Lewis County Sirens.com

SCAMSTERS SCAMMING

• Beware if you get a phone call informing you you’ve won $2.5 million and that you can redeem your winnings by first mailing off a $480 cash card from Wal-Mart to cover the taxes for the IRS, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. It appears to be a scam and one local woman contacted law enforcement after she received at least four such calls from someone identifying themselves as a representative of American Cash Rewards, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said yesterday. She was told James Washington would be presenting the reward, Brown said. Fortunately the woman didn’t believe the caller. The sheriff’s office offers its oft-repeated advice, “If it sounds to good to be true, it probably is.”

FIGHT AT PARTY BRINGS FELONY CHARGES

• Two young men were arrested this week for an assault last month at a party in Centralia that left a 19-year-old male with a broken jaw. Police arriving at  about 12:45 a.m. on March 16 to the 500 block of East Maple Street observed numerous males running from the area, found blood spattered around the front door and learned a 19-year-old Centralia resident had been struck numerous times as well as kicked in the face while he was on the ground, according to authorities. A witness told police Cole T. Rife, 18, had come to the gathering and was trying to pick a fight with anyone who would fight him and turned his attention to Logan Crump, according to charging documents. Crump initially didn’t care to press the matter, until after the following day when he got medical treatment and discovered he had a fractured mandible, charging documents state. Crump told police Rife phoned him and apologized. Rife, a rural Chehalis resident, was arrested and went before a Lewis County Superior Court judge on Tuesday, charged with second-degree assault. His temporary defense attorney Bob Schroeter said he’d known the W.F. West High School graduate since he was a kindergartner. Judge James Lawler allowed Rife to be released from jail pending trial on a $10,000 unsecured bond, co-signed by Rife’s father. Then on Thursday, Tyler L. Burk, 19, of Rochester, was arrested for second-degree assault in the same case, according to the Centralia Police Department. He was scheduled to go before a judge yesterday afternoon, and subsequently released from jail.

FROM THE COURTHOUSE

• The former Chehalis resident locked up for 160 years for a Yakima County gang-related incident reached out to local prosecutors from prison to request they bring him to Lewis County to face a judge in connection with a drive-by shooting from the summer of 2010 in Chehalis.

Andrew Morales-Loberg

Andrew Morales-Loberg, now 22, was charged after the incident on Southwest William Street, and a $500,000 arrest warrant issued, but he was never apprehended by local police. At the time, police said someone in a red Chevrolet Blazer fired a round from a pistol that struck a parked vehicle while four people were standing near it. Morales-Loberg was transferred from prison last week to the Lewis County Jail. He appeared in Lewis County Superior Court Thursday for his arraignment. Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer said the case was being revisited at the defendant’s request. “He wrote us a letter, asking that the matter be taken care of,” Meyer said. The prosecutor said he didn’t know why, but did know outstanding matters can affect what programs inmates are eligible for. Morales-Loberg was among four LVL gang members sentenced in the fall of 2012 to more than 100 years in prison for shooting up an inhabited trailer in the town of Outlook in retaliation for a previous shooting. Nobody was injured there, nor in the William Street shooting, which police said was related to drugs and money. Three other individuals were also charged with drive-by shooting from the Chehalis case, but those charges were dismissed against all three. Morales-Loberg is represented by attorney Sam Groberg. He entered a plea of not guilty. A review hearing was scheduled for May 1, and a trial set for the week of June 2. The earliest he can be released from prison in the Outlook case, with good behavior, is Christmas Eve in the year 2165, according to prosecutors.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, driving with suspended license; responses for collisions on city streets … and more.

FEMALE FOUND IN WOODS, HOSPITALIZED

• Centralia police were called about 5:10 p.m. yesterday by a woman on a cell phone asking for help from a wooded area south of the hospital on South Schueber Road. Once she was located, she was taken to the hospital to be evaluated as she seemed disoriented, according to the Centralia Police Department. Few details were being released this morning. Officers are still investigating how she ended up where she did, and what happened, Sgt. Kurt Reichert said.

EMPLOYEES INJURED BY PATIENT

• Police were called to Providence Centralia Hospital about 7 p.m. yesterday regarding two employees allegedly assaulted by a patient. One had a concussion, according to the Centralia Police Department. The case involving a 23-year-old Centralia resident is being forwarded to prosecutors with a recommendation of charges of third-degree assault, according to police.

