Archive for June, 2017

Centralia resident dies in shootout with Vancouver police

Saturday, June 10th, 2017

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Authorities have identified the Vancouver bank robbery suspect who died after exchanging gunfire with police as 50-year-old David W. Hamilton of Centralia.

Hamilton died of multiple gunshot wounds, according to the Clark County Medical Examiner’s Office.

At approximately 2:20 p.m. on Tuesday, officers responded to a robbery of the IQ Credit Union in which a rifle-carrying, ski mask-wearing subject ran into the bank, robbed it of an undisclosed amount of money and then fled, according to the Vancouver Police Department.

The individual was seen getting into a white vehicle and responding officers then spotted the subject getting into a second vehicle and driving away, according to police. A pursuit ensued, a PIT maneuver was conducted on the fleeing vehicle and shots were exchanged between the suspect and officers, according to police.

No officers were injured, but three officers were put on leave, according to the Vancouver Police Department. An investigation was initiated by the Regional Major Crimes Team.

Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Friday, June 9th, 2017
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THEFT, THEFT, THEFT

• A stolen handgun was recovered yesterday in the possession of a 14-year-old Centralia boy, according to authorities. The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reports that deputies learned the owner’s son took the Rossi 38 caliber revolver without permission, went out shooting with friends and the friends took the gun when they all returned home on Saturday. A 14-year-old and a 16-year-old, both from Centralia, were arrested and booked into the Lewis County Juvenile Detention Center for theft of  firearm, according to the sheriff’s office.

• Chehalis police were called about 3:30 p.m. yesterday to a business on the 300 block of Northwest Louisiana Avenue to take a report that someone had entered the property and removed a starter motor, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

• A 45-year-old Centralia man was arrested yesterday for second-degree vehicle prowl and third-degree theft for allegedly taking an intake manifold from a neighbor’s truck, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The victim reported the item stolen on Wednesday after getting a call from his cousin who works at an auto body shop in Centralia about an individual who came in and tried to sell it, according to the sheriff’s office. The cousin recognized the item due to a sticker and some writing on it, Chief Deputy Dusty Breen said. Winston C. Trent was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to Breen.

DRUGS

• A 43-year-old Chehalis woman detained for allegedly shoplifting about 4:30 p.m. yesterday at the 1600 block of Northwest Louisiana Avenue was subsequently arrested  for a violation of the Uniform Controlled Substances Act. Jennifer L. Davis was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

ON THE ROAD, OFF THE ROAD

• Centralia police were called to the 600 block of Harrison Avenue about 11:15 a.m. yesterday for a collision involving a car and a bicycle.The woman on the bicycle ended up with a sore arm, according to the Centralia Police Department.

AND MORE

• And, as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, misdemeanor assault; responses for alarm, dispute, civil issue, disorderly person, hit and run, trespassing, suspicious circumstances, vehicle collision, third-degree theft, disorderly person … and more among 146 calls for local law enforcement and / or fire-emergency medical services in the 24-hour period ending about 7 a.m. today.

News brief: Chehalis piano tuner loses workshop to fire

Thursday, June 8th, 2017
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Shop building reignites hours after fire department leaves. / Courtesy photo by Tayler Williams

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The shop building used by a rural Chehalis man who refurbishes and tunes pianos is a total loss after a noontime fire was extinguished and then reignited yesterday evening.

Lewis County Fire District 6 Chief Tim Kinder said it was about 6:45 p.m. when a neighbor called and reported the structure was fully involved in flames.

Firefighters from District 6 and three other departments had spent about an hour and a half earlier in the day putting out a fire in the same building at the 300 block of Logan Hill Road. That ended with main structure still intact, according to the fire district.

Kinder said they knocked the second fire down within about 15 minutes but stayed on scene until after 9 p.m. moving materials to make sure there were no hots spots remaining.

He said the building held pianos on one side and the actual shop on the other side. He estimated the loss of building and contents at about $30,000.

The second fire spread to the adjacent carport and threatened the house, he said. The cause is under investigation.

Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Thursday, June 8th, 2017
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Updated

BURGLARY CHEHALIS

• The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reports a 2005 Honda Foreman 500 ATV plus a Stihl brush cutter were stolen from a shop behind a residence on the 100 block of Pattee Road near Chehalis sometime between 4 p.m. last Thursday and 3 p.m. on Tuesday. The loss is estimated at $3,000.

FRAUD

• Police arrested a 19-year-old Centralia resident for forgery yesterday morning after he tried to cash a check written out to himself for $320 at Umpqua Bank on the 200 block of North Pearl Street and it turned out the check’s owner had recently cleaned out his vehicle at a car wash and thrown away temporary checks because he thought they were no longer any good. Officers called to the bank about 10:30 a.m. were told by Michael W. Severance that two individuals waiting around the corner in a car had told him to cash it, according to charging documents. Severance was booked into the Lewis County Jail.

CAR PROWL

• Chehalis police were called about 1 p.m. yesterday to the parking lot at Wal-Mart on the 1600 block of Northwest Louisiana Avenue where an individual reported two tool boxes had been stolen from the back of his truck. The 26-inch Milwaukee brand red and black boxes contained carpentry and power tools, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

• Centralia police were called about 11:30 a.m. yesterday about the theft of tools from an unlocked vehicle at the 500 block of Harrison Avenue, according to the Centralia Police Department.

