Archive for January, 2014

Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Thursday, January 16th, 2014

Updated at 6:50 p.m.

BREAK-IN NEAR NAPAVINE

• An individual who was gone from their home on the 100 block of Vernon Road northwest of Napavine for just an hour last night returned to find someone had stolen four firearms and a dozen bottles of prescription medicine, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. It occurred between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m., Sgt. Rob Snaza said. Missing are an Olympic Arms AR15, an Interarms 243, a Ruger 10/22 rifle and a a Rossi 20/22 “over-under”, according to the sheriff’s office.

STOLEN CAR

• Someone stole a red 1991 Toyota Corolla from where it was parked at the 600 block of Meskill Road west of Chehalis sometime between 2 o’clock yesterday morning and noon,  according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. It has a license plate of 097 YTY, according to the sheriff’s office.

BEWARE OF CALLER WHO WANTS TO FIX YOUR COMPUTER

• Centralia police responded to a call from the 600 block of Scott Drive in which the resident was receiving phone calls from someone with a heavy foreign accent who claimed they could fix a windows-based problem on the individual’s computer. An officer advised it would have been a scam in which the caller was attempting to gain personal information, according to the Centralia Police Department. Sgt. Stacy Denham said one of the things officers recommend is for a person to make an attempt to independently verify the incoming phone number, and they will likely find it is not legitimate.

DRUGS

• A 39-year-old Centralia resident was arrested for possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver after suspected drugs were located in a motel room with him overnight, according to the Centralia Police Department. Officers were looking for someone else when they went to the 1300 block of Belmont Avenue around 2 o’clock this morning, according to police. Travis J. Holman was booked into the lewis County Jail, according to Sgt. Stacy Denham. Also arrested and booked for possession of meth was Sean D. Cheever, Denham said.

• A former Lewis County man was arrested yesterday at the AM/PM store in Centralia for allegedly selling a quarter ounce of methamphetamine. Eugene L. Kolb, 40, Bremerton, was charged today in Lewis County Superior Court with one count of delivery of methamphetamine in connection with an alleged deal conducted in the parking lot at Safeway last month. At his bail hearing this afternoon, defense attorney Bob Schroeter told the judge the information Kolb related about his financial situation may be an illusion, as he suffered a brain injury in Iraq. His income consists of veteran’s disability payments, and as part of that, his work at IMF Bangor at Bremerton, according to Schroeter. Kolb said he earned $5,000 per month, but Schroeter thought he likely actually qualified for a court appointed attorney. Kolb has lived in Bremerton for five years, but went to high school locally and has family in Mossyrock and Morton, Schroeter said. He was released pending trial on a $10,000 unsecured bond, co-signed by a friend. His arraignment is scheduled for Jan. 30. His girlfriend Lisa M. Balkwill, 44, Tacoma, was charged with delivery and possession, as, according to charging documents, she was with Kolb in the Safeway parking lot and then yesterday when she was arrested, police found a small amount of methamphetamine. Her bail was set at $5,000.

VEHICLE PROWL

• Police took a report just before 8 a.m. today of a car prowl at the 1000 block of Eckerson Road in Centralia. It occurred sometime during the past two days, according to the Centralia Police Department.

VEHICLE VERSUS BICYCLE

• A man on a bicycle and a van collided about 6:15 p.m. yesterday on the 2000 block of Jackson Highway in Chehalis. The victim, in his mid-40s and from Chehalis, ended up with a small abrasion on his head and leg pain, according to police. He had been traveling northbound on the west side of the roadway when the van turned into a church parking lot, police said.

TUMBLING PICKUP LANDS ON FUEL TANKER

• A 19-year-old Oakville resident escaped injury along U.S. Highway 12 near Aberdeen today when his brakes failed, he swerved and struck a curb causing his pickup to roll, landing between a semi tanker and its tanker trailer. It happened about 1 p.m. four miles east of town at Solki Road, in the parking lot of a 7-11, according to the Washington State Patrol. Neither Wyatt R. Carter, 19, from Oakville, nor the truck driver, William C. Watkins, 47, of Gig Harbor, were hurt, the state patrol reports. Trooper Russ Winger says the tanker was for fuel, and its driver was just finishing paperwork. The investigating trooper reports Carter was eastbound with traffic slowing in front of him when he couldn’t stop because of the defective brakes; his 1992 Ford Ranger landed wheels down.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants; responses for alarms, misdemeanor theft, suspicious circumstances, minor collision on city street, noisy neighbor music … and more.

Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Wednesday, January 15th, 2014

Updated at 5:51 p.m.

