Archive for June, 2015

Buying from online stranger? Meet near the sheriff’s office

Friday, June 12th, 2015

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Got a wad of cash in your pocket for that used car you found on Craigslist? A bit nervous about doing business with someone you only know from an Internet ad?

The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office is welcoming the public into the lobby of the Lewis County Law and Justice Center, suggesting it’s a good place for those who buy and sell items online to meet up with each other.

“Online selling and buying on Craigslist, Facebook, and other sites has become increasingly popular and with that comes risks,” Chief Deputy Stacy Brown states in a news release. “Robberies, thefts, and even deaths in some cases, have resulted from people meeting strangers to sell or buy an item advertised online.”

They’ve dubbed the front lobby on the first floor as a Neutral Exchange Zone.

“We hope this program helps to address unsafe situation(s) or deter crimes from occurring during the exchange of an item,” Sheriff Rob Snaza stated. “If someone refuses to meet in a public place or a neutral zone, that should be cause for concern with continuing a transaction.”

The sheriff’s office reminds the public that no weapons are allowed inside the building.

Exchanges can only be made there during business hours when the building is open. That’s 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

The Lewis County Law and Justice Center is located at 345 W. Main Street in Chehalis.

Brown says no personal services may be traded there.

News brief: Training fire to be conducted southwest of Chehalis

Friday, June 12th, 2015

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Chehalis area residents can expect to see smoke beginning at  9 a.m. tomorrow, as firefighters burn down a house.

Lewis County Fire District 6 is using the donated structure on the 200 block of Devereese Road to get some practice in, according to Chief Tim Kinder.

They should be finished at about noon, he said.

Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Friday, June 12th, 2015
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NO CAT BURGLAR FOUND

• Chehalis police were called just before 1 o’clock this morning to the Twin City Town Center where a worker discovered someone tried to break in through the roof. The individual was putting away the parking lot sweeper when they looked up and saw evidence someone tried to gain entry into that portion of the building, according to the Chehalis Police Department. A police dog helped conduct a sweep of the area at the 1300 block of Northwest Louisiana Avenue but nobody was found, according to police. It was just two weeks earlier when McDonald’s on Lum Road in Centralia was burglarized by someone who cut a hole in the roof to get inside.

BUSINESS BURGLARY

• Chehalis police were called yesterday morning to a hardware store on the 700 block of South Market Boulevard where someone broke into a fenced area overnight an stole a gray fountain. The loss is listed at $692.99, according to the Chehalis Police Department. A similar break-in happened there a week earlier.

MONEY MISSING

• A Centralia resident in his mid 70s reported to police yesterday that an unauthorized person removed more than $1,000 from his bank account, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• Police were called to a nursing home on the 1500 block of Harrison Avenue in Centralia yesterday to talk with a man in his 90s regarding cash stolen from him.

BAD BILL BUYS GAS

• Chehalis police were called about 10 o’clock last night when a clerk on Northwest State Avenue discovered a customer used a counterfeit $50 to pay for fuel and a scratch ticket.

FRAUD

• Centralia police were called yesterday to the 900 block of Schueber Road regarding an individual reportedly using the name of a family member to get medical care from Providence Centralia Hospital.

CAR PROWL

• Centralia police were called just before 8 o’clock yesterday morning about someone rifling through an unlocked vehicle at the 2400 block of Leisure Lane. Nothing appeared to be missing, according to the Centralia Police Department.

ASSAULT

• Centralia police were called yesterday afternoon to take a report of a sexual assault involving juveniles said to have taken place a week earlier. Further details were not readily available.

BARK FIRE

• Chehalis firefighters were called about 6:50 p.m. yesterday to extinguish a beauty bark fire in the landscaping along the 1500 block of North National Avenue. It was most likely caused by a cigarette, according to the Chehalis Fire Department.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, misdemeanor assault; responses for alarm, dispute, shoplifting, suspicious circumstances, misdemeanor theft, collision on city street … and more.

Toledo veteran enters plea of not guilty by reason of insanity

Friday, June 12th, 2015
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•••

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The Toledo man arrested after a bizarre series of events that left employees at a Centralia motel hiding and ended in a fight with police officers inside the nearby sandwich shop remains jailed as his lawyer makes plans to delve into his mental state.

Defense attorney Shane O’Rourke described the situation on Alder Street the morning of May 26 as a sort of manic scenario.

“All the witnesses indicated he thought something was happening that was not happening,” O’Rourke said.

