Archive for October, 2016

News brief: Fire burns into Cinebar residence

Friday, October 28th, 2016

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A Cinebar family is displaced after a fire raced through a carport, a garage and into their home yesterday while they were away.

The first firefighter responding to the approximately 2:25 p.m. call to the 200 block of Calvin Road found the carport containing a camper trailer “pretty much fully involved” in flames, according to Lewis County Fire District 8. That firefighter lives just down the road, according to  Chief Duran McDaniel.

McDaniel said by the time he arrived on the engine, the blaze had swept through a double garage and was beginning to burn the west wall of the modular home.

“We concentrated on saving the home,” he said. “I would say the house is a loss, we probably saved two-thirds of the contents.”

Nobody was hurt, he said.

A fire investigator and the sheriff’s office are looking into the cause.

Although the blaze was knocked down within about 15 minutes, a crew was on the scene until after 6 p.m. doing overhaul, McDaniel said.

“A big thanks to District 1 and District 3 for their backup,” he said. “It was a full central county response.”

McDaniel said he was grateful for a quick response from PUD as well. He needed the power shut off, but the meter bases were in the middle of the fire, he said.

McDaniel said the fire damage in the home was the worst in its laundry room and kitchen.

News brief: Stolen firearms and drugs

Thursday, October 27th, 2016
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Lewis County Sheriff’s Office deputies recovered some guns in a building off Steam Boat Island Road NW / Courtesy photo Lewis County Sheriff’s Office

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – One of three suspects in a June residential burglary in rural Chehalis is now locked up in the Lewis County Jail.

Eleven guns and some sports memorabilia were among the valuables stolen from the 400 block of Coal Creek Road back on June 15.

Thirty-one-year-old Chase L. Flores, from Shelton, was arrested on Monday. He is charged in Lewis County Superior Court with residential burglary, theft of a firearm and second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm. His arraignment was scheduled for today.

According to charging documents in the case, one of the other two suspects last year lived with his then girlfriend and her family at the Coal Creek Road home. When interviewed at the Thurston County Jail, that suspect said he and some buddies got high in Olympia and then drove to the Chehalis home on June 15.

He said he used bath salts for the first time that day, which he thought was meth, according to the documents.

The victim got a tip from a sports card shop in Tumwater that purchased one of the stolen cards, after posting his stolen property on Facebook, according to court documents.

Lewis County sheriff’s deputies recovered several of the stolen guns and other items when they served a search warrant on June 22 off Steam Boat Island Road NW northwest of Olympia.

Court documents relate detectives were told a .38 revolver was sold, a shotgun was spray painted black and traded for heroin and meth and a 22 caliber revolver was buried in the ground near Mudd Bay.

Theft charge: Local postal carrier wrongfully obtained medical benefits for ‘spouse’

Thursday, October 27th, 2016

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A 37-year-old Vader woman has been charged with enrolling the father of her children as her “husband” under her employer’s health insurance plan without actually being married to him.

The postal carrier allegedly signed him up when she was hired in August 2004 by the U.S. Postal Service and a tip 10 years later led to an investigation.

Juelene L. Perez Owens was charged with first-degree theft in Lewis County Superior Court and summonsed to appear before a judge yesterday.

Records show medical and prescription claims in excess of $350,000 have been paid out for the “husband”, according to court documents.

Owens was accompanied yesterday afternoon by her attorney Dana Williams. She told the judge her proper name is Juelene L. Perez-Lopez.

She pleaded not guilty.

Her conditions of release pending trial included a $5,000 signature bond.

Charging documents in the case indicate Perez-Lopez when questioned by a human resources employee in 2014 said they were not married but planned to be soon.

When interviewed by a U.S. Postal Service Inspector’s special agent, she told him she and her “spouse” met in high school in 1997, he was the father of their four children and she thought they were “common law,” according to the court documents.

The investigation was taken over by the Washington State Insurance Commissioner’s Office and a detective there found she had filed a bankruptcy petition in November 2004, claiming to be single with three children, the documents relate.

Perez-Lopez is scheduled to return to Lewis County Superior Court on Nov. 3 so a trial date can be set.

Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Thursday, October 27th, 2016
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•••

Updated at 10:26 a.m.

DOMESTIC ISSUE PROMPTS SEARCH

• Centralia Middle and High schools were put on precautionary lockdowns yesterday while law enforcement searched for a man who allegedly punched out a bedroom window in anger, at the 800 block of Cowlitz Road in Centralia. Deputies called about noon learned that Mark S. Chesler Jr. had fled the area and also that his presence at the home was in violation of a no contact order, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The area was searched, including with a police dog and Chesler was taken into custody after a 911 call about a person seen trying to enter a camp trailer at the 3100 block of Laurel Lane, according to the sheriff’s office. Chesler, 36, also had four outstanding misdemeanor warrants, Chief Deputy Dusty Breen said. He was arrested for third-degree malicious mischief, the order violation, the warrants and then booked in to the Lewis County Jai, according to Breen.