BURGLARY

• An individual who left their Centralia home for about 20 minutes yesterday returned to discover someone had broken in and stolen jewelry. An officer was called to the residence on the 2700 block of Eureka Avenue at about 3 p.m., according to the Centralia Police Department.

• Chehalis police responded yesterday about 3 p.m. to a possible burglary at an apartment on Southeast Washington Avenue but nothing appeared to be missing. A door may have been left unlocked, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

FIST FIGHT

• A Chehalis police officer took a report at Green Hill School for boys yesterday regarding a fist fight between a pair of student-inmates in which an employee trying to break it up ended up getting hit. An 18-year-old is in trouble for punching a 17-year, who is in trouble for punching the staff member in the face, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

CAR PROWL

• Centralia police were called about 1:15 p.m. yesterday to a parking lot at the 1100 block of Harrison Avenue in Centralia when an individual found someone had taken a purse from an unlocked vehicle. They didn’t actually observe him take it, but a possible suspect is a male in his mid-20s wearing a green hoody who had been standing near the vehicle and then took off southbound, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• Police responding yesterday to a vehicle prowl at the 800 block of Southwest 21st Street in Chehalis learned someone stole power tools from the back of a pickup truck sometime between 10 p.m. the night before and 8 o’clock that morning, according to the Chehalis Police Department. The loss is about $1,500, according to police.

DISORDERLINESS

• A 42-year-old Centralia man was arrested yesterday after he was contacted walking up the middle of Maple Street apparently intoxicated and refused to talk with an arriving officer. Police Sgt. Stacy Denham said Paul L. Ramirez was heading towards Tower Avenue. “Not on the side, or on the shoulder, but right down the centerline,” Denham said. Ramirez was belligerent and wouldn’t identify himself so he  was booked into the Lewis County Jail for obstruction, according to the Centralia Police Department.

DRUGS

• Chehalis police are investigating the possession of a small amount of suspected marijuana by a 14-year-old student at Chehalis Middle School, following a call yesterday afternoon.

COLLISIONS

• A 64-year-old driver escaped injury when he swerved to miss a herd of elk last night in Packwood and slammed into a tree. A deputy called about 10:30 p.m. to mile marker one on  Cannon Road noted major front end damage to the man’s 2014 Honda Pilot, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

• The roadway was closed only briefly on U.S. Highway 12 east of Rochester yesterday after a log truck driver apparently lost consciousness and his loaded vehicle left the roadway, rolling onto its side. Aid responding to the approximately 12:10 p.m. accident near Hilt Street extricated the 57-year-old man from Randle and transported him to Providence St. Peter Hospital as a precautionary measure, according to responders. “We’re just very thankful he went to the right and not to the left into the oncoming lane,” Washington State Patrol Trooper Guy Gill said. The truck hit a guard rail and ran into the embankment for the railroad tracks and trees, leaving it with substantial damage, Gill said.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrant, misdemeanor  assault, driving with suspended license; responses for alarms, suspicious circumstances, minor collision on city street, rear-end collision on county road, parking lot hit and run … and more.

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U.S. Highway 12 near Hilt Street in Rochester. / Courtesy photo by Washington State Patrol Trooper

Read about former Montesano police chief arrested for shoplifting liquor …

Wednesday, January 15th, 2014

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

A one-time finalist for the position of chief of police in Chehalis has been arrested for allegedly spiriting 51 bottles of liquor out of a Safeway store stuffed inside his pants and jacket.

The (Aberdeen) Daily World reports Ray Sowers, 50, pleaded not guilty to second-degree theft on Friday in Pierce County Superior Court.

Sowers resigned as police chief from Montesano in 2010 after an investigation found he spent thousands of dollars of public money on personal purchases, according to news reporter Brionna Friedrich.

He interviewed for the top cop job in the Lewis County seat in late 2006.

Read about it here

Sheriff’s Office Association joins Onalaska woman to help feed children

Tuesday, January 14th, 2014

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – There are hungry kids in Onalaska.

Tawyna White, one of the four “lunch ladies” at the rural school district who has helped cook and serve meals since 2005 sees it and has been contemplating for the past couple of years what to do.

“When kids eat lunch or breakfast, sometimes they come up and tell me they’re still hungry,” White said. “So I wonder, if they’re getting hungry when they’re getting food here, are they hungry on the weekend?”

The school district southwest of Chehalis teaches somewhere around 750 children, and two-thirds of them reside in households whose financial situations qualify them for free or reduced price lunches, according to White.

Part of White’s job involves processing those applications and the need seems to be growing, she said.

