Archive for May, 2016

Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Monday, May 9th, 2016
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Updated at 7:37 p.m.

‘PEEK-A-BOO, WE FOUND YOU’

• Deputies who got a tip on the whereabouts of 21-year-old Steven N. Romero who allegedly was the driver chased down Cascade Avenue by Chehalis police on Thursday responded to the 100 block of Nix Lane in Centralia yesterday, underwent door-to-door canvassing and eventually found him hiding in a trailer, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. He was booked into the Lewis County Jail for warrants and violating a protection order, according to the sheriff’s office. Deputies also contacted Halli A. Hoey, 31, from Rochester and arrested her for second-degree possession of stolen property and being in possession of approximately one half pound of marijuana, Chief Deputy Stacy Brown said. Hoey was also booked into jail.

• Three people were arrested for third-degree rendering criminal assistance in Vader on Saturday night after deputies found a person they were looking for hiding under a blanket in a bedroom. Deputies arrived about 8:30 p.m. to the residence on the 100 block of Enchanted Valley Drive and were told Robert D. Hyatt Jr., 45, stayed there but they did not know where he was, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Deputies were given consent to look inside and located him, the sheriff’s office reports. Hyatt allegedly stood up and instead of putting his hands behind his back, elbowed a deputy in the cheekbone, according to Chief Deputy Stacy Brown. He was booked into the Lewis County Jail for third-degree assault and his warrant, and also booked were Sherri R. Hyatt, 50; John F. Cooke, 68; and Dianne Cooke, 47, according to Brown. Because of a large glass pipe found next to a 14-year-old’s bed, a case for the teen was referred to prosecutors for a charge of possession of paraphernalia, Brown said. He was turned over to a relative.

BURGLARY SENIOR CENTER

• Chehalis police were called regarding a break-in to the senior center at the 2500 block of North National Avenue on Saturday morning. Someone had rummaged through cupboards and drawers and a deposit box was pried open, according to the Chehalis Police Department. A small amount of cash was missing and an entry door was damaged, according to police.

COMPUTER GAME SYSTEM STOLEN

• Someone got into a rural Chehalis residence on the 1600 block of Bishop Road through an unsecured door and stole a Playstation 3 with an external hard drive sometime between 2:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. on Saturday, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

SCORES OF PIPES STOLEN IN CENTRALIA

• Centralia police were called on Saturday evening for a burglary to a garage on the 1200 block of Plum Street. Taken were 80 glass smoking devices, according to the Centralia Police Department.

TRESPASSING FOR SLEEP

• A 61-year-old Centralia man said he was just looking for a place to sleep after police were called to a house which was supposed to be vacant at the 700 block of Southwest McFadden just before 8 a.m. yesterday, according to the Chehalis Police Department. The owner had arrived and heard noises, and responding officers arrested Richard K. Bowman for first-degree criminal trespass, according to police. He was booked into the Lewis County Jail.

DOMESTIC ASSAULT

• A 40-year-old Pe Ell man was arrested after he called 911 and said his girlfriend had threatened to break the windows out of his vehicle with an ax but a responding deputy concluded he assaulted her on Friday afternoon. Shane Pedersen was arrested for second-degree assault, as the deputy found abrasions on top of his knuckles and found marks bruises and scrapes on the girlfriend consistent with struggling on the ground, according to charging documents. He allegedly punched her, bit her and began to strangle her using both hands after throwing her to the ground, according to court documents. Pedersen was booked into the Lewis County Jail and ordered held on $20,000 bail, but was released over the weekend. He appeared before  a Lewis County Superior Court judge this afternoon on the charge for that same offense and was ordered to have no contact with the alleged victim. His arraignment is May 19.

ON THE ROAD, OFF THE ROAD

• A 24-year-old driver ended up with cuts and scratches when his 1995 Honda Civic failed to negotiate a curve along Oppelt Road and collided with a tree at about 1:40 a.m. yesterday, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Donovin E. Dual was taken to Providence Centralia Hospital to be checked and then booked into the Lewis County Jail for driving under the influence and third-degree driving with suspended license and was cited for not having insurance and for wheels off the roadway, Chief Deputy Stacy Brown said. The car had major damage and was towed, Brown said.

