Lewis County Sirens.com

Alexis Cardenas, left, and Morelia V. Ayala Garcia await their turn to go before a judge in Lewis County Superior Court.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A Centralia College student and his 19-year-old girlfriend were charged today in connection with a string of fast food establishment burglaries, two of which the thieves broke in by cutting a hole through the roof.

Alexis Cardenas, 26, of Centralia, came to the attention of local police after he was caught red-handed breaking in to the Taco Bell in Olympia the other night, according to Lewis County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Will Halstead.

In one case, the intruders had the combination to the safe, Halstead said.

His alleged accomplice, Morelia V. Ayala Garcia, 19, also of Centralia, was a manager at the McDonalds in Centralia, according to authorities. She no longer works there, police said.

Both were arrested on Wednesday and held in the Lewis County Jail until charges were filed today in Lewis County Superior Court.

In one case, about $2,800 was stolen, in another it was $5,700, according to Halstead. He wasn’t certain this afternoon of the amount in the third case. The incidents all happened in the late spring of 2015 in Centralia.

Arby’s on the 1200 block of Belmont Avenue was hit on April 14, 2015. In that case, some broke out a window to get inside, according to charging documents.

Thieves struck at McDonalds on the 1200 block of Lum Road on May 28, 2015. Then they struck again at the Centralia Wendy’s on the 800 block of Harrison Avenue on June 13, 2015. In both cases they got inside by by cutting a hole in the roof, according to police.

Police are looking for four other suspects they believe were involved.

Cardenas is charged with three counts of second-degree burglary and three counts of first-degree malicious mischief.

Halstead told a judge this afternoon that even though Cardenas was incarcerated when the McDonalds break-in occurred, they believe he directed it.

Ayala Garcia is charged in only the McDonalds case.

Halstead said the crimes involved a high degree of sophistication. He asked that Cardenas be held on $300,000 bail, out of concern about interfering with the administration of justice by trying to contact witnesses.

While he was released on $20,000 bail in Thurston County after the Olympia burglary, Halstead said that amount was “a joke.”

Temporary defense attorney Rachael Tiller argued for a lesser amount, noting Cardenas is a student at Centralia College, employed at a local auto dealership and resides in Centralia. Lewis County Superior Court Judge Joely O’Rourke said she considered him a very serious threat to community safety and ordered the high bail.

Halstead asked that Ayala Garcia be held on $25,000 bail, noting her situation was different in that she allegedly participated only in one burglary and had nothing more than a speeding ticket on her record. He also said Ayala Garcia didn’t appear to be a citizen, but may have a work permit.

Tiller noted to the judge Ayala Garcia has a 7-month-old baby, works as an insurance agent, had family in the courtroom and wasn’t a flight risk. O’Rourke set her bail at $25,000, noting she was not concerned about Ayala Garcia returning to court as ordered.

Halstead asked the judge to sign an order allowing DNA samples to be taken from the suspects.

The Olympia Police Department Tweeted on Monday they caught a burglar during the night trying to break in to a safe, noting an alarm, the sounds of a grinder being used and foot prints in the snow which led to a rooftop ladder and their suspect at Taco Bell.

Their arraignments are set for next Thursday in Lewis County Superior Court.

A woman who said she was the daughter, sister of victims and her companions enter the home after investigators leave.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

GLENOMA – Investigators didn’t find any particular surprises as they examined the scene of a house fire with three deaths in Glenoma yesterday, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

Chief Deputy Dusty Breen said the home on the 100 block of Frost Creek Road was occupied by a husband, his wife and adult son. Three adult bodies were removed by the coroner’s office and autopsies will be conducted, he said.

The small house built in 1940 sits on a moderate-sized parcel just north of U.S. Highway 12  with neighboring homes close by. The community of Glenoma is just seven miles east of Morton, both of which are surrounded by the foot hills of the Cascade Mountains.

Dan Powell who lives across the street said he was awakened by one of his neighbors beating on his door, saying he couldn’t get through to 911.

Powell put on his pants, grabbed his 25-pound fire extinguisher and headed over. Another neighbor from up the road, a volunteer firefighter, was already on the scene, he said.

“He told me he went around and tried to rouse someone from the windows, but he didn’t get any response,” Powell said.

Already they could see flames from the kitchen and living room area, as well as a window on the opposite side of the house.

“Like I said, we couldn’t get close to it,” Powell said.

There were multiple 911 calls that came in around 3:23 a.m. yesterday. Four fire departments responded to put out the blaze.

The house is still standing, but Breen late yesterday afternoon pointed to area to the right of the front door, where the kitchen’s wall would have been, next to the garage-carport area. Pieces of metal roofing hung in front of the carport.

Where specifically the fire seems to have originated, they aren’t yet saying, Breen said.

“They do not have a definite conclusion yet,” Breen said as detectives and a fire investigator prepared to clear the scene.

Their task yesterday was to conduct two investigations, one for what caused the fire and another for what caused the deaths, Breen said.

He said they spoke to family asking questions about the electrical and what the residents used for heating, he said.

“They had propane at one time, but that’s shut off,” Breen said. “It sounds like they had electric heaters.”

Investigators didn’t find any smoke detectors, he said.

The victims were found in different areas of the home, Breen said, a bedroom, the hallway and the living room.

Powell and his fiancee, Judy Nelson said the elderly couple had lived there more than a decade. Neither one of them drove, he said.

It wasn’t too long ago the son came to live with them, Powell said. And they lost their daughter about a year ago, he said.

“He was very helpful with his parents, like he built a ramp for them,” Nelson said.

Powell knows fires well, as he is the chief for Lewis County Fire District 4, which protects the area surrounding Morton.

He’s been with his department 45 years and during that time, they’ve never had a fatal fire, he said.

“I just hope they went to sleep and slept right through it,” Powell said.

“That’s what we’re hoping for,” Nelson said.

Once identification and next of kin notification are made, the victim’s identities will be released by the Lewis County Coroner’s Office.
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For background, read, “Three dead in Glenoma residential structure fire” from Thursday February 9, 2017, here

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Deputies and fire investigator left tape blocking the front yard of the Frost Creek Road home.