Lewis County Sirens.com

The overpass at 13th Street in Chehalis over Interstate 5 after it was struck by a log loader on a trailer. / Courtesy photo by Washington State Patrol

CHEHALIS OVERPASS REPAIRS WILL CLOSE NORTHBOUND I-5

• A portion of northbound Interstate 5 at Chehalis will be closed overnight this weekend while repairs are made to the 13th Street bridge which was damaged by a too-tall load last week. Drivers will be re-routed using the on and off ramps between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. on Friday and Saturday, according to the Washington State Department of Transportation. On the morning of Dec. 31, the driver of a Chehalis-based truck pulling a trailer carrying a log loader was cited after the loader struck a portion of the overpass snapping steel tension cables and knocking concrete onto the freeway, according to the Washington State Patrol. A state patrol spokespersons said the company was permitted for a load no taller than 14-feet 6-inches but inspectors subsequently measured the load at 14-feet 7-inches. Trooper Will Finn said the overpass measures at 15 feet. DOT says it has a vertical clearance of 14-feet 8-inches. The truck was escorted by front and rear pilot cars and the overhead detector about a mile to the south – which sets off both audible and visual alarms – was found to be operational, according to authorities. Truck restrictions on the overpass currently in place will be lifted after the weekend work, according to DOT. The bridge is 56 years old.

DRUGS

• Deputies ended up arresting three people early yesterday morning after a suspicious vehicle pulled into a Chehalis area driveway and then sped off when confronted. It happened about 5:20 a.m. at the 300 block of Yates Road and when the suspect vehicle was located near Jackson Highway and Logan Hill Road, it was occupied by three Yelm residents, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The driver, Adam G. Jones, 34, had a suspended license and subsequently he and passenger, Kassandra M. Anderson, 22, were booked for possession of methamphetamine, according to the sherif’s office. Forty-two-year-old David R. Perez was also booked into the Lewis County Jail for a warrant, Sgt. Rob Snaza said.

CAR PROWL

• Chehalis police responded to a vehicle prowl at the 700 block of Northwest Liberty Place just before midnight, in which someone rifled through a truck containing various tools. A window was found broken  on the driver’s side and the door unlocked, according to the Chehalis Police Department. It wasn’t immediately clear what may have been taken, police said.

FRAUD

• Centralia police were contacted yesterday afternoon regarding a cell phone account opened fraudulently under the victim’s name, in connection with a location at the 600 block of North Tower Avenue.

SEX CRIME

• A 34-year-old Centralia area man turned himself yesterday in connection with an investigation that began last week of alleged sexual abuse of a young relative. A deputy was first contacted on Friday by a mother who said her teenage daughter disclosed incidents that occurred during the year that ended in September of 2012, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The sheriff’s office was unsuccessful in its attempts to contact Rodney J. Teitzel Jr. but he turned himself in to the Lewis County Jail late last night where he was booked for second-degree child rape and molestation, according to the sheriff’s office. His bail was set at $150,000.

WRECK

• A 34-year-old Chehalis woman was taken to the hospital with neck pain following a two-car accident last night at Jackson Highway and North Fork Road south of Chehalis. Deputies responding about 8:30 p.m. concluded a Ford Escort pulled onto the roadway heading south when it was struck by the northbound Toyota Corolla. Both vehicles sustained major damage, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, driving with suspended license, violation of anti-harassment order, misdemeanor assault; responses for alarms; complaint of a woman outside for hours bugging patrons … and more.

THEFT AND BURGLARY

• Sometime between 12:30 a.m. and 4:30 a.m. yesterday, someone got inside a shop building on the 100 block of Mable’s Court Drive outside Chehalis and made off with an air compressor, a battery charger, a chainsaw and other tools, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Deputies are looking for a person seen in the area described as tall wearing a dark jacket and hoodie, according to the sheriff’s office.

• The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reported today it appears someone attempted to steal items from a barn at the 1600 block of Rice Road outside Chehalis on Saturday. Five cow feeder dividers were missing but later found outside the barn as though someone may have intended to come back for them, Sgt. Rob Snaza said. Snaza said he wasn’t sure but thought perhaps they were wanted for their scrap value.

• Centralia police took a report about 10 p.m. last night regarding the theft of medications from the 600 block of North Tower Avenue. The case involves a possible suspect known to the victim, according to the Centralia Police Department.

DISORDERLINESS

• A 33-year-old Kelso woman was arrested about 3 o’clock this morning for obstructing a public servant after contact with an officer at the 400 block of North Tower Avenue in Centralia. Meagan M. Hayward-Rice was booked into the Lewis County Jail,  according to the Centralia Police Department.

DRUGS

• Centralia police report they arrested a 36-year-old man at the 400 block of East Park Street in Napavine about 8 a.m. yesterday for possession of heroin. Ian D. Angelo was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department.

WRECK

• An 18-year-old Chehalis woman escaped injury when her car slid in gravel into a ditch at a sharp turn at the 100 block of Stearns Road west of Chehalis at about 9 p.m. yesterday. Her car sustained major damage, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as responses for misdemeanor theft, two-vehicle collision with no injuries, possibly a found potato gun; complaints of ongoing noise from across the street; fire departments responding to “a couple of medical calls”, “some aid calls” and “all aid calls yesterday”… and more.

ASSAULT

• An officer was called to Green Hill School for boys in Chehalis on Saturday after an 18-year-old student-inmate allegedly punched a 17-year-old in the mouth, causing loose teeth. A charge of second-degree assault was recommended in the case, although the resident of the state juvenile detention facility simply stayed in custody there, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

• A 41-year-old Centralia woman was arrested at a residence on the 100 block of Southwest 11th Street in Chehalis on Friday evening when police arrived looking for an individual who allegedly stole beer from Safeway about two hours earlier. The suspect male was arrested for third-degree theft, according to police, but the woman who was wanted for a warrant was reportedly hostile and resisted attempts to detain her. She was booked into the Lewis County Jail for third-degree assault, but prosecutors declined to file that charge.

