Archive for May, 2017

News brief: Fire knocked down inside plywood mill

Friday, May 19th, 2017

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Four fire departments responded this afternoon when a fire broke out at Hardel Plywood on Maurin Road in the Chehalis Industrial Park.

Something, likely sawdust, ignited atop one of the large wood dryers inside a building and fire extended into the insulation above, according to Lewis County Fire District 6.

The plant’s workers were already spraying it with water when the crew arrived, Firefighter-Paramedic Matt McCoy said.

District 6 was joined by Lewis County Fire District 5, the Chehalis Fire Department and Riverside Fire Authority, McCoy said.

Crews finished knocking down the flames and were on scene about two hours doing “over haul,” McCoy said. The damage was minimal, nobody was hurt, he said.

News brief: Victim of fatal two-car wreck is Centralia resident

Friday, May 19th, 2017

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Authorities say an 18-year-old Centralia woman killed in a head-on crash in Grand Mound died from internal injuries.

Cheyllyn R. Collinsworth died Wednesday night just as LifeFlight was landing following the collision at Old Highway 99 near Oregon Trail Road.

Firefighters called to the scene about 11:20 p.m. used the Jaws of Life to get to their patients. Collinsworth was driving southbound when a car headed northbound crossed the centerline, according to the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office.

The male driver of the second car was injured and transported to  Providence St. Peter Hospital in Olympia, according to the fire department.

Sheriff’s Sgt. Carla Carter today declined to release information about the male, except to say last she knew, he was still at the hospital and the wreck is being investigated as a vehicular homicide.
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For background, read “Grand Mound: Two-car wreck leaves 18-year-old dead” from Thursday May 18, 2017, here

Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Friday, May 19th, 2017
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THEFT, THEFT, THEFT

• Several storage units were broken into at the 800 block of North Tower Avenue and an unknown quantity of items were taken, according to a report made to the Centralia Police Department about 7:45 p.m. yesterday. This case is under investigation, according to police.

• Chehalis police were called yesterday evening about a welder stolen earlier in the day from a business at the 1000 block of Northwest Maryland Avenue. It is a Hobart Stickmate LX235, valued at $350, according to the Chehalis Police Department. The suspect is an older man driving a dark blue mini van, according to police.

• A deputy was called yesterday afternoon about the theft of a $2,500 log splitter from a covered storage area at the 100 block of Meade Hill Road in Glenoma sometime since Saturday.

• The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reported this morning a deputy took a report of a burglary at the 400 block of Short Road near Morton in which heavy duty padlocks, chain and a door to a shop were damaged sometime in the two weeks previous to Wednesday. It was not yet clear what may have been taken, according to the sheriff’s office.

VANDALISM

• Centralia police were called about 5:40 a.m. yesterday to the 1600 block of North Pearl Street following the discovery that someone entered someone else’s barn and vandalized a motorcycle. The paint was scratched and the tires were punctured, according to the Centralia Police Department.

ASSAULT

• A 36-year-old Chehalis man was arrested yesterday following an afternoon report a 28-year-old Rochester man and a 54-year-old Centralia woman were assaulted at the 100 block of Meier Road south of Chehalis. The male victim had an injury to his eye and nose and the female an injury to her forearm, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The victims said that during the assault, Gregory J. Perry had also restricted their breathing, according to the sheriff’s office Perry was arrested and booked into the Lewis County Jail for second-degree assault but prosecutors moved the case to Lewis County District Court instead for consideration of misdemeanor assault, according to authorities.