Onalaska has its share of “homeless” families, a descriptor that includes those who reside with relatives, non relatives or maybe even in just a travel trailer, but it’s not only them, White said.

“A lot of families are just struggling to make ends meet,” she said. “It seems to be especially since the recession; it hasn’t gotten any better for out here yet.”

Even with food stamps and a local food bank some children don’t get enough to eat, she said.

The idea White has been considering, is something already done at an elementary school in Centralia and also in Longview, she said.

It’s a way to help make sure needy students don’t go hungry on weekends.

It’s called the backpack snack program and the way it works is each qualifying child will receive a backpack filled with snacks and food to take home each Friday and  then on Monday, they would return it to the school again to be replenished at the end of the week.

The program is starting now, with whatever donations of new or used-but-in-very-good-condition backpacks and non-perishable food items the community can give.

“I just decided before Christmas break, I’m going to get it going now,” White said.

They’re not yet set up to accept cash donations. And they can’t take fresh fruits or vegetables or anything that is perishable because there is no place to store it, she said.

Her ultimate goal is to send food home with everybody that needs it, she said. She estimates that’s between 200 and 300 youngsters. “But that’s just a dream right now.”

The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office Association learned of White’s plan last week. Yesterday, they put up a collection box at the sheriff’s office in Chehalis.

Items can be brought there, or to the Pizza Girl on state Route 508, or to the Onalaska Elementary-Middle school office between the hours of 7:30 a.m. and 4 p.m.

The following is a list of what they could use. They don’t need to actually be name brand goods:

• Back packs, new or in very good condition
• Chicken Top Ramen
• Beef Top Ramen
• Quaker Instant Oatmeal
• Carnation Instant Breakfast drink mix
• Nutri-grain Breakfast bars
• Instant Mac ‘n Cheese
• Quaker Chewy granola bars
• Stretch Island Fruit Co. fruit leather strip
• Tree Top fruit chews
• Del Monte fruit cup
• Annie’s Homegrown cracker / cookie
• Austin’s Cracker (peanut butter / cheese)
• Capri Sun Juice
• Canned soup
• Any other non-perishable nutritious items that a child would enjoy

•••

CORRECTION: This news item has been updated to reflect the correct name of the Pizza Girl.

Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Tuesday, January 14th, 2014

DOMESTIC INCIDENT

• A 32-year-old Toledo man was arrested yesterday after a deputy responding to a dispute learned the argument came about because he allegedly had put some prescription medication into his wife’s drink earlier. It was an anti-anxiety medication, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The couple had been drinking, Sgt. Rob Snaza said. Following the approximately 4:30 p.m. call to the 800 block of Spencer Road, the man was booked into the Lewis County Jail for delivery of a controlled substance, according to Snaza. The Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office however, declined to file the felony charge and he is scheduled to be released.

MISSING VEHICLE FOUND

• A vehicle stolen from Lakewood turned up at the 500 block of North Tower Avenue in Centralia yesterday morning, according to the Centralia Police Department. It was returned to its owner, according to police.

BOWS STOLEN

• A deputy responded about 10:30 a.m. yesterday to a report of a burglary to a shop building at the 100 block of Allman Road near Winlock. The 49-year-old victim said someone got inside and stole two compound bows, one a Matthews brand and the other a Reflex brand, sometime since 4:30 a.m., according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The loss is estimated at $700, according to the sheriff’s office.

“PUBLIC ASSIST”

• Chehalis police responded about 11:35 a.m. yesterday to a convenience store on the 600 block of West Main Street about a woman drinking beer in the parking lot. It was the fifth call during the shift about the individual who has been hallucinating and not making any sense, according to police. The 41-year-old woman from Olympia had previously declined an offer to be taken to the hospital for a mental health evaluation but this time she was told she could go voluntarily or the officer could make her go, police said. She agreed and was transported to Providence Centralia Hospital, Officer Linda Bailey said.

COLLISION

• A 25-year-old Winlock resident was booked into the Lewis County Jail last night for driving under the influence after she wrecked her car along the 600 block of Shorey Road outside Chehalis. A deputy learned that about 5 p.m., a Chevrolet Lumina had traveled from Wal-Mart, along Louisiana Avenue toward Newaukum Drive and at one point drove through a yard and at another point nearly struck vehicle head on, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Carly Ridley’s car was described as totaled after it went off the road, and she sustained minor cuts to her head, according to the sheriff’s office. She was treated at Providence Centralia and then taken to the jail, Sg. Rob Snaza said.

