Archive for April, 2015

Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Monday, April 13th, 2015

Updated at 2:56 p.m.

POLICE: EMPLOYEE THEFT OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS

• The office manager of a Chehalis business was arrested for allegedly stealing approximately $72,000 from her employer over a period of time, according to the Chehalis Police Department. An officer was called on Friday to Northwest Heating and Cooling on Southwest Chehalis Avenue about the discovery of missing money and subsequently arrested Allyson N. Reed at the workplace, according to police. The 33-year-old Centralia resident was booked into the Lewis County Jail for first-degree theft, department spokesperson Linda Bailey said. Bailey said at this point it appears it happened during the past five months.

THOUSANDS DOLLARS STOLEN FROM HOME

• Centralia police were called about 12:30 p.m. yesterday about a large amount of money being taken from a woman in her 50s from a home on the 800 block of South Silver Street. Police have suspect information and are following up, according to the Centralia Police Department. The amount missing was not revealed by police but Sgt. Stacy Denham said it is more than a “couple thousand” dollars.

GARAGE BREAK-IN

• A cement mixer was stolen from a garage on the 2000 block of North Pearl Street in Centralia, according to a report made to police yesterday. The burglary occurred overnight, according to the Centralia Police Department.

BUSINESS BURGLED

• A 36-year-old man who was caught inside a fenced business early yesterday morning allegedly trying to steal unspecified items was arrested for second-degree burglary. Centralia police say Brian L. Yost admitted to stealing from the same victim on the 200 block of Floral Street approximately two months earlier in an incident that was captured on video. Yost was booked into the Lewis County Jail,  according to the Centralia Police Department.

BURGLARY AND THEFT PACKWOOD

• Someone broke into a home on the 100 block of Willame Street in Packwood and stole a Toshiba flat screen television, 10 silver dollars and two rings, the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reported this morning. It happened sometime between 3 p.m. on Friday and 3 p.m. on Saturday, according to the sheriff’s office.

• A deputy was called Saturday to the 100 block of Alder Street in Packwood after the discovery someone tried to break into a garage and tried to steal a travel trailer. The trailer was still there but had been pulled away from its spot about 250 feet and collided with a pump house, according to  the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. A turquoise Ford F150 pickup truck had been seen in the driveway by a neighbor around 10 a.m. on Friday, according to the sheriff’s office.

SHED BURGLED TOLEDO

• A Poulan chainsaw was taken from a shed along the 600 block of Jackson Highway South sometime between  3 p.m. on Friday and 3 p.m. on Saturday, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

VEHICLE PROWL

• An officer called Saturday to the 1900 block of South Market Boulevard in Chehalis about  possible car prowl learned that nothing appeared to be missing, but then learned of a second prowl in the same area that occurred Thursday night. The victim didn’t report it then, but subsequently got a call from her bank advising her of a suspicious transaction, according to the Chehalis Police Department. The case is under investigation, according to police.

SHOPLIFTING TURNS UGLY

• Police were called to the Safeway store on the 1100 block of South Market Boulevard about 8:10 p.m. on Saturday after a suspected shoplifter allegedly bit an employee on the shoulder during a physical altercation. Margaret D. Shults, 27, of Centralia, had been stopped after she was observed removing items from a makeup display and concealing them, according to the Chehalis Police Department. Shults was booked into the Lewis County Jail for first-degree robbery, according to police.

ASSAULT WITH VEHICLE

• A 19-year-old man was arrested for second-degree assault after he allegedly hit his 26-year-old sister with his vehicle when he was trying to leave a residence on the 100 block of Deerhaven Drive in Winlock over the weekend. Deputies called about 2:20 a.m. yesterday were told the woman had been standing in front of his vehicle and it impacted her several times, according to  the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. She sustained cuts and scrapes and said she would seek medical attention, Chief Deputy Stacy Brown said. The suspect, Daniel F. Dixon, 19, of Winlock, was located in Kelso and booked into the Lewis County Jail, Brown said. He is to be released with no criminal charges filed.

BAR FIGHT

• Two people were arrested after a large fight outside a downtown Centralia bar early yesterday morning at the 100 block of South Tower Avenue. Officers responding about 12:35 a.m. booked Terry L. Hadley, 28, of Centralia, into the Lewis County Jail for obstructing a public servant, according to the Centralia Police Department. John D. Russo, 27, of Curtis, was booked for possession of a controlled substance and also allegedly involved in misdemeanor assault, according to police.

DRUGS

• A 44-year-old Kelso man was arrested for possession of methamphetamine following a traffic stop on Friday evening along the 100 block of Annonen Road in Vader. A deputy found a glass bottle with residue that field tested positive for the drug,  according to  the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Robert D. Hyatt Jr. was booked into the Lewis County Jail, Chief Deputy Stacy Brown said.

