Lewis County Sirens.com

The start of the rescue from the mud. / Courtesy photo by Lewis County Fire District 1

Updated at 8:23 p.m.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – It took several individuals quite a bit of time to hoist a young horse from where it was found partially submerged in saturated ground in Onalaska yesterday.

“The horse was laying on its side, buried in thick mud and manure, and was shaking and shivering,” Lewis County Sheriff’s Office Cmdr. Dusty Breen said.

The 911 call about 1 p.m. to property along the 2500 block of state Route 508 came from a neighbor, Breen said. The owner had gone to a veterinarian to try to get help, he said, but they told her they couldn’t.

Breen this morning said he didn’t know how long the animal was stuck there that way.

A deputy who is assigned to work with county code enforcement responded.

Lewis County Fire District 1 Chief Andrew Martin said those present had made some sort of efforts to free the horse before asking the fire department for assistance.

He ended up summoning five more fire department volunteers.

They worked in mud that reached to the fire chief’s knees, using straps tied off to a post to ratchet the animal up, and slid boards beneath it. The operation wasn’t finished until about two and a half hours after the initial call, Martin said.

“A bystander named Chance jumped in to help,” he said, noting the good fortune to have someone he called a good animal wrangler present.

The horse is owned by a 44-year-old woman. Martin said he thought she was among those at the scene, but wasn’t sure.

They cleaned out quite a bit of mud from the one eye that had been facing downward and got it blankets, he said.

The animal had several abrasions and lacerations that neither Martin or Breen knew the cause of.

Cmdr. Breen this morning was waiting for an update on the horse’s condition. The owner’s vet and a vet from the state were both supposed to examine it today.

The sheriff’s office and code enforcers are investigating, according to Breen.

“The pen was mud, that’s the area that concerns us,” Breen said. “Under the RCW, if you fail to give proper living conditions, that can be an issue.”

There were a handful of other horses in another area nearby, on firmer ground, according to Breen.

Whether the situation involved any criminal issue or something else, Breen couldn’t say.

“We investigate a lot of issues,” he said. “There’s sometimes a fine line between people saying, ‘I wouldn’t treat my animal that way’ and the law being violated.”

Update from 7:46 p.m. from Lewis County Sheriff’s Office:

“This afternoon, Lewis County Sheriff’s deputies arrested horse owner, Jennifer Jenkins, of Onalaska for nine counts of Cruelty to Animals. Jenkins was booked into the LCSO Jail on the probable cause charges, while deputies served a search warrant at her property. Deputies along with LC Code Enforcement officers and a Washington State Veterinarian proceeded to rescue and remove nine horses from the property.”

The horse stands up. / Courtesy photo by Lewis County Fire District 1

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The Mossyrock man whose gunfire while deputies were outside his home drew a SWAT response over the weekend pleaded not guilty yesterday to fourth-degree assault, reckless endangerment and third-degree malicious mischief in Lewis County District Court.

When James C. Long was arrested early Sunday morning after a standoff that began on Saturday night, he was also booked for a violation of the firearms sales and transfers law for using his girlfriend’s gun, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

However, a judge did not find there was probable cause to hold him for that charge.

It was the first time the sheriff’s office had made an arrest for a violation of the law that went into effect in December 2014, following the passage of Initiative I-594, according to sheriff’s Cmdr. Dusty Breen.

The measure applied existing criminal and public safety background checks by licensed dealers to all firearm sales and transfers, including gun shows and online sales, with certain exceptions.

Shortly after the controversial law was enacted, Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer and Lewis County Sheriff-Elect Rob Snaza announced they had no interest in portions of the law as it relates to transfers and otherwise law abiding citizens.

The events on Naylor Road southeast of Mossyrock began with a domestic argument over a malfunctioning heater and escalated when Long’s girlfriend found him with her revolver, tried to get it from him, and was shoved, according to the sheriff’s office.

She left and called 911 from a neighbor’s and her 73-year-old mother went back inside the house.

The sheriff’s office said Long fired multiple shots as his girlfriend was leaving. And after two deputies arrived, and were positioned on each side of the house, more rounds were fired, according to Breen.

Breen said the deputies heard the shots, with one deputy estimating it was three shots.

“He had broken out the window, we believe he had fired out the window,” Breen said. “But its a heavily wooded area and we weren’t able to find a clear path of the rounds.”

Nobody was struck by the gunfire and deputies fired no shots.

Breen said Long had been talking with them, but threw his phone outside and told the deputies to come get him.

They did. The 61-year-old was booked into the Lewis County Jail.

Long requested a court appointed lawyer at his hearing on Monday before Judge Wade Samuelson. His bail was set at $10,000.

Once an attorney files a notice of appearance on Long’s behalf, a pre-trial hearing will be set.
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For background, read “SWAT team summoned after armed Mossy man tells deputies to come and get him,” from Sunday April 3, 2016, here

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A 28-year-old former Morton man was allowed release on an unsecured bond yesterday following his weekend arrest for the alleged kidnapping of his girlfriend.

Aaron D. Ingalsbe was taken into custody early on Sunday morning, several hours after police were called by a relative at Gus Backstrom Park in Morton who said she saw the two arguing, saw him hit her with a cell phone and then force the crying girlfriend into his truck and drive away.

Ingalsbe was located by a trooper and Morton police and booked into the Lewis County Jail for first-degree kidnapping and fourth-degree assault. Prosecutors yesterday however filed charges of unlawful imprisonment and fourth-degree assault.

Morton police in a brief summary of the incident indicate Ingalsbe had taken off with “a female and two children” who were found safe near Mossyrock.

Charging documents state that when an officer contacted the girlfriend, she said they’d been in Morton for a family thing.

She lives in Selah and Ingalsbe resides in Yakima.

She said they’d been getting ready to leave, she wanted to use the restroom first and he told her, “No, get in the f*ing truck,” according to charging documents.

The girlfriend told police he’d driven down a long winding road, dropped her off and left, but as she flagged someone down, he returned and forced her back into the truck.

Charging documents reflect the officer observing a bruise on her arm and also on her side. She said Ingalsbe punched her in the kidney, dragged her by the hair and poured vegetable oil over her.

“(She) said Aaron’s plan was to leave her in the woods and then go back to Selah and burn down her house,” Lewis County Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher wrote.

Once they got back to where they were camping on someone’s property in Mossyrock, he went to sleep and she went to tell someone what happened, the documents state.

Yesterday afternoon, when Ingalsbe was brought before a judge in Lewis County Superior Court, defense attorney Joely O’Rourke asked he be released on $20,000 unsecured bond, co-signed by an aunt who was in the courtroom.

Ingalsbe is employed in Yakima and supports three children, O’Rourke said.

Judge Richard Brosey agreed.

O’Rourke said her client said he’d been in town to spread the ashes of his mother and brother.

His arraignment is scheduled for April 14.