CHEHALIS OVERPASS REPAIRS WILL CLOSE NORTHBOUND I-5 AGAIN

• Nighttime drivers will encounter a third and final full closure of northbound Interstate 5 at 13th Street in Chehalis on Friday, as crews return to remove concrete forms and complete touchup work on the damaged overpass. The repair work follows a Dec. 31 incident in which part of an oversized load struck the bridge where it crosses over the freeway. Drivers will be re-routed using the on and off ramps between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m., according to the Washington State Department of Transportation.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for driving with suspended license; responses for alarms, possibly misdemeanor theft, possible violation of protection order, collision on city street, car into a ditch on a county road … and more.

Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Monday, January 13th, 2014

Updated at 8:37 p.m.

ADULT SON SUSPECTED OF DIPPING INTO BANK ACCOUNT

• A 51-year-old Morton resident was arrested for allegedly taking more than $8,000 from his father’s bank account. Police last week investigating the case involving the forgery of checks and Sterling Savings Bank in Morton on Friday booked Darryl D. DeVore into the Lewis County Jail for first-degree theft, according to the Morton Police Department.

ARGUMENT BETWEEN NEIGHBORS GETS UGLY

• A 28-year-old man is jailed after a fight which reportedly began when he showed up to the alley behind his Centralia neighbor’s house holding a knife and yelling for an acquaintance to come out. When the female’s boyfriend confronted Anthony E. F. Spencer, Spencer allegedly advanced toward him and was punched in the face, according to charging documents.  Police responding about 11:20 p.m. on Friday to the 1400 block of Oxford Avenue arrested Spencer for second-degree assault and possession of a controlled substance and booked him into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department. Eighteen Oxycodone pills were found in his pants pocket, charging documents state. He was charged today with those two offenses and bail was set at $25,000.

ATTEMPTED BURGLARY

• A Centralia resident called 911 about 4:30 a.m. yesterday after hearing someone trying to break through his back door. Deputies responding to the 100 block of Union Avenue learned the 57-year-old was in his kitchen and yelled, prompting the subject to flee, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Law enforcement checked the area but didn’t find anyone, Sgt. Rob Snaza said.

HOT WHEELS

• Chehalis police responding about 2:30 a.m. on Saturday to the 1400 block of Northwest Louisiana Avenue in Chehalis where a passenger in a car said he took the keys because the driver was driving crazy ended up arresting the driver for possession of a stolen vehicle. Curtis L. Pappan, 42, from Moclips, was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Chehalis Police Department. The vehicle had been reported stolen from Aberdeen, police said. A search of the car turned up items such as green leafy material, drug paraphernalia and pills in side a case, Officer Linda Bailey said.

NOT HOT WHEELS

• Centralia police were called about 10:30 p.m. on Friday regarding a 2006 Honda Civic hybrid car stolen from the 1800 block of North Pearl Street, However, by morning, officers learned an apartment manager there had the car impounded and towed away, according to the Centralia Police Department.

‘I HEARD AN EXPLOSION IN CHEHALIS’

• The sound of an explosion in Chehalis on Saturday night brought police to the area of Southwest Salsbury Avenue and 22nd Street where a melted plastic Pepsi bottle was collected for examination. It happened about 11 p.m., according to the Chehalis Police Department.

BURGLARY NEAR PE ELL

• A deputy was called yesterday to a residential burglary at the 100 block of Mauerman Road North west of Chehalis in which binoculars, cameras and fishing gear were among the valuables stolen. It happened sometime during the previous week, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The loss is estimated at more than $800, according to the sheriff’s office.

BURGLARY NEAR CHEHALIS

• A deputy responded about 11 a.m. on Saturday to the 100 block of Terra Bonita Drive outside Chehalis following the discovery of a residential burglary in which approximately $2,000 worth of valuables were stolen. Among the items taken sometime after 1 o’clock that morning were a smoker, a Blu-ray system and several knives, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

BURGLARY NEAR ROCHESTER

• The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reported this morning that several toy cannons were taken from a shop building at the 1200 block of Lincoln Creek Road west of Centralia sometime between Wednesday and Friday. The loss is listed at about $1,000, according to the sheriff’ office.

BURGLARY NEAR CHEHALIS

• Sometime between Friday and Saturday, someone entered a detached shop at the 1600 block of Rice Road in Chehalis and removed a radiator belonging to a 1972 Chevrolet Blazer, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

TEEN ARRESTED FOR STOLEN FIREARMS

• Centralia police reported yesterday that a 16-year-old boy was arrested during an investigation into two stolen pistols that began late Friday night at the 1100 block of Long Road in Centralia. The teen relative of the victim was booked into the Lewis County Juvenile Detention Center for first-degree burglary and theft of a firearm, according to the Centralia Police Department.

