about 3:30 p.m. at the 200 block of South Tower Avenue in Centralia. Travis L. Combs was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department.

LOST AND FOUND

• Chehalis police were called to Denny’s on the 100 block of Southwest Interstate Avenue yesterday morning about a suspicious circumstance regarding someone behind the building and a subsequent find of two Bibles in a bag. The books were taken back to the police department where their owner may claim them, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

WRECKS

• A 17-year-old driver escaped serious injuries when she tried to miss a deer and lost control of her Jeep Cherokee which traveled over an embankment and came to rest on its top in Onalaska yesterday afternoon. A deputy responding about 5 p.m. to the 300 block of Deggler Road reports the vehicle sustained major damage but the girl suffered only minor injuries.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, trespass; responses for alarm, marital dispute, graffiti, shoplifting and other misdemeanor theft, less-than-serious collisions; complaints of canines on the green harassing golfers  … and more.

Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Monday, December 16th, 2013

Updated at 1:02 p.m.

ASSAULT ON KRIS KRINGLE

• A 38-year-old man who was reportedly intoxicated and belligerent was arrested yesterday after he allegedly knocked the head off a Santa Claus statue outside one of the antique stores in downtown Centralia. Police responding just before 4 p.m. to the area of North Tower and East Pine Street report that Jerome D. Volk, a Centralia resident, resisted officers as they attempted to detain him so he was booked for that as well as third-degree malicious mischief.

STOLEN FIREARM

• Chehalis police were contacted on Friday afternoon by a 50-year-old resident whose handgun was missing from his home on the 700 block of Southwest Pacific Avenue. He said he recently noticed the Colt black-powder revolver was gone, according to the Chehalis Police Department. The loss is estimated at $300, according to police.

RELUCTANT ARRESTEE

• Centralia police yesterday evening assisted the state patrol in searching for a detainee who fled Providence Centralia Hospital where he was taken for a blood draw. The individual took off from the facility on the 900 block of South Schueber Road while the trooper was on the telephone and officers called about 7:20 p.m. attempted a dog track, according to the Centralia Police Department. The man was eventually found back inside the waiting room, Sgt. Brian Warren said. Warren said he thought it was probably related to an arrest for driving under the influence.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, misdemeanor assault, driving under the influence; responses for alarms, misdemeanor theft, minor injury rollover collision; complaints of car eggings, of nighttime vehicles with loud engines, radios  … and more.

Convict loses argument about burial expenses related to 2010 triple-homicide

Monday, December 16th, 2013

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

One of the two men convicted in connection with the events at a Salkum-Onalaska area home in which three people were fatally shot in August 2010 has lost his appeal regarding his responsibility to pay funeral and burial expenses for two of the victims.

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Ryan J. McCarthy

Ryan J. McCarthy, 28, Redmond, and John A. Booth, 31, of Onalaska, were both charged with first-degree murder and extortion shortly after the slayings of David West Sr. 52, his son David West Jr., 16, and a friend Tony E. Williams, 50, of Randle. Denise Salts, then 51, who also lived at the house on Wings Way, survived a gunshot wound to her face.

Authorities contended the visit by the two former cell mates to the residence was related to some kind of debt collection and that gun fire erupted when West Sr. brought out a shotgun and told them to get out of his house.

Booth was convicted by a jury two years ago of murder, attempted murder, attempted extortion and being a felon in possession of a firearm. He is serving a life sentence.

McCarthy was sentenced to 14 years in prison after getting a deal in which he pleaded guilty under doctrines such that he pleaded to crimes he did not commit to escape consequences of more serious charges, and agreed if a jury heard and believed the state’s evidence, he would likely be convicted.

McCarthy appealed the order by Lewis County Superior Court that he pay as part of his restitution the expenses for West Jr. and Williams who were shot by Booth, according to the opinion issued last week by the Washington State Court of Appeals, Division II.

He pleaded to first-degree robbery, first-degree burglary and attempted extortion in connection only with West Sr., according to the opinion. His murder charges were dismissed.

At his restitution hearing, both prosecutors and the defense argued to the trial judge he must find a causal connection, but the judge disagreed, according to the opinion. And two of the three appeals judges sided with the trial court judge.

The amounts in question were $5,750 for West. Jr. and $819.25 for Williams.

Judges George Fearing and Joel Penoyer stated that since the state paid benefits for West Jr. and Williams, finding they were entitled, it must have concluded McCarthy’s burglary, robbery and extortion were a proximate cause of their deaths.