ZOOM, ZOOM

• A 26-year-old man who said he’d only been riding his motorcycle for a month was arrested after a high speed pursuit that began near Ethel and reached speeds of 128 mph on Friday night. Angel Chavira-Hernandez was spotted about 10:20 p.m. traveling west bound on U.S. Highway 12 near Oyler Road at 72 mph in a 55 mph zone, according to the Washington State Patrol. When he saw a trooper, he accelerated and headed south on Interstate 5, allegedly passing cars on the right and the left and sometimes “splitting traffic” passing near the center line, with two troopers in pursuit, according to the state patrol. Charging documents state that at milepost 57, the black sport motorcycle exited and when he found the northbound onramp blocked by a trooper, Chavira-Hernandez sped southbound on the northbound freeway offramp. The motorcycle then headed north at about 100 mph until the bike ran out of gas at milepost 77 in Chehalis, the documents relate. He was arrested at gunpoint. The defendant reportedly asked if the trooper was driving a “special” patrol car because it was faster than a normal police car. The Kent resident was arrested, booked into jail and today charged with attempting to elude a pursuing police car. Bail for the Kent resident was set at $5,000.

• A 20-year-old Winlock resident was arrested for attempting to elude following a police pursuit that began about 5:30 p.m. on Friday on U.S. Highway 12 near Mayfield Lake and ended near Mary’s Corner. Dakota S. Duel was reportedly speeding, westbound, and when a trooper tried to pull him  over, he sped up passing several vehicles in a no-passing zone. The chase continued at speeds in excess of 90 mph and spike strips deflated at least one of the passenger side tires at Ethel Hill and another spike strip near Jackson Highway got the other tire, according to the  Washington State Patrol. The rubber came completely off both tires and Duel, along with his passenger, was taken into custody, charging documents state. He was booked into the Lewis County Jail and charged today in Lewis County Superior Court with attempting to elude a pursuing police car. His bail was set at $10,000.

AND MORE

• And, as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, disorderly conduct,  urinating in public, misdemeanor domestic assault, driving with suspended license, driving with no license; responses for alarm, hit and run, vandalism, civil issue, unfounded report, misdemeanor theft, suspicious circumstances, collision on city street, little grass fire along Interstate 5, secondhand report of bear in Wal-Mart parking lot, numerous reports from people calling 911 because they saw what they thought was someone smoking what they think was marijuana while driving or out in public; complaint someone wrote in lipstick all over some else’s truck, complaint that one motorist took a picture of another motorist before the other pulled front of the 911 caller and slammed on his brakes  … and more, among 398 calls for local law enforcement and / or fire-emergency medical services in the 72-hour period ending about 6:50 a.m. today.

News brief: Embers from chimney suspected in south Thurston house fire

Monday, May 9th, 2016

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Nobody was injured but the inhabitants of a small two-story home in Grand Mound were at least temporarily displaced by a house fire last night.

Fire investigators are on the scene this morning at the 5900 block of Southwest Ivan Way, according to West Thurston Regional Fire Authority.

Crews called just after 7:30 p.m. yesterday saw flames on the cedar shake roof, believed to have ignited by embers from the chimney, Chief Robert Scott said.

The occupants evacuated and the blaze was contained to the second story, according to Scott.

Wildland fire breaks out southwest of Chehalis

Monday, May 9th, 2016

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Firefighters from three departments were on scene until about 6 o’clock yesterday morning attacking a wildfire on Crego Hill in Adna.

Crews called just after midnight could see  hillside flames from Frogner Road and arrived to find a blaze of about 100 feet by 100 feet and growing, according to Lewis County Fire District 6.

Burning was about a half acre of underbrush and slash piles from a previous logging operation in very steep terrain, Firefighter DJ Hammer said.

They were joined by members of Lewis County Fire Districts 5 and 13, and requested the assistance of the Department of Natural Resources, according to Hammer.

“Crews were able to keep a steady attack on the fire until the first DNR engine crew arrived on scene at approximately 6 o’clock this morning,” Hammer said yesterday in a news release.

Nobody was injured. The fire was turned over to DNR at that time, according to Hammer.

The Lewis County Fire Chiefs Association is already preparing to share information with area residents about strategies to defend their property from the threat of wildfires.

The organization is targeting people who have built or live in homes on lands prone to wildfires, called the wildland-urban interface.

“Studies show that as many as 80 percent of homes lost to wildland fire may have been saved if brush around the homes were cleared and defensible space created around structures,” Riverside Fire Authority Capt. Scott Weinert writes. “There is no better time than now to prepare and educate your family, friends and neighbors.”

A town hall-style meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on June 2 at the Lincoln Creek Grange to present information on defending property from wildfire.

The meeting is open to the public and everyone is encouraged to attend.  The Lincoln Creek Grange is located at 1500 Lincoln Creek Road.