FOLKS FLEEING

• A 55-year-old Winlock man was arrested after he reportedly fled officers attempting to contact him in the area of the 1100 block of South Schueber Road in Centralia around 1 p.m. yesterday. Centralia police say Steven M. Yoke abandoned his car after a short distance and ran away, but was apprehended by officers with assistance from a police dog. The sheriff’s office wanted to talk with him about an assault case, according to the Centralia Police Department. Yoke was booked into the Lewis County Jail for eluding, according to police.

• Centralia police were called about 5 p.m. yesterday by a motorist who said they were rear-ended at Harrison Avenue and Galvin Road by a Honda car that didn’t stop. Police were told the victim followed the bronze-colored vehicle to the area of Foron Road where its driver indicated he had a warrant for his arrest, and left again,  according to the Centralia Police Department. Police were given a license plate number for the suspect car.

THEFT

• Police were contacted yesterday by a business on the 600 block of West Main Street in Centralia regarding missing money. The case is under investigation, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• Centralia police were called about 6 p.m. yesterday to the 200 block of South Diamond Street where the resident reported money missing from an account. The case is under investigation, according to the Centralia Police Department.

DOMESTIC INCIDENT

• A 34-year-old Winlock woman who allegedly kicked a door and damaged a  $500 guitar belonging to her live-in boyfriend was arrested early yesterday morning for disorderly conduct and third-degree malicious mischief. Deputies responding about 2:50 a.m. to the 200 block of Burnett Road booked Kara R. Jones-Pierce into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

CAR PROWL

• Police were called about 2:20 p.m. yesterday regarding a vehicle prowl at the 1000 block of Harrison Avenue in Centralia.

BOAT STALLS ON RIVER AFTER DARK, OPERATOR STUCK

• Deputies took to the water to rescue a stranded boater last night on the Cowlitz River near the 2200 block of Spencer Road in Salkum. The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office and firefighters responded about 9:15 p.m. because the 56-year-old Tacoma man had engine trouble and drifted about 100 yards downstream from the boat launch at Barrier Dam but the bank was too steep for him to get to the shore, according to the sheriff’s office. He had managed already to drop off a passenger, who called 911, according to the sheriff’s office. Members of Lewis County Fire District 8 provided lighting for the area and deputies using their boat picked the man up, according to responders.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, shoplifting; responses for misdemeanor assault, attempted scam via email, little dog nipping a small child, collisions on city streets; complaints about neighbors … and more.

IF I CAN’T SEE YOU, YOU CAN’T SEE ME

• Deputies arrested a 22-year-old Onalaska man last night wanted on a felony warrant when they found him hiding under a blanket in a back bedroom at the 300 block of Maple Maple Crest Drive in Onalaska. Deputies following up on information Aaron M. Fickett was at the residence arrived and were also told he was suspected of stealing a motorcycle earlier that morning, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The Honda CR80 which had been taken from a garage at the 100 block of Fred Plant Road was subsequently found, with Fickett’s help, parked in the woods, according to the sheriff’s office. He was booked into the Lewis County Jail for the warrant and for second-degree burglary, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said. The motorcycle was returned to its owner, she said.

EAU DE’ CANNABIS IN PUBLIC

• It was the smell of marijuana wafting from the open window on the vehicle ahead of a patrol car at a Centralia stop sign last night that got the officer’s attention, but then the female passenger with a pipe in one hand, a lighter in the other and blowing smoke from her mouth provided clues as well, according to police. It was about 10:30 p.m. at Belmont and Harrison avenues and two of the six occupants of the vehicle were in trouble before it was over, according to the Centralia Police Department. Hannah L. Baker, 20, from Tenino, for underage and in-public use, according to Sgt. Kurt Reichert. Another passenger, 22-year-old Kody R. Posey, of Centralia, for suspected delivery of marijuana, Reichert said. “Handing someone a loaded pipe, or selling them a bag of dope, it’s delivery,” Reichert said. All were released and the cases are being forwarded to prosecutors for further action, he said.

THEFT

• A 21-year-old Centralia man was arrested yesterday for second-degree theft and trafficking in stolen property in connection with jewelry that belonged to a family member. Police called about 7:30 a.m. to the 100 block of Haliday Road booked Michael R. Weems into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department.

