Archive for August, 2017

Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Monday, August 21st, 2017
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THEFT, FORGERIES UNDER INVESTIGATION TOLEDO

• A deputy was called to the 100 block of Lone Yew Road in Toledo on Friday to take a report of a theft in which blank checks were stolen, some of which had been written out for cash totaling $890. Also missing and believed to have been taken on the same day – July 29 – were several pieces of  jewelry, $10 worth of quarters and another $120 cash, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Chief Deputy Dusty Breen said there is a potential person of interest and Toledo police are working on forgeries related to the case.

INTRUDER GLENOMA

• A deputy was called to the 100 block of Uden Road in Glenoma just before 7 p.m. on Friday following the discovery someone had pried open a side door to a shop building there. It happened sometime since Aug. 13 and isn’t clear anything of value had been taken, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office

VEHICLE THEFT

• Centralia police were called to the 400 block of South Buckner Street about 9:30 a.m. on Saturday to take a report of the theft of a white 1985 Toyota SR5 pickup from during the night. The truck has a blue stripe on the side, a black metal brush guard on the front and a license plate of B79361E, according to the Centralia Police Department.

CAR PROWL

• Chehalis police were called about 9 a.m. yesterday to the Southwest Washington Fair grounds following the discovery some medication was missing from a camper parked there.

• Centralia police were called just after 9 a.m. on Friday to take a report an iPad was stolen from an unlocked vehicle the previous morning at the 500 block of Harrison Avenue.

ASSAULT

• A 37-year-old Centralia woman – Judith M. Fenning  – was arrested for allegedly assaulting an officer in a Friday morning case associated with the 2400 block of West Reynolds Avenue in Centralia, according to the Centralia Police Department.

DRUGS

• A deputy responded to the Lewis County Jail yesterday morning to investigate the discovery an inmate had 43 tablets of Clonazepam, a prescription medication the inmate said he had hidden and brought with him when he was arrested. The 37-year-old said he was taking them “to help” and a case is being referred to prosecutors for a violation of the Uniform Controlled Substances Act, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office

ON THE ROAD, OFF THE ROAD

• Cristian Ramirez-Dado, 19, of Centralia, was arrested for driving under the influence as well as hit and run after allegedly being involved in a two-vehicle collision at the 1200 block of North Pearl Street in Centralia about 2:20 a.m. on Saturday, according to the Centralia Police Department. Police were unaware of any injuries.

• A 68-year-old man was transported to Morton General Hospital with serious injuries to an ankle and a shoulder after his motorcycle collided with his wife’s motorcycle when they came upon an unexpected stop sign at Forest Service Road 25 and state Route 131 in Randle on Friday. A deputy responding about 12:50 p.m. indicated she sustained minor scrapes, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The couple is from Vancouver, Washington, according to the sheriff’s office.

AND MORE

• And, as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, harassment, hit and run, trespassing, reckless endangerment, third-degree theft, protection order violation, driving under the influence, driving with suspended license, driving without required ignition interlock device; responses for alarm, dispute, shoplifting, civil issue, vehicle collision, suspicious circumstances, attempt to pass counterfeit bill … and more among 434 calls for local law enforcement and / or fire-emergency medical services in the 72-hour period ending about 7 a.m.

Coroner McLeod, staff reaching out to save babies lives

Sunday, August 20th, 2017

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The Lewis County Corner’s Office has gone ahead and entered into a partnership with an organization dedicated to preventing infant deaths due to unsafe sleeping environments.

Coroner Warren McLeod wants to spread the word that the safest way for a baby to sleep is alone, on their backs, in a bare, safety-approved crib.

Thousands of such deaths occur each year across the country, the vast majority are accidental and nearly three-quarters are attributed to bed sharing, according to McLeod.

McLeod said while he saw this type of death many times when he worked in Nevada, he encountered it for the first time in Lewis County this spring, when a 3-month-old girl suffocated sleeping with her mother. It can happen as easily as something as light as a kleenex falling over the mouth and nose, he said.