In her dissent, Judge Jill M. Johanson pointed out the payments were distributed less than a month after the original charges were filed and long before McCarthy’s role was presented.

Johnason agreed with McCarthy that the Lewis County Superior Court erred as it improperly imposed restitution without making a finding his acts were related to the expenses incurred.

At his sentencing, prosecutors told the judge Booth fired the shots and “Mr. McCarthy was there.” His lawyer told the judge his client passed a  a lie detector test that confirmed his story in which he ran outside before Booth fired any shots.
•••

For background, read “Court hearing reveals more details about Salkum triple slaying” from Saturday Oct. 1,  2011, here

Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Sunday, December 15th, 2013

NAPAVINE HOME CATCHES FIRE

• Once again, a Napavine area family is displaced from a house fire. Crews called overnight to the 700 block of West Vine Street contained the blaze to the master bedroom, but there is heavy heat and smoke damage throughout the one-story residence, according to Fire Investigator Ted McCarty. The family returned home around 1 a.m. after being at some friends and opened a side door only to be confronted with smoke, McCarty said. The husband tried the front door with the same results and spotted flames through a bedroom window, McCarty said. Lewis County Fire Districts 5, 6, 2 and 15 responded. “The guys got a good knock down on it,” McCarty said. The parents and four children declined initial assistance from the Red Cross, saying they had family to stay with he said. The fire investigator said he is looking at a Cadet wall heater, but it’s too early to tell if that’s what caused the fire. It was just last Sunday when a family on Raubuck Road were dealing with a similar situation, except they were sleeping and awoke to smoke alarms and their two-story house subsequently burned to the ground from a possible flare up hours later.

THEFT

• Police were called about 3:15 p.m. yesterday to the Centralia Outlets on the 1300 block of Lum Road about a wallet and its identification stolen from a break room at one of the stores. An officer was told two females got into employee lockers, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• Centralia police took a report of theft of tools from the 400 block of North Buckner Street on Friday afternoon.

• Police took a report yesterday of a car prowl during the night at the 100 block of Jalyn Street in Centralia. Cash was stolen, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• Police responded about 5:40 a.m. yesterday to the 3300 block of Fords Prairie Avenue in Centralia for a vehicle prowl. Someone took money and a cell phone from a purse left inside the unlocked vehicle, according to the Centralia Police Department.

VANDALISM

• Someone broke several windows out of a vehicle parked at the 900 block of F Street in Centralia, according to a report made to police early yesterday morning.

EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS REMINDER

• Lewis County 911 Communications is reminding the public to sign up for CODE RED to receive emergency notifications. CODE RED is used to send critical communications, from evacuation notices to missing child alerts, according to department manager Craig Larsen. Lewis County has used the system to make notification for boil water advisories as well as to get out word of a dangerous suspect at large in a rural county neighborhood. Flood notifications can be provided through CODE RED, should this occur in our region again. The public can sign up and find additional details at the 911 Communications page on the county web site.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants; confiscation of smoking devices with suspected methamphetamine residue with a referral for possession charges … and more.

Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Friday, December 13th, 2013

Updated at 12:40 p.m.

APARTMENT SEARCH TURNS UP DRUGS

• Three people were arrested yesterday after officers went to an apartment on the 1000 block of Scammon Creek Road in Centralia to pick up a wanted person. A community corrections officer from the state Department of Corrections was looking for 27-year-old Mark D. Fiman because of several warrants, according to the Centralia Police Department. When the door was opened, an individual dove into a bedroom and when they went in to get him, officers saw a set of scales, Sgt. Kurt Reichert said. An ensuing search of the residence turned up pills, the details of which are not yet available, according to Reichert. Brian J. Haugen, 20, who resides at the apartment, was arrested for possession of methamphetamine and a sparkler bomb, according to police. Justin W. Haugen, 21, also of Centralia, was arrested for possession of suspected meth, marijuana and Zanax/Oxycodone, according to police. Fiman also was booked for possession of meth and Oxycodone, according to police.

ASSAULT

• A 29-year-old client at the drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility on Southeast Washington Avenue in Chehalis was arrested this morning for allegedly choking another resident. Police were called just before 7 a.m. today regarding the assault, and Jonathan Schenck, from Federal Way, was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

SCHOOL BOMB SCARE

• The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office is investigating following a message discovered on a girls’ bathroom wall at Centralia High School yesterday that prompted an evacuation. Deputies notified at about 1 p.m. joined Centralia police officers at the Eshom Road building and searched the premises, according to Sg. Rob Snaza. The note indicated a bomb might go off at a certain time, Snaza said. No explosive was found. Law enforcement cleared the scene about 3:30 p.m. but will be reviewing surveillance tapes in an attempt to gain information, according to Snaza.