PROWLING

• Chehalis police were called about 7:10 a.m. today to the 700 block of Northwest Maryland Avenue where someone had entered a locked, fenced area and broken into three vehicles.

• A 38-year-old Centralia resident seen by an officer trying to get inside a vehicle that did not belong to him at the 1000 block of Harrison Avenue was subsequently arrested for attempted vehicle prowl yesterday. It happened around 4:15 p.m., according to the Centralia Police Department. The subject tried to flee, the officer detained him, according to police. Ranier P. Wagner was booked into the Lewis County Jail also for obstructing and resisting arrest, according to police.

• An officer was called just after 9 a.m. yesterday to take a report of a vehicle prowl at the 1100 block of South Tower Avenue in Centralia. Paperwork was stolen, according to the Centralia Police Department.

ABUSE INVESTIGATION

• Chehalis police were called to a school on the 200 block of Southwest Market Boulevard at 9:45 a.m. yesterday to take a report of possible child abuse. The case is under investigation, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

DRUGS

• A deputy responded to the Lewis County Jail about 9:15 p.m. yesterday to take a report about an person being booked who allegedly was in possession of methamphetamine. Troy L. Fadness, 52, of Centralia, was interviewed and a field test was conducted that came out positive for meth, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

VANDALISM

• Centralia police were called to the 300 block of Wilding Drive in Centralia just after 8 o’clock yesterday morning where sometime during the night, someone had slashed the tire on a car.

SMOKE CHASES INHABITANTS FROM HOME

• Firefighters called around noon yesterday about a possible fire in a mobile home on the 500 block of state Route 508 found light smoke showing and the residents outside, according to Lewis County Fire District 5. They found that wiring on a furnace had burned, Firefighter Sam Heldreth said. The damage was limited to the wiring, she said.

AND MORE

• And, as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, probation violation, misdemeanor domestic assault, driving with suspended license; responses for alarm, dispute, hit and run, littering, trespassing, suspicious circumstances, collision on city street, person who keeps sleeping in an alley … and more among 128 calls for local law enforcement and / or fire-emergency medical services in the 24-hour period ending about 7 a.m. today.

Centralia: Nighttime intruder gets 10 years in prison

Wednesday, October 26th, 2016
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Michael A. Hedges, right, is represented by defense attorney David Arcuri in Lewis County Superior Court.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A Chehalis man who was arrested after a 66-year-old Centralia woman woke up to find him standing over her bed, unzipping his pants this past spring was sentenced today to at least 10 years in prison.

Michael A. Hedges, 43, was charged with multiple felonies in Lewis County Superior Court on April 4, the day after his arrest.

The woman told police Hedges grabbed her hand and placed it on his private parts and she told him he had to leave then escorted him out of her house on Nick Road, according to charging documents.

Police subsequently found him hiding in a nearby trailer park.

Lewis County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Will Halstead and defense attorney David Arcuri struck a plea agreement to get Hedges an exceptionally long sentence even though both seemed to agree it was a case in which he thought he was in a different residence.

“It was clear he didn’t know where he was,” Halstead said. “As soon as he realized he was in a house he didn’t know, he immediately left.”

Arcuri told the judge his client was in the wrong place because of drugs.

“This is another example of the incredibly insidious nature of controlled substances,” Arcuri said. “They warp your mind.”

Hedges previous to this morning pleaded guilty to second-degree assault with sexual motivation, residential burglary and third-degree assault. Police said he tried to spit on a doctor when they took him in to have an injury on his head – from his arrest – checked out.

The victim didn’t come to the hearing in Lewis County Superior Court.

Hedges told Judge James Lawler he knows what he did was out of line, and admitted his drug habit.

“I get it, that kind of, that kind of stuff is inappropriate,” he said.

Halstead and Arcuri recommended Hedges be sentenced a minimum of 120 months and up to life.

Halstead said that means after his release, if he has any violations, he could be potentially be pulled back into prison for the rest of his life. He will have to register as a sex offender.

The judge went along with the suggested sentence.

“I’m sorry the victim wasn’t here, so you could hear directly what this did to her,” Lawler said.

Hedges had supporters in the benches behind him. One of them said he knew if Hedges could change what happened, he would.

“Everything Michael did is 100 percent out of context for him,” his Pastor Keith Heldreth said.
•••

“Centralia resident finds stranger in her bedroom, unzipping pants” from Monday April 4, 2016, here

News brief: Sheriff Snaza hires new jail chief

Wednesday, October 26th, 2016

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office introduced their newly hired jail chief to the agency’s Facebook friends yesterday.

Chief Corrections Deputy Chris Sweet was previously a lieutenant with the Washington State Patrol where he worked for 25 years, according to the sheriff’s office. He began his career as a trooper in East Lewis County, according to Chief Deputy Dusty Breen.

Sweet replaces former chief Kevin Hanson who left after 25 years at the end of August, to take a job as head of the jail in Mason County.