VANDALISM

• Chehalis police took a report yesterday of what appeared to be a window shot by a BB gun at the 800 block of Southwest 18th Street. Police were told it occurred sometime in the previous few days, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

OUT-OF-CONTROL TEENAGER

• A 15-year-old student at Winlock Middle School was arrested after he allegedly spit in a teacher’s face and proceeded to throw a desk around a classroom yesterday. Deputies called about 4 p.m. yesterday found the boy had calmed down somewhat, but done more than $750 worth of damage, including to a “white board” and the desk, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said the teacher was wearing a spit guard because he had spit before, and she at first ignored the spitting. However, she exited the room when he picked up the desk, according to Brown. He reportedly threw the desk around the room, as many as 20 times, according to the deputy’s report. The student was taken to the Lewis County Juvenile Justice Center and booked for malicious mischief and faces two possible counts of fourth-degree assault for allegedly spitting twice, according to Brown. Further details were no readily available.

COLLISION

• A 16-year-old Centralia girl ended up with a possible back injury when she wrecked her car yesterday evening at the 100 block of Jeffries Road west of Chehalis. A deputy arriving after the approximately 5:30 p.m. accident was told she was traveling too fast around a corner, causing major damage to her 2007 Acura, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The driver is to be cited for traveling too fast for conditions, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants; responses for alarm, graffiti, collisions on city streets… and more.

CAR PROWLS ABOUND

• Several vehicles were reported broken into at the 200 block of West Oakview Avenue in Centralia yesterday.

• Chehalis police were called about 8 o’clock yesterday morning about two unlocked vehicles parked on the street along the 500 block of Northeast Avenue that someone rummaged through. Some change was missing, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

• A laptop computer and school supplies were among the valuables stolen from a parked car at Northeast Washington Avenue near North Street in Chehalis, according to a report made to police about 1 p.m. yesterday.

• Someone disabled the alarm on a vehicle and then stole an iPod from Inside at the 1900 block of Ahlers Avenue in Centralia, according to a report made to police about 9:15 a.m. yesterday.

MISSING MONEY FROM SCHOOL

• Police were called at 11 a.m. yesterday regarding the theft of $120 from the boy’s locker room at W.F. West High School in Chehalis.

MAIL THEFT

• Police were called about 12:30 p.m. yesterday regarding the theft of a package stolen from a porch on the 2800 block of Russell Road in Centralia.

THEFT OF SERVICE ANIMAL

• A 38-year-old woman reported to police yesterday her service dog was stolen when the Jeep she was sometimes living in was stolen from in front of a home of the 400 block of East Plum Street in Centralia. Police were told it happened back on March 21 and she was able to find the vehicle last Friday at Roberts Road south of Chehalis,  but the animal was gone, according to the Centralia Police Department. It’s described as a longer-haired white canine, but isn’t a seeing-eye dog, Sgt. Kurt Reichert said.

NOT QUITE A DUI

• A 40-year-old Centralia woman was arrested last night when she was discovered sitting on the middle console between the driver’s and passenger seats of a vehicle and intoxicated, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. A deputy encountering Libby R. Downer around 10:35 p.m. on the side of the road at the 2500 block of Harrison Avenue in Centralia concluded although Downer wasn’t observed in the vehicle while it was moving, that she had been turning around, according to the sheriff’s office. The keys in the ignition and it was in drive, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said. She was booked into the Lewis County jail for being in physical control of a vehicle while under the influence, Brown said.

WRECK

• A 23-year-old motorist who allegedly crossed the centerline at a curve on a Centralia Street overnight and collided with a vehicle in the oncoming lane was arrested for driving under the influence. Offices responding about 2:20 a.m. today to the area at Mellen and Alder street found that Trevor L. Smith also was driving with a suspended license, according to the Centralia Police Department. The other driver had a possible injury, according to police. Smith was  booked in to the Lewis County Jail, according to police.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, trespass, driving with suspended license, driving under the influence, misdemeanor assault; responses for alarm, shoplifting and other misdemeanor theft, collisions on city streets including unoccupied school bus at the 600 block of Centralia College Boulevard in which police say nobody was hurt, county road in which a 16-year-old boy, distracted by a girl, drove over a curb and into a mailbox … and more.