Archive for March, 2015

Police: Centralia resident tries to rob Titus Will

Tuesday, March 17th, 2015

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A 26-year-old man was arrested this morning for robbery after he allegedly beat up an employee at a Chehalis auto dealership, trying to get vehicles without paying for them.

Police called about 7:15 a.m. to the 2500 block of North National Avenue were told the employee was approached by the man in the parking lot at opening time, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

“He told the employee he wanted three cars, struck the employee, threatened he was going to kill him and struck him a couple more times,” department spokesperson Linda Bailey said.

The suspect was gone when officers arrived, but was subsequently located by Centralia police, Bailey said.

She said she didn’t yet have all the details, but the victim said his assailant didn’t make much sense. The 55-year-old declined aid, Bailey said.

One witness at Titus Will Chevrolet Buick told officers the man mentioned he had a family to feed, she said.

Jonas K. Doyle, 26, from Centralia, was booked into the Lewis County Jail for first-degree robbery, according to police.

News brief: Chehalis Golf course restaurant investigating credit card issue

Monday, March 16th, 2015

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Riverside Golf Club’s restaurant in Chehalis has stopped taking credit cards temporarily while they track down a potential breach of their system.

Manager Jena Sorenson said today she was contacted over the weekend by a woman who said her credit card was hacked, after it was used at their establishment.

The woman told her that the charges didn’t go through, but someone attempted to make purchases at Rite Aid three days after a lunch at Riverside, Sorenson said.

The woman posted it on Facebook, and then Sorenson got calls from two others who claimed a similar experience.

Sorenson said at this point, she’s not certain the problem is related to their business, but she’s not taking any chances.

She’s been in touch with their computer software company in case somehow malware has gotten into their system. She’s contacted their credit card processing company, and they’ve started an investigation, she said.

She’s confident it’s not an employee.

She wants to reassure customers nobody is at risk by coming to dine with them, as they just won’t accept credit cards until she’s 100 percent sure it’s safe to pay that way.

Riverside Bistro and Bar is at the golf course on Northwest Airport Road, along the Chehalis River. Her family has owned it for the past nine years, she said.

The golf course uses a different machine and credit card processor, according to Sorenson.

Sorenson was troubled the customer announced her issue on Facebook before even calling the restaurant, and frustrated there wasn’t anything she could do about it over the weekend, she said.

Riverside is as much victims of whatever may have happened, as the customer is, she said. And it can be damaging to a business to have such things shared widely that way, she said.

Credit card companies are pretty good with the protections they provide cardholders and it’s something that’s increasingly common for people in general, according to Sorenson.

“Almost everybody I know has had their credit card compromised,” she said. “This is the age of how people don’t steal your wallet, they steal your credit card (number).”

Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Monday, March 16th, 2015

BEDROOM BURGLED

• Someone broke into a home on the 3900 block of Jackson Highway south of Chehalis between 3:40 p.m. and 4:40 p.m. on Friday, rifling through a 22-year-old woman’s bedroom. It was the second time within a week it had happened, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The woman was home alone when she heard a knock on the window, and called her roommate who asked a neighbor to check on her, Chief Stacy Brown said. The neighbor took her home and when the roommate returned, he discovered the burglary, Brown said. Missing is $200 worth of quarters, according to Brown.

BREAK-IN CENTRALIA

• A 19-year-old Rochester resident was arrested around 3:30 a.m. today for second-degree burglary in connection with an incident at the 400 block of Kearny Street. Dustin P. McLean was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department. Further details were not immediately available.

• Centralia police took a report of a burglary at the 1400 block of Windsor Avenue yesterday in which someone broke in and took a portable heater. The item was found in the backyard, according to the Centralia Police Department.

BARN BURGLED CHEHALIS

• The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reports this morning that sometime between last Wednesday and Thursday, someone got into a barn on the 800 block of Logan Hill Road in Chehalis and stole a Craftsman two-piece tool box and a heavy-duty four-wheeled wagon. The loss is estimated at $500, according to the sheriff’s office.

SHERIFF: MORTON BURGLARY SOLVED

• A tip on Friday led to the arrest of two individuals for a November break-in in the Morton area in which a 68-year-old resident lost about $5,000 worth of household goods, fishing poles and tools, the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reported this morning. Deputies were told by someone they had seen the two males with the property and in a subsequent contact by a detective, the suspects admitted involvement in the burglary at the 100 block of Chapman Road, according to the sheriff’s office. Booked into the Lewis County Jail for residential burglary were Ricky D. Osborne Sr. 48, from Morton, and Brian J. Elmore, no age given, also of Morton, Chief Stacy Brown said.

VEHICLE THEFT

• A stolen 2000 Ford F350 pickup truck was recovered yesterday at the 100 block of Cedar Lane in Glenoma, according to the the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The owner, who lost it in Lakewood, couldn’t be located so the vehicle was impounded, the sheriff’s office reports.