Mitchell K. Davis, 27, was a gunner on active duty in Iraq in 2009 who had significant combat and had significant issues afterwards, O’Rourke said.

“We believe he had been brought by Toledo police to Providence Centralia Hospital who dropped him off there,” he said. “I believe he was discharged within a matter of hours before this.”

Officers were called about 11:15 a.m. that day to the Peppermill Inn having been told Davis grabbed an employee, pushed her to the floor and took her phone, according to police. As police arrived, they got a call from a man at the Shell station next door – where Davis allegedly took his phone – and were directed to the Subway shop, according to a police account.

Police said he was hiding in the bathroom, and as he dashed out, knocked a worker to the ground. Davis was subdued with a Taser, but during a struggle, reportedly struck one officer in the face.

Davis yesterday pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.

He remains in the Lewis County Jail, and O’Rourke is preparing for an extensive evaluation of his client.

The Centralia defense attorney said he expected within the next couple of days he would seek authorization from a judge to engage an expert psychiatrist.

Davis is charged with two counts of second-degree robbery, one count of third-degree assault, two counts of fourth-degree assault, malicious mischief and possession of methamphetamine. His trial is on the Lewis County Superior Court calendar for July 20.

Getting acquitted by reason of insanity can be a long and complex process, according to O’Rourke.

It’s different, in that the defendant acknowledges the acts, but, then a judge or jury has to find one of two things are true, he said.

“A, I did not understand what I was doing because of some kind of mental defect or delusion,” O’Rourke said. “Or B, because of my mental state, I had no ability to appreciate right from wrong.”

It’s a difficult standard to meet, he said.

If it happens, the case then shifts into determining what to do next with the person, he said.

“If it’s a bad enough crime, you’re probably going to be committed the rest of your life, he said.

O’Rourke said one of the allegations is police found a residual amount of methamphetamine, so an issue he expects to come up is an allegation of intoxication.
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For background, read “Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup – POLICE: ‘SPUN UP OUT OF HIS MIND’ ” from Wednesday May 27, 2015, here

Chehalis carjacking suspect denies involvement

Thursday, June 11th, 2015
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The man named in court documents as Huber Juarez-Arellano approaches the defense table for his bail hearing in Lewis County Superior Court.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The individual accused of stealing a pickup truck from a Chehalis dealership during a test drive – by brandishing a toy gun – and leading law enforcement officers on a wild chase into Cowlitz County appeared before a judge this afternoon where lawyers discussed his bail.

But first, Lewis County Superior Court Judge James Lawler asked if his name was indeed Huber Juarez-Arellano.

“I don’t know who was messing with my ID,” the young man replied.

Lawler told him all he wanted to know at that point, was if that was his name.

“Yes,” he said.

A Lewis County Sheriff’s Office commander yesterday identified the arrestee as Huber (no middle initial) Juarez-Arellano, 21, from Vancouver, Washington. A different spokesperson from the office this morning said he was Huber J. Arellano. The Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Office reported he is Huber Juarez-Vasques, 22, of Kelso.

Defense attorney Joely O’Rourke told the judge her temporary client lives and works in the Salem, Oregon area.

When Lawler asked him did understood the charges, his rights and the potential penalties, long pauses followed before the heavily tattooed man responded affirmatively to each query.

“He does have some mental health issues he wants the court to consider,” O’Rourke told the judge.

Juarez-Arellano – as he is named in court documents, based on the identification left at I-5 Toyota – is charged with  first-degree robbery, attempting to elude and first-degree malicious mischief.

The sheriff’s office says when he and a sales associate took a 2011 Ford F150 pickup for a drive yesterday morning, he pulled out what looked like a pistol and ordered the 46-year-old man out of the vehicle near Hamilton and Labree roads south of Chehalis. And then took off.

An Airsoft gun he allegedly threw out a window was recovered.

Charging documents speak of deputies and troopers pursuing on a backroad at 30 to 40 mph above the speed limit, with the suspect vehicle swerving into oncoming lanes and ignoring stop signs and other traffic warnings.

The Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Office reported the truck ran through a fence near a weigh station south of Castle Rock. Charging documents describe part of the journey as cutting across the northbound lanes of Interstate 5, crossing the median and heading into the southbound lanes before driving through a barricade onto a frontage road.

“Frankly, everyone’s lucky someone did not die,” Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer told the judge.

Meyer asked for bail of $750,000, based in part on juvenile convictions of second-degree assault and harassment. O’Rourke asked for $50,000, telling the judge Juarez-Arellano works multiple jobs and supports his wife, three young children, his mother and his brother.