• A 23-year-old Winlock man was arrested for allegedly choking or attempting to choke his wife on Friday, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Deputies called about 10 a.m. following the incident subsequently booked Joshua T. Strobel into the Lewis County Jail for second-degree assault, according to the sheriff’s office.

HARASSMENT

• Jason A. Green, 24, of Randle, was arrested on Saturday for felony harassment, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Further information was not readily available.

BURGLARY AND THEFT

• A 36-year-old Chehalis area man returned home about 4:30 p.m. on Friday to find someone had kicked in his door and stolen approximately $1,000 worth of jewelry, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The burglary occurred sometime after 7:30 a.m. at the residence on the 100 block of Valley Meadow Road, according to the sheriff’s office.

• A 59-year-old Morton woman was arrested and booked into the Lewis County Jail for allegedly taking items from the receiving area at Jan’s Lost and Found in Morton yesterday. Prosecutors declined to file charges. She was scheduled to be released this afternoon.

• Police were called about 3:30 p.m. on Saturday to a report a battery was stolen out of a recreational vehicle on Southeast Aust Manor Drive in Chehalis.

VANDALISM

• Someone broke a window on a vehicle at the 1400 block of Johnson Road in Centralia, according to a report made to police yesterday morning.

DRUGS

• A 46-year-old Rochester man was arrested for possession of methamphetamine when he was contacted regarding a warrant and a violation of a protection order in connection with the 1300 block of Belmont Avenue in Centralia yesterday afternoon. Bruce A. Nelson was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department.

POST OFFICE MYSTERY

• Morton police reported this morning they are investigating an incident in which on New Year’s Day, blood was found smeared and strewn about at the post office. Officers responding just before 11 a.m. to the building at the 100 block of Second Street found it smeared on the front windows, on the sliding doors in the front, the glass doors leading to the lobby area and also droplets on the floor, according to Chief Dan Mortensen. The post office was closed until it could be removed, according to the chief.

WRECKS

• The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reported this morning an 18-year-old Centralia resident totaled his car but escaped injury when he lost control of his Mazda Protege on Friday evening at a ditch along the 1900 block of South Schueber Road outside Chehalis. A deputy responding about 8 p.m. issued a citation for talking on a cell phone to Jonathan A. Robles, according to the sheriff’s office.

• Morton police responded about 12:30 p.m. on Saturday to a one car rollover accident at the intersection of Second Street and Adams Avenue in which the driver sustained minor injuries. The driver said he wasn’t feeling well and passed out, according to the Morton Police Department. He was taken to Morton General Hospital, according to Mortensen.

• A 22-year-old Chehalis resident was arrested for alleged hit and run in connection with a car running into a power pole on the 800 block of Bunker Creek Road outside Chehalis around 1 a.m. on Saturday morning. Brandon W. Bowen was also cited for speeds too fast for conditions, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

• The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reported this morning that three teens and 26-year-old driver were hospitalized with minor injuries when a car skidded through an intersection at North Military and Koontz roads on Saturday night and ran into an embankment. A deputy responding about 10 p.m issued citations to Ryan Colby, of Toledo, for speed too fast for conditions and failing to stop at a stop sign, according to the sheriff’s office. Transported also to Providence Centralia Hospital were a 19-year-old man from Toledo and two 17-year-old girls, one from Toledo and the other from Chehalis, according to Sgt. Rob Snaza. The 2000 Saturn sustained major front end damage, Snaza said.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants; responses for alarms, female staggering in the street, possibly suicidal person, parking lot collision, misdemeanor theft, suspicious circumstances, defiant 13-year-old, inquiry about child custody issues, request for help finding a homeless shelter, unwelcome naughty phone calls; complaints of vehicle egged in the night, person smoking inside a bus stop shelter  … and more.

COLLISIONS

• Wrecks due to black ice sent at least two people to hospitals yesterday evening and night. “It was extremely icy,” Riverside Fire Authority Casey McCarthy said this morning. Crews responded about 5:45 p.m. to the 1400 block of Bunker Creek Road where an airbag deployed after a car ran into a ditch, according to McCarthy. The driver was transported to Providence Centralia Hospital to be evaluated, McCarthy said. A rollover accident around 8 p.m. drew members of Lewis County Fire District 6 toward Centralia-Alpha Road near Beck Road, but they were cancelled before they arrived because there was no injury, according to Firefighter Mike Goodwillie. And about 9 p.m., a 28-year-old Rainier man sustained minor injuries when he struck a power pole on state Route 507 just north of Centralia, responders said. The Washington State Patrol reports Joseph S. Biggerstaff was northbound and lost traction on an icy roadway at a corner. He was taken to Providence St. Peter Hospital in Olympia, according to the state patrol. At mid-morning today, a driver southbound on Interstate 5 near Maytown escaped serious injury when his truck rolled and landed on its top, according to West Thurston Regional Fire Authority. The patient declined to go to the hospital. Weather forecasters this afternoon say tonight should be mostly clear, with temperatures falling into the 20s in many areas and fog towards morning in the south and central interior.

THEFT

• Police took a report from the 1100 block of Grand Avenue in Centralia on Friday regarding batteries stolen from a vehicle sometime during the previous two days.

DRUGS

• Centralia police reported yesterday they arrested an individual at the 700 block of Koontz Road south of Chehalis for possession of methamphetamine. Chris S. Haegen, 38, of Chehalis, was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, driving without license, trespass; responses for two-vehicle, non injury collisions  … and more.