Backpage.com encounter results in violent home invasion in rural Chehalis

Friday, May 6th, 2016
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Natrone D. Bostick, 19, left, and Samath L. Hem, 23, attempt to turn their seats to face a wall when they see a camera in the courtroom this afternoon.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Two Pierce County men have been ordered held on $100,000 bail for allegedly tying up a rural Chehalis man with a power cord and robbing him at gunpoint at his home where he had invited an escort he contacted on Backpage.com.

The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reported yesterday checks belonging to the victim found in the trunk of a car associated with a Chehalis shoplifting case earlier this week led them to the suspects.

Natrone D. Bostick, 19, of Lakewood, and Samath L. Hem, 23, Tacoma, were interviewed in the Lewis County Jail where they had been booked on Tuesday for organized retail theft.

The sheriff’s office said two males arrived with the female to the residence on the 900 block of Logan Hill Road last Friday, but the 53-year-old victim didn’t report what happened until the following day.

The alleged facts set forth in the affidavit of probable cause basically indicate a home invasion, Lewis County Superior Court Judge Richard Brosey said this afternoon.

Hem, 23, reportedly told a detective he drove Bostick and the un-named female to Lewis County in his grandmother’s rented red Charger.

Court documents make no mention of why the three ended up at the Logan Hill home.

Charging documents give the following account of what the victim reported:

One of the males hit him in the head with a pistol, one of the males punched him the face multiple times.

“(He) stated he was dragged to his bedroom where he was tied up at his feet and ankles with a power cord,” Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Paul Masiello wrote.

A pistol was pointed at him while one of them demanded the combination to his safe and the other two rummaged through his house.

They were in the residence several minutes and then fled. Once he was able to untie himself, he discovered valuables missing from his home, including a large television and some checkbooks.

The sheriff’s office reported this morning that search warrants were executed which resulted in the recovery of some of the victim’s property.

The victim was shown photo montages and identified Bostick, but was uncertain because the male at his home had been wearing a hoody.

A 21-year-old woman from Tacoma was arrested with Bostick and Hem on Tuesday by Chehalis police in their case, but has not been implicated by authorities in this case.

Bostick and Hem were charged today with first-degree robbery, first-degree assault, first-degree burglary and also with first-degree kidnapping, for allegedly holding the victim to facilitate the commission of a felony or flight thereafter.

Each of those offenses carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.

Hem, who has no felonies in his background, is to be represented by court-appointed attorney Jacob Clark. Centralia lawyer Don Blair was appointed for Bostick.

Their arraignments are scheduled for next Thursday afternoon.
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For background, read “Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup – BACKPAGE.COM ENCOUNTER ENDS WITH VIOLENT ROBBERY” from Thursday May 5, 2016, here

Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Friday, May 6th, 2016
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BURGLARY CHEHALIS

• A snow board, snow skis and a weed eater were discovered missing from a detached garage on the 400 block of Southwest 15th Street in Chehalis yesterday afternoon. An entry door had been damaged and the break-in was believed to have occurred sometime during the previous two days, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

THEFT, THEFT, THEFT

• Centralia police were called about 1:50 p.m. yesterday to the 1500 block of Delaware Avenue where mail was stolen from a mailbox but later found in a nearby alley.

• More third-degree thefts reported in Centralia yesterday, all over all day including money from a wallet at 300 block of East Pine Street; cell phone at 900 block of South Scheuber Road; bicycle from 900 block of Woodland Avenue; clothing, more clothing and a butane torch from 1400 block of Lum Road.

VANDALISM

• Chehalis police were called about 5:45 a.m. today about tires getting slashed on a vehicle parked at the 300 block of Northwest Chehalis Avenue.

• Centralia police yesterday referred a case involving a juvenile for a charge of third-degree malicious mischief in connection with graffiti spray painted onto a wall at the 1000 block of North Pearl Street.

ON THE ROAD, OFF THE ROAD

• All participants suffered minor or no injuries in a three-vehicle chain reaction rear-end collision yesterday at the 1100 block of West Reynolds Avenue in Centralia, according to Riverside Fire Authority. The wreck involved a large pickup truck, a small passenger car and larger service truck, the fire department reports.

• Police are looking for a 21-year-old Centralia motorist after he eluded officers yesterday afternoon following an attempted traffic stop at Southwest Cascade Avenue at Sixth Street in Chehalis. Police pursued the red 2002 Kia Spectra to the area of 20th Street but terminated the chase because of safety concerns, according to the Chehalis Police Department. The incident began about 2:24 p.m., according to police. The department says Steven N. Romero has outstanding warrants for second-degree theft of a motor vehicle and fourth-degree assault.