DRUGS

• A 27-year-old Centralia resident was arrested about 9 a.m. on Friday at the 500 block of Hunt Street in Centralia for possession of heroin and methamphetamine. Christian D. Brown, who was also wanted for numerous warrants, was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department. A 17-year-old boy who was with Christian was also arrested for a warrant, according to police. The investigation was still continuing, police reported on Saturday.

VANDALISM

• Chehalis police took a report on Friday afternoon from the 800 block of Northwest Hood Place regarding the discovery of the driver’s side window broken out of a pickup parked in a carport.

FROM THE COURTHOUSE: SEX CRIME

• A former Adna area resident was brought before a judge today to face allegations he molested a younger relative when they lived together following the December 2007 flood. Edward J. Guenther, now 23, was extradited from Virginia where he is is serving in the U.S. Navy. The girl, now 14 who has moved away, described instances in which Guenther fondled her and once raped her, according to charging documents. Guenther who was jailed on Friday is on indefinite leave from the service, defense attorney Bob Schroeter told a judge this afternoon in Lewis County Superior Court. The girl told a detective it began when he was 17 and she was 9 and occurred over a two-year period, according to charging documents. Charges were filed in December of one count of first-degree child molestation and one count of first-degree child rape. His bail was set at $50,000. Guenther’s arraignment was set for Thursday.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, driving with suspended license, misdemeanor assault, violation of protection order; responses for alarms, disorderly person, shoplifting and other misdemeanor theft, minor collision on city street, parking lot hit and run, something spray painted on a bus stop shelter, stolen BMX bicycle, found BMX bicycle … and more.

DWLS 3rd: Lewis County man loses at state Supreme Court

Sunday, January 12th, 2014
2014.0112.2013.march.tvw.johnson.supremecourt

The Washington State Supreme Court listens to oral arguments in March in the case of Stephen C. Johnson. / Courtesy image from TVW

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A Lewis County case which could have eliminated an enormous part of the state’s system of driver’s license suspension has ended without that result.

In a five to four decision, the Washington State Supreme Court upheld a Lewis County man’s conviction for driving while license suspended in the third degree.

The court declined to address Stephen C. Johnson’s attorneys’ claim of “driving while poor” concluding Johnson wasn’t poor enough in the right way to have standing to make the challenge.

However, the nine justices did decide Johnson was poor enough he should have been entitled to appointed counsel for his appeal. The case was remanded to Lewis County District Court to address that issue.

The case was argued to the Supreme Court last March by Olympia attorney Kevin Hochhalter and Lewis County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Shane O’Rourke. It’s opinion was issued on Thursday.

Johnson appealed the conviction on two grounds, first, his attorneys argued the DWLS 3rd statute did not actually forbid his continued driving, in his particular case, after he contested and lost his 2007 civil infraction for driving with an expired license.

He was fined $260, he did not pay and the court notified the state Department of Licensing he failed to pay, so they suspended his license. His arrest for DWLS 3rd – a criminal misdemeanor – came in September 2008 when a Lewis County sheriff’s deputy spotted his truck driving without a rear bumper or mud flaps and pulled him over.

Johnson contended that because the notice of infraction did not expressly require him to pay a fine, he had not violated its terms. The majority of the court disagreed with him.

In a nine-page dissent authored by Justice Charles K. Wiggins, he and the remaining members of the court however, sided with Johnson’s lawyers on that point.

On the second aspect of Johnson’s appeal, his lawyers argued that because he is indigent, the suspension was invalid under the Fourteenth Amendment to to the United States Constitution’s due process and equal protection clauses.

But that argument, that the state or the court should have but didn’t inquire about his ability to pay the $260 infraction –  before sending off notice to DOL  – simply did not get examined by the Supreme Court.

The Lewis County man may be poor, but he had assets, according to the court.

In the record was his testimony he had no income and had not worked for 30 years, but owned a $300,000 home free and clear.

The court said Johnson could have borrowed money to pay the original traffic fine.

Since he didn’t meet the necessary definition for indigence, the full court agreed, he didn’t have standing to challenge the suspension on that basis.

Finally, however, for the purposes of qualifying for a court-appointed lawyer for his appeal, Johnson should have been found indigent, the court said.

Under Washington state statute he met its requirements in that he received state aid in the form of food stamps and energy assistance, the court wrote.

The Supreme Court ordered Lewis County District Court to enter an order designating Johnson indigent, or indigent and able to contribute, and if the latter, then determine the costs he should bear for his appeal.
•••

For background, read the decision here.

Watch and listen to appeals attorney Kevin Hochhalter and Lewis County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Shane O’Rourke address the court in March, here