CAR PROWL

• Two people were arrested about 11 o’clock yesterday morning when a neighbor saw them trying to get into someone else’s vehicle at on the 600 block of Northeast Franklin Avenue in Chehalis. Stacy L. Weighall, 50, was arrested for second-degree vehicle prowl and then released, according to the Chehalis Police Department. Booked into the Lewis County Jail for theft and vehicle prowl was Michael W. Thomas, 29, of Chehalis, according to police.

• Police were called to Wal-Mart in Chehalis about 5:50 p.m. on Friday where someone had gone inside an unlocked vehicle and taken a cell phone.

• Chehalis police were called about 10 a.m. on Friday regarding an overnight vehicle prowl on the 1400 block of Southwest Mills Street. A cell phone charger was among the items stolen from the unlocked vehicle parked in front of its residence, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

IMPOSTOR ARRESTED

• A 33-year-old man who produced a driver’s license that was not his when contacted by an officer about 3 a.m. today along Southwest Interstate Avenue in Chehalis was arrested for possession of another person’s identification, a misdemeanor, according to the Chehalis Police Department. Phillip R. Johnston, was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to police.

GRAFFITI ON RESIDENCE

• A resident of the 400 block of Kearny Street in Centralia called police about 5:20 p.m. yesterday to report graffiti left on the outside of his home. It happened sometime during the previous few days,  according to the Centralia Police Department.

DOMESTIC ASSAULT

• A 43-year-old Chehalis man was arrested on Saturday after an incident the night before in which he allegedly slapped and choked his fiancee during an argument, and threatened several times to kill her. Michael G. McBride was booked into the Lewis County Jail for second-degree assault and for harassment, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

SLEEPING IN CHURCH

• A 25-year-old Winlock man found asleep on a pew in a church on the 4200 block of Jackson Highway south of Chehalis yesterday morning was arrested and booked into the Lewis County Jail. Deputies responding sometime after 8 a.m. learned he wanted a place to get out of the rain, get way from an unsafe place he was staying, and to charge his cell phone, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Matthew R. Istre allegedly broke a glass door to get inside but didn’t take anything, according to the sheriff’s office. He was arrested for first-degree criminal trespass and third-degree malicious mischief, Chief Stacy Brown said.

CHIMNEY FIRE

• Firefighters were called noon yesterday to a chimney fire at the 400 block of Southwest Cascade Avenue in Chehalis. There were flames coming out the chimney, but they used their special nozzle to extinguish it, according to the Chehalis Fire Department. There was no damage, Capt. Casey Beck said.

COLLISION

• A 52-year-old Kelso man and his 52-year-old passenger from Onalaska were uninjured when they crashed a pickup truck into a bridge on the 200 block of Krueger Road in Onalaska on Saturday afternoon, Lewis County Sheriff’s office Chief Deputy Stacy Brown said this morning. A deputy responding about 2:45 p.m. noted the truck sustained major damage and the two appeared intoxicated, Brown said.They were transported by ambulance to Providence Centralia Hospital and an arrest for driving under the influence depends upon the results of a blood test, according to the sheriff’s office.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, malicious mischief, driving under the influence, driving with suspended license; responses for alarm, disputes, shoplifting, hit and run, vandalism, suspicious circumstances, possible sexual assault, collision on city street; complaints about a female asking customers for money, a man on a bicycle urinating outdoors … and more.

News brief: Chehalis police looking for info about possible attempted luring

Monday, March 16th, 2015

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Police are asking the public to contact them if they have any information about a possible attempted child luring incident that took place on Friday evening near the elementary schools on Southwest Third Avenue off Market Boulevard.

Officers were called about 6:15 p.m. on Friday when a 9-year-old girl said she was approached by a male on foot who told her she was cute and asked her to come to his home, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

The girl, who had her bicycle with her, rode away from the individual who didn’t try to follow her, according to a news release issued this afternoon.

He was described as having a darker complexion and acne, possibly of high school or college age, according to police. She also said he was wearing white tennis shoes, blue “skinny” jeans and a gray and black coat, according to police.

Anyone with information on the incident may contact police by calling the non-emergency number at Lewis County dispatch, 360-740-1105.

Chehalis bicyclist escapes collision with no broken bones, but with hospital bill

Sunday, March 15th, 2015

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Douglas Blankenship was carrying seven pounds of hamburger with him as he bicycled back home to Chehalis after a trip to Reicherts Meats in Centralia.

It happened really fast, he said.

He was headed down Cascade Avenue near the post office, when the door of a parked car opened, he said. He pulled his hand away so it wouldn’t get crushed.

“I was in the air, I went over the handle bars,” he said. “I just tucked my head.”