AND MORE

• And, as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, trespass, shoplifting, protection order violation, driving under the influence, driving with suspended license; responses for alarm, dispute, hit and run, civil issue, suspicious circumstances, collision on city street, little grass fire along Interstate 5 … and more, among 155 calls for local law enforcement and / or fire-emergency medical services in the 24-hour period ending about 6:45 a.m. today.

Fallen Chehalis officer to be honored

Friday, May 6th, 2016
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Chehalis Police Officer Rick Silva

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Chehalis Police Officer Rick Silva will be posthumously awarded the medal of honor today, for his exceptionally meritorious conduct while serving as a law enforcement officer.

The public ceremony will be held at noon at the state capitol in Olympia.

In addition, Officer Silva’s name will be unveiled at the Washington State Law Enforcement Memorial.

The Silva family as well as members of the Chehalis Police Department will be in attendance.

Silva died on June 18 of last year, not specifically while he was working, but in a line of duty death. He passed away due to complications during surgery he was undergoing related to a physical struggle with a resisting shoplifter earlier in the year, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

The 61-year-old began his law enforcement career in 1988 at the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office and in 2002, he went to work for Chehalis.

The local community will be honoring Silva on June 16 at a ceremony during which his name will be unveiled on the Lewis County Law Enforcement Memorial at the front of the Lewis County Law and Justice Center in Chehalis, off Main Street.

Officer Silva will also be honored in Washington D.C. on May 15 during the 35th National Peace Officers’ Memorial Service, with his name added to the National Law Enforcement Memorial.

Police Chief Glenn Schaffer and two of the department’s honor guard members will be in attendance to escort Silva’s family to the various ceremonies and events.

National Police Week takes place Thursday through May 16.

The Pierce County Sheriff’s Department has a team taking part in a 300-mile bicycle ride to recognize and honor the sacrifices of officers who have died in the line of duty, and will be riding for Silva and two other officers from the Pacific Northwest who lost their lives during 2015. The Police Unity Tour finishes in Washington D.C., when the riders meet up with fallen officers’ families and present them with memorial bracelets worn during the ride at a candlelight vigil on Thursday.

Today’s ceremony on the campus of the state capitol will also be recognizing 11 other officers receiving the Washington State Law Enforcement medal of honor. Silva’s is one of three names being added to the memorial wall.

Washington State Patrol Trooper Brent Hanger died last Aug. 6 and the third line of duty death being recognized today is Chelan County Sheriff’s Office Deputy James M. Bennett who died July 14, 1911.

Behind the Badge Foundation and the Washington State Medal of Honor Committee are responsible for organizing and hosting today’s event.

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For background, read “Chehalis police mourn loss of veteran officer” from Friday June 19, 2015, here

Cause for Cenex fire will be undetermined

Thursday, May 5th, 2016
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Just one side of the office-storage building remained standing on Monday afternoon at Cenex.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Whatever clues might have existed as to what ignited the Cenex building in Chehalis burned up in the fire, according to the fire chief.

Fire investigators spent the past two days exploring the scene at the 100 block of Northwest State Avenue, just north of Main Street.

“The damage was so extensive, they could not determine the cause,” Chehalis Fire Department Chief Ken Cardinale said today. “We were dealing with 2000 degree temperatures.”

The business was closed when flames were reported about 10:34 p.m. on Sunday.

Approximately 30 firefighters from four departments battled the blaze that mostly consumed the office-storage building, dealing with ongoing explosions of the contents.

The building held numerous  55-gallon drums of lubricating oil among other petroleum products, according to Cardinale.

Cenex includes a gas station, but the business also provides bulk delivery of various fuels including propane. Crews worked through the night keeping cool the numerous liquefied petroleum gas tanks on site to prevent them from exploding.

Cardinale said investigators spoke to workers and also to the individual who first reported the fire.

No problems had been reported by the company with its building, such as electrical issues, but the initial caller was able to say the fire at first was seen at the southwest corner of the building, according to the chief.

Investigators focused around that area, but didn’t find anything, the chief said.

A common aspect of fire investigations would be to take samples or have a dog sniff for accelerants, but the building contained mostly hydrocarbons, so that wasn’t an option, according to Cardinale.

An estimated dollar loss won’t be available until after the private contractor finishes cleaning up the surrounding area next week, Cardinale said.

At one point during the fire, the department stopped putting water on it and allowed it to burn, to reduce the amount of contaminated run off.

Cardinale said the adjacent dirt field should be cleaned up by tomorrow, but the contractor will be working next week on cleaning up culverts as well as a retention pond next to Interstate 5.
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For background, read “Fire claims Cenex in Chehalis” from Monday May 2, 2016, here