THEFT

• Chehalis police were called to the Vintage Apartments on North National Avenue yesterday where a 90-year-old resident said he returned home to discover someone had stolen cash from him.

CAR PROWL

• Police responded about 7:20 a.m. today to an overnight vehicle prowl at the 1000 block of Southeast Washington Avenue in Chehalis. Nothing initially appeared to be missing, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

CHASE AND WRECK

• A 24-year-old Toledo woman was arrested yesterday after she reportedly sped away from a deputy at about 100 mph and wrecked her car northeast of Winlock. It began about 1:30 p.m. at the 800 block of North Military Road and ended just north of the high school when the driver lost control, hit a ditch and rolled the vehicle onto its top, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The driver, Amanda N. Phillips, was unhurt but was taken to the hospital to be cleared before being booked into jail because of a previous injury, Sgt. Rob Snaza said. Phillips had outstanding warrants and was using a suspended driver’s license, according to Snaza. Her car was impounded an a search of it’s interior is planned, according to the sheriff’s office. She was booked for attempting to elude.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants; responses for alarm, shoplifting, suspicious circumstances … and more.

Two die when car collides with dump truck in Centralia

Friday, December 13th, 2013
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The two lane county road just east of state Route 507 north of Centralia is closed for a collision investigation. / Courtesy photo by Grant’s Towing.

Updated at 11:38 a.m.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Two young people were killed when their car slid into the path of of a dump truck on Big Hanaford Road just north of Centralia last night.

The four-door Kia Spectra was traveling westbound near Wigley Road and crossed the centerline into an eastbound Freightliner hauling a pup trailer, according to responders.

Fire Capt. Tim Adolphsen said he didn’t know if the truck was loaded or not.

“The reports we got, the car lost control in front of him and he struck it, on the passenger side,” Adolphsen said.

Dead at the scene were car’s driver, Jonathan W. Parker, 20, from Centralia, and his passenger Tiara F. Kalebaugh, 18, of Pe Ell, according to the Washington State Patrol.

“I would probably say they were killed on impact,” Adolphsen said.

He described the car as destroyed.

It happened shortly before 9:40 p.m. The state patrol indicates speed was a factor.

The truck’s driver, a 52-year-old Kevin L. Geer, of Tenino, was reportedly uninjured. His truck was damaged and towed, according to the state patrol.

The roadway was closed for approximately five hours while investigators were on the scene, according to Trooper Will Finn.

•••

CORRECTION: This story has been updated to correctly reflect the type of truck involved.

Investigators: Littlerock business was intentionally burned

Thursday, December 12th, 2013

Updated

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

The fire that gutted a taxidermy shop in Littlerock last week has been found to be arson.

West Thurston Regional Fire Authority Chief Russ Kaleiwahea said today he didn’t have many details, as the written report is not yet completed.

“In talking with the investigator, it’s my understanding it’s determined to be incendiary,” Kaleiwahea said. “That’s kind of a new word for arson.”

Alden’s Taxidermy is on Palermo Southwest, just east of Littlerock Road.

The fire was well underway when it woke neighbors who called 911 about 4:30 a.m. last Thursday. Arriving crews found a fully involved structure fire that extended to a pickup truck parked next to it and left just two walls standing, according to Chief Robert Scott.

Scott said at the time, he assumed there is a substantial loss of contents.

Alden’s advertises they offer services from skinning to custom mounting of wildlife from elephants to mice.

“It was not only his works of art, but people he was doing business for as well,” Lt. Lanette Dyer, a department spokesperson said.

A notice on Alden’s business web site states the phone is scheduled to be repaired and asks for contact via email to assist in inventorying items which may have been lost.

Elements of the investigation were turned over early on to the sheriff’s office when questions arose about some of the findings.

Dyer said various pieces which should have been there could not be found among the debris, leading to the possibility of theft.

A dog belonging to the owner Alden Johnson, was inside the building but has not been located either, she said. Johnson was in Hawaii at the time, getting married, she said.

Thurston County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Greg Elwin said their arson investigator is working with the fire department and the business owner to evaluate evidence and identify persons of interest.