• Centralia police reported yesterday they are investigating a report of an assault on a child associated with the 1000 block of North Pearl Street. They learned of the incident about 4:40 p.m. on Wednesday, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• A boy was booked into Lewis County Juvenile Detention Center following a report about 11:35 a.m. on Wednesday of an assault on a school bus in a case associated with an address at Seward Avenue in Centralia, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• Chehalis police reported yesterday they were called to take a report from Green Hill School the day before about an altercation on May 9 in which an 18-year-old student-inmate allegedly struck a staff member on the head. The case will be referred to prosecutors, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

WARNING

• Chehalis police were called about 11:30 a.m. yesterday on a request to remove a homeless female and her grocery cart of belongings from in front of a place at the 500 block of North Market Boulevard. An officer was called about 1:45 p.m. to remove a female and her belongings “occupying” a shelter on Northeast Division Street. She was warned, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

ON THE ROAD, OFF THE ROAD

• An incident of road rage was reported late yesterday afternoon in which an individual followed the victim, struck the back of her vehicle with the front of his and attempted to throw a can of soda into her open sunroof, according to the Centralia Police Department. Police are attempting to positively identify the suspect in the episode that occurred along the 600 block of Harrison Avenue in Centralia around 4:40 p.m. The case is under investigation.

• Centralia police investigated a minor injury collision involving a log truck and three passenger vehicles at the 900 block of Harrison Avenue shortly before 7:15 a.m. yesterday. The at-fault driver of a passenger vehicle was issued a notice of infraction, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• A 39-year-old woman was injured when the car in which she was a passenger was struck by another car on southbound Interstate 5 just before 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday. Troopers called to the area near milepost 74 about a mile south of Chehalis report a 25-year-old Wyoming man driving a Subaru Forester began to change lanes and hit a Kia Optima, according to the Washington State Patrol. Mazhari Bahareh, of Auburn, was transported to Providence Centralia Hospital, according to the state patrol.

AND MORE

• And, as usual, other incidents such as arrests for drugs, warrants, shoplifting, trespassing, misdemeanor assault, failure to obey police officer, driving under the influence, driving with suspended license, possession of liquor by minor; responses for alarm, dispute, civil issue, vehicle collision, hit and run, third-degree theft, disorderly person, fourth-degree assault, suspicious circumstances, request for contact from a parent whose mouthy 15-year-old daughter got a belly-button piercing without permission … and more among 334 calls for local law enforcement and / or fire-emergency medical services in the 48-hour period ending about 7 a.m. today.

News brief: SWAT training planned in Adna

Friday, May 19th, 2017

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The Washington State Patrol SWAT team will be conducting active threat training at an empty building in Adna this morning.

Sgt. James Prouty said members of the public may see law enforcement vehicles and personnel gathering at the old Adna High School on Dieckman Road near the school district office between about 9 a.m. and lunchtime today.

Five people arrested on Gish Road following drug investigation

Thursday, May 18th, 2017
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Scott E. Ridgley, left, is represented by defense attorney Kevin Nelson during a bail hearing in Lewis County Superior Court.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – After twice sending a police informant to buy drugs from an Onalaska man, local drug detectives served search warrants at his home, arresting him and four others and seizing methamphetamine, heroin, psilocybin mushrooms, more than a pound of marijuana and at least $6,900 cash.

Scott E. Ridgley, 56, was charged yesterday in Lewis County Superior Court with multiple felonies, including unlawful use of a building for drug purposes.

It was just over a year ago members of the Joint Narcotics Enforcement Team conducted a similar operation with similar results at Ridgley’s property on the 500 block of Gish Road, although that day they confiscated about $20,000, according to authorities. He was out on bail pending trial in that case.

On Tuesday, JNET was accompanied by at least one member of the U.S. Marshals Service and arrested Ridgley along with his 39-year-old son Larry E. Ridgley who was wanted on a felony drug warrant.

Also arrested was a roommate Stephen D. Cobb, 45, who was charged yesterday with possession of meth and heroin.

Not booked into jail but referred for charges were David E. McAbee, 29, of Onalaska, possession of meth and Tracy A. Dona, 43, Onalaska, possession of meth and destruction of evidence, according to a press release from JNET forwarded by the Centralia Police Department.

Judge Andrew Toynbee set Scott Ridgley’s bail at $50,000 yesterday afternoon.

Charging documents state a confidential informant contacted one of the detectives between March 1 and Tuesday about being able to purchase meth from the senior Ridgley, and did so twice during the same period.

Once at the property, detectives found a black case near Scott Ridgley in a shop building, containing about two and a half ounces of methamphetamine, a digital scale and the cash, according to charging documents.