Sheriff’s Lt. Chris Tawes was promoted to acting captain and oversaw the facility in the interim. He has been promoted to captain, according to a Facebook post.

Sweet started his new job at he beginning of last week, Breen indicated.

Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Wednesday, October 26th, 2016
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•••

Updated at 5:38 p.m.

BLOODY HEAD AND SPIT

• A 25-year-old man who got upset when he was asked to leave a downtown Centralia business yesterday morning ended up getting arrested for two felonies. Police called about 9:50 a.m. to the 100 block of North Tower Avenue told the man the restaurant didn’t want him there and he just needed to go, according to the Centralia Police Department. An officer decided to arrest him for trespassing and once in the back of a patrol car, he reportedly got out of control, banging his head, police said. Sgt. Dave Clary said he bled all over inside the police car so he was arrested for second-degree malicious mischief. He allegedly spit blood at an officer so he was arrested for third-degree assault, according to Clary. Andrew A. Zech, 25, of Wilton, Connecticut, was taken to the hospital to be checked out and subsequently booked into the Lewis County Jail, Clary said.

RV THEFT

• The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reports this morning a 16-foot travel trailer went missing from property at the 200 block of Jarvis Road in Mossyrock. A deputy who responded to the report on Monday learned it had been parked there about a week and vanished sometime between 7 p.m. on Sunday and 8 a.m. on Monday, according to the sheriff’s office.

BAD BILL

• Someone tried to pass a counterfeit $20 bill at a business on the 600 block of South Tower Avenue in Centralia, according to a report made to police about 2:30 p.m. yesterday.

CAR PROWL

• Centralia police were called to the 1700 block of Providence Lane just before 8:30 a.m. yesterday for a vehicle prowl. Miscellaneous tools were stolen during the night, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• Someone stole a garage door remote opener from a vehicle parked at the 1700 block of Providence Lane in Centralia, according to a report made to police about 8:10 a.m. yesterday.

DRUGS

• A 40-year-old Rochester man was arrested yesterday after a search of a residence in which drug detectives found a Tupperware container with approximately one-quarter ounce of meth, a digital scale, plastic baggies and $190 cash. Dallas L. Hale-Pogue allegedly had twice sold meth to a confidential informant  sometime since Sept. 1, according to court documents. Hale-Pogue was booked into the Lewis County Jail and charged today in Lewis County Superior Court with two counts of delivery of methamphetamine and one count of possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver. Charging documents state the search by members of the Joint Narcotics Enforcement Team took place at Hale-Pogue’s home in Lewis County, although temporary defense attorney Joely O’Rourke told a judge this afternoon he resides in Rochester. His bail was set at $25,000.

• A 51-year-old Mossyrock man pulled over by a trooper yesterday and subsequently found to have outstanding misdemeanor warrants was arrested for possession of methamphetamine. When the trooper searched Jeffrey A. Lowe’s sweatshirt, he found a glass smoking device with residue that field tested positive for meth, according to court documents. Lowe was booked into the Lewis County Jail.

• The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reported this morning a 16-year-old student was caught with marijuana at Winlock High School on Monday. A deputy called to the school about 5 p.m. that day learned from the athletic director the boy was asked about it and handed it over, according to the sheriff’s office. The case is being referred to juvenile prosecutors, Chief Deputy Dusty Breen said.

PRUNO FOUND INSIDE JAIL

• A 23-year-old inmate at the Lewis County Jail seen disposing of three bottles of “Pruno” yesterday was arrested for possession by prisoner, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. A deputy responding about 9:20 p.m. used a portable breath test to see that each of the bottles showed an alcohol concentration, according to the sheriff’s office. Calvin E. Holder, from Olympia, was being held in the jail on an unrelated matter, Chief Deputy Dusty Breen said. The material was sent to the state crime lab for testing, according to Been. Pruno is a nickname for a homemade alcoholic drink.

BEER ON THE STREET

• Chehalis police ended up arresting a 54-year-old Vader resident yesterday after calls about a drunken individual laying by a bus stop and yelling at people. Officers responding the second time to the area at the 1100 block of South Market Boulevard arrested Ronald W. Carpenter for having an open container in public and for second-degree trespassing, according to the Chehalis Police Department. He was taken to Providence Centralia Hospital for unrelated issues, according to police.

BURNING IMPALA DOUSED

• Firefighters were called about 1:40 a.m. today when the driver of a car filling with smoke pulled over the near the 600 block of Main Street in Chehalis. The occupants grabbed their stuff and jumped out, but the 2003 Chevrolet Impala was fully involved in flames when the crew arrived, according to the Chehalis Fire Department. They put the fire out, Capt. Casey Beck said.

AND MORE

• And, as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, misdemeanor domestic assault; responses for alarm, dispute, suspicious circumstances, collision on city street … and more among 148 calls for local law enforcement and / or fire-emergency medical services in the 24-hour period ending about 7 a.m. today.