DRUGS

• A glass smoking device with white residue was found in the rear of an officer’s patrol vehicle after a suspect was taken out at the jail, leading to the arrest of the suspect for possession of methamphetamine, according to the Centralia Police Department. Bibiana Martinez-Torres, 30, of Olympia was being transported to the Lewis County Jail for resisting arrest and third-degree suspended license following contact with an officer about 12:40 a.m. today at the the 1500 block of North Scheuber Road, according to police.

VANDALISM

• Centralia police took a report about 8:40 a.m. yesterday of graffiti placed during the night on a building at the 1500 block of Kresky Avenue.

INVESTIGATION

• Centralia police report they began investigating yesterday morning a report of inappropriate touching involving juveniles.

AND MORE

• And, as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, misdemeanor assault, protection order violation, minor in possession/consumption of alcohol; responses for alarm, dispute, civil issue, disorderly person, suspicious circumstances, vehicle collision … and more among 166 calls for local law enforcement and / or fire-emergency medical services in the 24-hour period ending about 7 a.m. today.

Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Wednesday, June 7th, 2017
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NEIGHBOR FOILS BURGLARY WINLOCK

• Deputies were called about 8 a.m. yesterday to the 100 block of Awmiller Road in Winlock right after a 911 caller caught three people in a silver 2001 Chrysler PT Cruiser with an Oregon license plate in the midst of burglarizing a neighbor’s residence. When confronted, the two males and one female apologized and removed items from their vehicle back into the house, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Responding deputies were unable to locate the suspect vehicle but did find forced entry to the garage and back door of the home, according to the sheriff’s office.

BURGLARY CHEHALIS

• Chehalis police were called about 2:30 p.m. yesterday to a home on Southwest Sixth Street where an unknown person had entered a residence and rifled through their belongings. Nothing seemed to be missing, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

THREAT

• A 72-year-old man was arrested late yesterday afternoon after deputies were called to Linda Vista Drive outside Chehalis because he had allegedly told his wife they were both going to be dead, as he was going to shoot her then himself, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Jerry A. Hill was booked into the Lewis County Jail for felony harassment, according to the sheriff’s office.

ASSAULT

• Halis C. Hankins, 22, of Chehalis, was arrested for hit and run and third-degree assault in a case last night associated with the 800 block of South Gold Street in Centralia, according to the Centralia Police Department.

BAD BILL

• Centralia police were called yesterday morning to the 1000 block of Belmont Avenue where a counterfeit bill had been received the evening before.

• Chehalis police were called about 4:40 p.m. yesterday to a business on Southwest Interstate Avenue where an individual tried to spend a counterfeit $5 bill, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

VANDALISM

• Gang graffiti was discovered spray painted on the side of the viaduct at the 100 block of East Sixth Street in Centralia yesterday morning, according to the Centralia Police Department.

BRUSH FIRE BREAKS OUT

• Four fire departments responded to a fire about 6:30 p.m. yesterday at the 100 block of McLaughlin Road near a former mill site found vegetation burning in a dry creek bed covering approximately 25 feet by 30 feet. Crews had the fire under control and knocked down within 15 minutes, according to Lewis County Fire District 6.

LUCKY DAY

• Firefighters were called this afternoon to the 900 block of Burnt Ridge Road for a man pinned in a toppled over commercial forklift. Just as the rescue truck arrived, neighbors managed to dig the dirt out from beneath the operator’s ankle and got him free, according to Lewis County Fire District 8. Chief Duran McDaniel said the ankle had only been stuck, and wasn’t broken.

AND MORE

• And, as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, reckless driving, driving with suspended license; responses for alarm, dispute, civil issue, hit and run, suspicious circumstances, vehicle collision … and more among 129 calls for local law enforcement and / or fire-emergency medical services in the 24-hour period ending about 7 a.m. today.

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At the 900 block of Burnt Ridge Road. / Courtesy photo by Lewis County Fire District 8

News brief: Garage catches fire in Chehalis

Wednesday, June 7th, 2017
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Shop building on Logan Hill Road. / Courtesy photo by Lewis County Fire District 6

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – There was heavy damage from flames and smoke but the main structure of a garage south of Chehalis was saved after a fire broke out today.

Firefighters called just before noon to the 300 block of Logan Hill Road were told no one was inside the building, according to Lewis County Fire District 6.

The fire was contained to the garage and nobody was hurt, according to Firefighter DJ Hammer.

A building inspector was requested to check the shop building for structural integrity, according to Hammer. The cause is being investigated.

News brief: Indecent liberties conviction brings prison time for Centralia man

Wednesday, June 7th, 2017

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A 49-year-old Centralia man was sentenced today to 20 months in prison for indecent liberties in a case in which a young woman said he molested her while she was sleeping in his fifth-wheel trailer while she was withdrawing from heroin.

Keith D. Keene pleaded guilty on May 10 to the felony offense, but made an Alford plea, in which he admitted no wrongdoing.

He appeared in Lewis County Superior Court this morning before Judge Andrew Toynbee, with his lawyer Don Blair.

Keene was charged earlier this year in the case detectives began investigating last July following a tip from an inmate at the Lewis County Jail who said they knew of multiple women sexually assaulted by Keene.

The original charges included the cases of two other women in their 20s who told of similar instances, but those charges were dismissed as part of the plea deal, according to Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Melissa Bohm.

The victim in the case in which Keene was convicted was 19 years old in November 2015 and told police he had offered her to use his bed and when she she woke up to Keene pressing himself against her, she immediately got up and went outside. She said it happened just before she went to rehab.

The judge gave Keene credit for 32 days of time already served and imposed three years of supervision after his release.
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For background, read “Centralian accused of taking advantage of multiple younger women” from Saturday February 11, 2017, here