They found pipes with residue, a rifle with a missing stock and a 22 caliber pistol, the documents relate.

Scott Ridgley was charged with two counts of delivery of meth, one count of possession of meth with intent to deliver, possession of meth, first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm and unlawful use of a building for drug purposes.

He has prior convictions from 2012 for delivery of a controlled substance.
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For background, read “Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup – LOTS OF DRUGS” from Tuesday May 3, 2016, here

Prosecutor: Lewis County employees broke rules regarding seized dog

Thursday, May 18th, 2017

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer says a dog deemed dangerous by the county and impounded to the animal shelter which ought to have been euthanized was instead adopted out to a family who weren’t told of its background.

“His name was changed, the true nature of the dog was hidden and he was adopted out,” Meyer said. “There was a feeling it wasn’t really dangerous.”

The prosecutor was summarizing the sequence of events to the Lewis County Board of Commissioners earlier this week and advised he planned to ask an outside prosecutor to look into the actions of two county employees. He did not name the employees.

He noted there is no provision under the law to declassify a dangerous dog.

Meyer said he asked the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office to investigate. That took place last week, according to sheriff’s Chief Deputy Dusty Breen.

The canine was brought to the shelter last July 1 after it and another dog were accused of killing a goat, according to Meyer.

It’s name was Tank and then changed to Hank, and he thought it may have been a pit bull but didn’t know for sure. The dog was adopted out in January. The new owner had given the animal to her grown son and 9-year-old grandson, and they had it for a significant amount of time, Meyer said.

The new owner wanted to keep the dog or be paid for their investment in a fence and the cost of a child’s broken heart, he said. He said they submitted a bill for $3,000.

“They were told they could not keep it and voluntarily relinquished it to the county,” Meyer said.

The meeting on Tuesday was attended by Lewis County Animal Shelter Manager Amy Hanson, her boss Director of Public Health and Social Services Danette York and other personnel with the prosecutor’s office.

Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Eric Eisenberg, who is among the county’s civil lawyers who advise county departments, told commissioners he was aware of the situation and was asked in September by the humane officer, the health department and the shelter what the options were for the dog under county code.

He began working on researching the law, he said, but went on family leave, returned to work and went on leave again, he said.

“I didn’t check back with the health department until recently,” Eisenberg said.

The county’s dangerous dog rules are imposed through a process that begins with an incident report from the sheriff’s office, which is forwarded to the county humane officer at Public Health and Social Services. If it’s determined the animal meets the criteria, the owner is served with a declaration their dog is dangerous and given a date for a hearing, which York oversees.

The only way for an owner to be allowed to keep a dangerous dog is to meet costly criteria such as a secure enclosure and extra insurance, Lewis County Chief Civil Deputy Prosecutor Glenn Carter said.

Meyer reiterated there is no provision declassify this dog and advised commissioners if it bit someone, the county could likely be liable.

At the same time, he hinted there was reason to think this particular dog was wrongly labeled and fell through the cracks.

“In the future, I would hope there would be a more careful analysis of the facts and the dog, before it’s declared dangerous,” he said.

Grand Mound: Two-car wreck leaves 18-year-old dead

Thursday, May 18th, 2017
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At the scene at Old Highway 99 near Oregon Trail Road / Courtesy photo by Thurston County Sheriff’s Office

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A teenage driver was killed in a head-on car crash last night in Grand Mound.

Responders called about 11:18 p.m. determined a man traveling north on Old Highway 99 near Oregon Trail Road in a maroon Ford Focus crossed the centerline and struck a southbound red Kia, according to the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office.

Firefighters used the Jaws of Life to access their patients,  according to West Thurston Regional Fire Authority.

The Kia’s driver, an 18-year-old female, died just as LifeFlight was landing at Rochester High School, according to authorities.

The other driver was injured and transported to Providence St. Peter Hospital in Olympia, West Thurston Fire Chief Robert Scott said.

Sheriff’s Sgt. Carla Carter indicated this morning the man, in his 20s or 30s, may have been impaired and an investigation into vehicular homicide is underway.