VANDALISM

• Centralia police yesterday morning took reports of windows being broken out of two vehicles, one at the 1700 block of Harrison Avenue and the other at the 600 block of South Pearl Street. They have suspect information in the second incident, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• Two 12-year-old boys were contacted after a 40-year-old Morton resident saw rocks flying outside his home that broke windows in eight of his vehicles last night along the 900 block of state Route 7. A responding deputy was told two kids including one the man recognized were seen running away, according the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The case is being referred to juvenile authorities for possible charges, according to the sheriff’s office.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, trespass, shoplifting skittles, criminal assistance, misdemeanor assault, protection order violation, driving under the influence, driving with suspended license; responses for alarms, hit and run, misdemeanor theft, suspicious circumstances  … and more.

News brief: Fire claims Centralia area home

Monday, April 13th, 2015

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Firefighters report nobody was hurt but a single family home is a total loss after fire broke out early this morning east of Centralia.

Firefighters called about 4:35 a.m. to the 100 block of Hideaway Hills Lane found the roof burning and the structure well-involved in flames, according to Riverside Fire Authority.

A barking dog alerted the two occupants even before the smoke alarms sounded, according to a news release.

Members of three other departments arrived to help and the blaze was brought under control within about 30 minutes, according to the news release.

The cause is under investigation, Chief Mike Kytta states. Kytta noted several pets were accounted for.

Read about Chehalis resident loses life on kayaking outing …

Sunday, April 12th, 2015

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Two kaykers died – including 39-year-old Mandi Walkley of Chehalis and a 52-year-old Lacey man – after they and a third individual were rescued by Coast Guard crews from rough waters near Dungeness Bay yesterday, according to The Seattle Times.

The Seattle Times writes they were part of a church-affiliated group of seven who encountered three foot seas in 35 mph winds yesterday afternoon.

Walkley was hoisted from the water by a Navy helicopter crew and all three were life-flighted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, according to the Peninsula Daily News.

However, a nursing supervisor this morning at Harborview said the hospital received only a 50-year-old man from the incident, and he is in critical condition.

A supervisor at PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center in Bellingham this morning confirmed Walkley was brought to them and is listed as deceased.

Read more about it here

Centralia man charged with stealing dead man’s estate by faking a will

Saturday, April 11th, 2015
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Michael J. Dobbs is led back down to the jail after a bail setting hearing in Lewis County Superior Court.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Police believe a 47-year-old man forged a will making himself the sole heir of a Chehalis man who died, posed as his relative and took over his house, personal property and car.

Michael J. Dobbs, from Centralia, has been under investigation since last September when relatives of Walter Pettit went to Pettit’s home near Chehalis Middle School and  found it had been cleaned out and someone was remodeling it. Pettit was 55 when he passed away in January of last year, according to police.

Dobbs was arrested for theft and forgery but subsequently charged only with possession of methamphetamine, based on a baggie of meth found. At the time, Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Eric Eisenberg said further investigation needed to be conducted regarding the authenticity of the will.

Since then, a Chehalis Police Department detective has gotten Pettit’s purported signature on the document compared with his signature card at his bank by the Washington State Patrol Crime Lab, which concluded the signature on the will does not appear to be Pettit’s, according to Eric Eisenberg. The name is also misspelled, according to Eisenberg.

In addition, an individual who supposedly signed as witness, was shown the will and said she recalled signing a document, but not the one she was shown, Eisenberg said.

Dobbs was booked into the Lewis County Jail last week, and went before a judge where his bail was set at $20,000, plus another $20,000 for a bail jumping charge.

According to court documents, he pleaded guilty to the drug possession and was supposed to serve 30 days on electronic home monitoring, but vanished.

Dobbs was described as a full time parent of three children when he appeared in court in September. Court documents show his address on Centralia College Boulevard.

He is charged with first-degree theft, forgery, theft of a motor vehicle and also false statement to transfer title. The charges were filed in Lewis County Superior Court on Feb. 10.

Charging documents allege Dobbs pretended to be Pettit’s son when he transferred the man’s car into his own name, and told a funeral home he was Pettit’s nephew when they released Pettit’s cremated remains to him.

Court documents state that when asked about the dead man’s belongings, Dobbs offered several improbable stories about how they’d been stolen, returned and then stolen again.

His arraignment is scheduled for Thursday in Lewis County Superior Court.

Court papers indicate Dobbs has state IDs in Oregon and Maryland. He also has prior convictions in California, from the 1990s through 2001 for offenses such as spousal assault, burglary and receiving stolen property.
•••

For background, read “Centralia man questioned about dead man’s vehicle, home, belongings” from Friday Sept. 19, 2014, here

Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Saturday, April 11th, 2015

THREE VEHICLE WRECK

• Two cars were totaled and one driver injured when a motorist from Rochester made an illegal pass on the left shoulder of Interstate 5 yesterday and lost control of his car, according to the Washington State Patrol. Troopers called to the scene about 4 p.m. just north of the Winlock-Toledo interchange concluded Michael P. Thompson, 51, from Rochester, struck the inside concrete barrier before his Saturn collided with a Toyota Sienna and then hit a 2015 Mack semi truck and then traveled back into the center barrier again. All the vehicles were southbound, according to the state patrol. The driver of the Sienna, a 41-year-old woman from Maple Valley, was transported by aid to Providence Centralia Hospital, according to the state patrol. The cause of the wreck was under investigation with potential charges pending but a Michael P. Thompson was booked into the Lewis County Jail yesterday afternoon, for vehicular assault, according to the online jail roster.