Blankenship said he hit the ground and when he opened his eyes, three women were sitting next to him, telling him not to move.

The accident about 3:45 p.m. last Monday sent him to the emergency room at Providence Centralia Hospital.

No bones were broken, just a lot of scraped skin and bruised body parts, he said after getting released.

Now, the 40-year-old is wondering if anyone else saw what happened. The police report didn’t make note of any witnesses, he said.

Blankenship said he’s not working, he doesn’t have insurance and he’s got medical bills.

“The doctor said the lady’s insurance should cover it, but when I mentioned about the lady’s insurance, the officer wasn’t really going that route,” he said.

After the incident, the Chehalis Police Department said the driver was getting ready to go into the post office and said she checked but didn’t see him, before opening her door. The bicyclist told police he was traveling close to the sidewalk, although not on it, and went to go around the car when its door opened, police said.

Blankenship said the hospital finished with him around 7:30 p.m. or 8 o’clock that night, and nurses – or someone – paid for a taxi to get him over to the fire department, where his bike and hamburger were.

He was appreciative of all of them for helping him out, he said. But now he’s uncertain what to do next.

“I’m just taking it step by step, this has never happened to me before” he said. “I’m trying to find out if anyone saw it.”

He didn’t think to gather names of witnesses himself before the ambulance took him away, he said.

He said he vaguely recalls a woman in a vehicle across the street, and is hoping she saw what took place, and will contact him. He can be reached at 360-388-388-0114.

Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Sunday, March 15th, 2015

UNRULY PEOPLE

• A 53-year-old Centralia woman allegedly spit on the face of a police officer as he was talking with her at the 900 block of South Schueber Road in Centralia early yesterday morning. The case is being referred to prosecutor for evaluation of a charge of third-degree assault, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• A 24-year-old Seattle resident was arrested for disorderly conduct and then for resisting arrest at the 300 block of North Tower Avenue in Centralia at about 10:20 p.m. on Friday, according to the Centralia Police Department. Ediberto M. Matul-Ortiz was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to police.

BURGLARY

• Centralia police were called regarding the theft of lawn tools from a garage on the 500 block of Girard Street on Friday.

TWO-FER

• Firefighters were called yesterday morning for a car that collided with the center barrier on Interstate 5 in Centralia, but the damage wasn’t too severe, because the vehicle continued south down the freeway into Chehalis, and then continued going straight at a curve and ran through a fence, across a road and into the fence at the airport. Chehalis firefighters responded about 7:30 a.m. and found the man and woman in the car were unhurt, but troopers were going to take them to the hospital to be checked out, according to Fire Capt. Casey Beck. The car was no longer drivable, Beck said.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, trespass, malicious mischief, driving under the influence, driving with suspended license; responses for protection order violation,vandalism, misdemeanor assault, collision on city street, a request to investigate sexual contact between two 6-year-old children … and more.

Accused Vader drug dealers plead not guilty

Friday, March 13th, 2015
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Francisco J. Guerrero, left, and his girlfriend Jennifer M. Hayes, wait while attorneys finish signing documents during their arraignment in Lewis County Superior Court.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The Vader couple arrested after an investigation into what police called a large supplier of heroin in Lewis and Cowlitz counties appeared in court yesterday afternoon with their lawyers for a brief hearing.

Francisco “Poncho” Guerrero, 36, is represented by James K. Morgan; and Jennifer M. Hayes, 33, is represented by John Hays. Both attorneys have offices in Longview.

When police searched the home on Alpine Court on Dec. 29, they seized heroin, cocaine, cash and a handgun, as well as a motorcycle. The investigation was conducted by the Centralia Police Department’s special Anti-Crime Team, Chehalis police detectives and the federal Drug Enforcement Administration.

For unspecified reasons, police did not arrest them until last week. They have been free on bail and returned to Lewis County Superior Court yesterday afternoon for arraignment.

Hayes is charged with two counts of possession with intent to deliver, involving heroin and cocaine.

Guerrero is charged similarly, along with one count of delivery of heroin and one count of first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm.

Both pleaded not guilty yesterday to all charges.

Defense attorney Hays told Judge Nelson Hunt he’d like to schedule a review hearing for next week, as he discovered the prosecutor got a judge to seal the document police presented to secure the search warrant.

Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Paul Masiello told the judge the state would oppose any request for unsealing. He said the office policy is to withhold that information in order to protect confidential informants, and once that information becomes known by the defense, any possible plea deals are taken off the table.

Judge Hunt agreed they could set a hearing for next Thursday afternoon to take up the matter.

Hunt also scheduled their trials for the week of May 11.
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For background, read “Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup – POLICE: VADER HEROIN DEALING COUPLE BUSTED” from Saturday March 7, 2015, here