She also said he receives disability payments and appeared to qualify for a court-appointed attorney.

“He is denying he is the alleged suspect in the probable cause statement,” O’Rourke said.

Bail was set at $500,000. His arraignment was scheduled for next Thursday morning with Centralia lawyer David Arcuri to represent him.
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For background, read “Chehalis salesman carjacked during test drive” from Wednesday June 10, 2015, here

Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Thursday, June 11th, 2015
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•••

SPEEDY FRAUDSTER

• A 50-year-old Chehalis man contacted police about 4:30 p.m. yesterday to report he’d accidentally left his credit card at the library and although within a couple of hours realized it was not with him, discovered it had already been used twice at local businesses and someone was attempting to use it at an ATM. The third transaction didn’t go through, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

MISSING CAR FOUND

• A car reported stolen yesterday from the 300 block of East Magnolia Street in Centralia turned up at the 300 block of Pine Street and a relative of the owner was arrested. Corey R. Aldrich, 28, was located at a nearby apartment and booked into the Lewis County Jail for taking a motor vehicle without permission,  according to the Centralia Police Department. A search of his person incident to the arrest turned up suspected methamphetamine, so the Centralia man was booked for that too, according to police. That offense is the one cited if a person is related to the owner, has been allowed to use the vehicle at least one time before and didn’t intend to permanently deprive the owner of their property,  according to police.

FUEL THEFT

• Centralia police were contacted yesterday by an individual who said someone tried to steal gasoline from their parked vehicle during the night at the 1000 block of F Street.

CAR PROWL

• Chehalis police were called about 8:20 p.m. yesterday about a vehicle prowl on the 300 block of Southwest James Street.

SUSPICIOUS FIRE

• It appeared someone set a fire in an alley next to a garage in Chehalis yesterday evening but a neighbor who was quick with a garden hose got it put out before it spread, according to the Chehalis Fire Department. Firefighters were called to the area behind the 300 block of Southwest James Street about 6:30 p.m. and found brush and grass covering an area approximately three feet by six feet had burned, Capt. Rob Gebhart said. A small scorched spot was found in front of the house as well, Gebhart said. Nobody was home at the residence, he said. Firefighters and police spoke with some kids across the street, but nobody saw anything, Gebhart said.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, underage drinking, malicious mischief, driving under the influence; responses for alarm, dispute, hit and run, suspicious circumstances, collision on city street … and more.

Chehalis salesman carjacked during test drive

Wednesday, June 10th, 2015

Updated

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A Chehalis automobile salesman was carjacked during a test drive this morning, with what turned out to be a toy gun.

A 21-year-old man is in custody, after a high-speed chase that ended in Cowlitz County.

The red 2011 Ford F150 pickup sustained some damage when the suspect drove it through a fence near a weigh station about five miles south of Castle Rock, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

Sheriff’s Cmdr. Dusty Breen said it began at I-5 Toyota on Northwest Louisiana Avenue where the supposed customer and the sales person departed for a test drive.

They were traveling on Hamilton Road south of Chehalis when the 21-year-old ordered the man out at gunpoint, Breen said, or, with what appeared to be a handgun.

“The salesman is able to flag somebody down for help,” he said. “Deputies were dispatched.”

That was around 11:20 a.m.

The sheriff’s office and the state patrol began a pursuit that took Interstate 5 as well as some backroads at speeds of 80 and 90 mph, and ended when the driver ran through the fence and bailed out, he said. They were joined by Cowlitz deputies as well.

They got a call from a woman who said there was a man inside her house, out of breath and asking for water, and he borrowed a pair of sunglasses from a person there, put them on and hid under a porch, according to the Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Office.

That was on Pleasant Hill Road, and that’s where law enforcement officers took him into custody.

Cmdr. Breen said Huber Juarez-Arellano, 21, is from Vancouver, Washington. Cowlitz County identifies him as Huber Juarez-Vasques, 22, of Kelso.

Breen said the suspect tossed the weapon out along Barnes Road, and when it was recovered, it turned out to be a painted Airsoft gun.

Nobody got hurt in the incident, he said. The sales associate is a 46-year-old Centralia resident, according to the sheriff’s office.

The suspect was transported back to Lewis County to be booked into the jail for first-degree robbery and felony eluding, Breen said.

The Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Office reports it will be considering charges of eluding and trespass.

The suspect had left his identification at the dealership before the test drive, according to Chief Deputy Stacy Brown.