VANDALISM

• Centralia police took a report about 11 a.m. yesterday from the 200 block of West Main Street regarding someone breaking the antennas on 13 new vehicles and also four windows on the building. Later in the day, an officers was called to a rock thrown through a window at the 400 block of North Tower Avenue, according to the Centralia Police Department.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, driving under the influence; responses for misdemeanor theft … and more.

Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Friday, April 10th, 2015

Updated at 6:13 p.m.

AUTO THEFT

• A white 2013 Hyundai Veloster was reported stolen from the 900 block of Harrison Avenue at about 5 p.m. yesterday, according to the Centralia Police Department. The car has a license plate reading AOV6007, according to police.

BOAT THEFT

• A 33-year-old Tacoma man contacted the sheriff’s office last night after he was informed the boat and trailer he’d left parked at a public fishing access in Salkum turned up near Lake Cushman in Mason County, stripped  of its parts. The 2004 14-foot Alumaweld Intruder and its trailer were valued at more than $23,000, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The victim said he normally kept it at the Cowlitz Timber Trails Campground, but had been told he had to move it, and it was moved in February parked at the gravel lot near Spencer and Brim roads, Chief Deputy Stacy Brown said. He had trouble picking it up, but said he thought it would be fine there, Brown said.

CAR PROWL

• An officer was called about 8:45 p.m. yesterday to the 500 block of South Diamond Street in Centralia regarding a vehicle prowl. Among the missing items were two quarts of oil, according to the Centralia Police Department.

FRAUD

• Centralia police yesterday took a report from the 500 block of North Pearl Street about a unauthorized account opened in a person’s name.

VANDALISM

• Centralia yesterday and this morning took reports of windows broken at the 300 block of North Tower Avenue and at the train depot, as well as a motel room on the 1200 block of Alder Street.

DRUGS

• Deputies responding about 5:30 p.m. yesterday to a report of a suspicious person along the 2600 block of Jackson Highway encountered a 29-year-old Olympia man who was stopping traffic trying to get a ride and ended up in two scuffles with him, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. After he was detained the first time, suspected methamphetamine was found and before he was put into a patrol car, they scuffled again, leaving scratch marks on the vehicle’s trunk lid, Chief Deputy Stacy Brown said. Michael W. Robinson was wanted on a warrant from the state Department of Corrections, according to Brown. He was booked into the Lewis County Jail for drug possession, and began fighting with staff there as well, she said.

FROM THE COURTHOUSE

• A former Centralia woman charged almost three year ago with attempted first-degree murder for allegedly plunging a knife though her mother’s neck in Rochester has yet to go to trial. Amanda Lee Bassell, who also goes by her given name of Daarud, was 23 when she was arrested in May 2012 and booked into the Thurston County Jail. Her parents had taken her in after her release from prison, just nine days before the attack. Her father at the time described Bassell as suffering from mental problems from previous drug use, and exacerbated by spending almost three years in solitary confinement. Thurston County Deputy Prosecutor Craig Juris said yesterday he’s still handling her case. Bassell has already been sent once to Western State Hospital for a 90-day so-called restoration period, according to Juris. And a judge recently signed an order for her to be sent back there one again, he said. “She’s had some issues we’ve had to deal with before we can deal with her criminal issues,” Juris said.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, misdemeanor assault; responses for vandalism, indecent exposure, suspicious circumstances, collisions on city streets,  jail inmate breaks fire sprinkler head, message left on an answering machine from the “IRS” … and more.

News brief: Centralia picks new police chief

Friday, April 10th, 2015

Updated

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Centralia has chosen a new chief of police, and he’s from California.

Carl Nielsen comes from the Turlock Police Department in California’s central valley, where he is second in command.

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Carl Nielsen

He was one of five men extensively interviewed in mid-February and introduced to the public following a nationwide recruitment effort.

In a news release today making the announcement, Centralia City Manager Rob Hill asks the public to join the city in welcoming Nielsen, and extending a helping hand during the transition. He starts work here on May 18.

Nielsen previously served eight years as a sergeant at the Tracy Police Department, also in central California, and before that spent 14 years with the San Diego Police Department. He holds bachelor and masters degrees in emergency services administration from California State University, Long Beach.

He has been active with both Rotary and the Chamber of Commerce, according to Hill.

Centralia Police Department Chief Bob Berg is retiring, after 11 years as head of the department with 31 commissioned officers.

Nielsen, 50, said he’s going on eight years at his present department. He and his wife Jan previously purchased a home in Rochester, with an eye toward retiring in this area in the next 10 years.

She trains police dogs and the couple came to know this area through a friend in the same profession who lives in Tenino, he said.

He describes his style as collaboration; not just partnerships, but relationships, he said.

“I discovered early on if you try to do everything yourself, you can isolate yourself,” he said. “And it doesn’t work as well.”

The pay for the police chief in Lewis County’s most populated city was advertised as between about $100,000 and $122,000. Nielsen will be earning $112,656, according to the city.