The coroner’s office is now partnered with Cribs for Kids National Infant Safe Sleep Initiative, headquartered in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania.

The coroner’s endeavor will include teaching new parents and caregivers about safe sleep practices as well as working to get cribs into the hands of new parents who cannot afford them.

McLeod is making representatives from his office available to speak to civic groups about the initiative and how they can make donations.

Since 1998, Cribs for Kids has been reducing the rate of infant sleep-related deaths by educating parents and by providing portable cribs to families who otherwise cannot afford a safe place for their babies to sleep. All education is based on the American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines for infant sleep safety.

The cost of a crib, including shipping, is $60.

McLeod’s goal is to raise money to have enough of the portable cribs on hand so that local law enforcement and fire departments can reach out to his office when they come across a parent who can’t afford a safe sleeping environment.

Babies should never sleep on a couch, armchair or soft surface, according to  the American Academy of Pediatrics. And bed sharing remains the greatest risk factor for sleep related infant deaths, the AAP states.

The 2016 updated recommendations on infant sleep safety from AAP draw on new research and include:

• Place the baby on his or her back on a firm sleep surface such as a crib or bassinet with a tight-fitting sheet.

• Avoid use of soft bedding, including crib bumpers, blankets, pillows and soft toys. The crib should be bare.

• Share a bedroom with parents, but not the same sleeping surface, preferably until the baby turns one but at least for the first six months. Room-sharing decreases the risk of SIDS by as much as 50 percent.

• Avoid baby’s exposure to smoke, alcohol and illicit drugs.
•••

For background, read “Centralia infant exposed to meth smoke died of something different” from Friday July 7, 2017, here

Bail set at $1 million for driver accused of hitting man on sidewalk

Friday, August 18th, 2017

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A 30-year-old motorist accused of driving up onto a Centralia sidewalk where he struck a pedestrian is charged with vehicular assault and possession of heroin.

Witnesses told police Christian D. Brown was driving down South Gold Street about 35 mph before his car traveled onto the east sidewalk and hit the man, according to charging documents. When his car came to a stop, the victim fell off its hood, the documents relate.

An arriving police officer found the 58-year-old Chehalis man face down and unconscious, according to authorities. He was seriously injured.

It happened in the noon hour on Wednesday, just outside the Southwest Washington Fair grounds.

Brown was brought before a judge yesterday afternoon in Lewis County Superior Court.

Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Paul Masiello asked for $1 million bail, citing numerous warrants in numerous cases in Brown’s past.

But Masiello also noted, Brown had an ongoing drug case from earlier this year in which he was able to post $100,000 bail and remain out of jail pending a trial.

Temporary defense attorney Rachael Tiller told the judge a warrant had not been issued for her client in the past four years. He lives locally, Tiller said. Centralia police describe Brown as transient.

Judge Andrew Toynbee ordered the defendant held on $1 million bail.

According to charging documents, the police officer who contacted Brown at the scene noted Brown was extremely fidgety and abrupt in his movements; his eyes were bloodshot and watery.

A drug recognition conducted an evaluation and gave the opinion he was impaired by narcotics and stimulants. Brown admitted using methamphetamine earlier in the day and using heroin the previous day, according to charging documents.

One of two pocket knives police discovered in Brown’s pants pocket contained residue which field tested positive for heroin, according to the documents.

Vehicular assault has a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. Among the elements of the offense are a person causing substantial bodily harm to another when operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

Results are pending from a blood test, according to court documents.

Masiello said Brown’s case from April involved possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver and possession of a controlled substance.

Mike Summer, the victim, yesterday was listed in serious condition at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

Ashley Jackson said her father had a small brain bleed, along with probably 40 stitches; many of them in the back of his head. He also had a sizable gash on his arm, road rash and trauma to his toe, she said.

Jackson is a volunteer with Lewis County Fire District 1.

She said her dad was at the fair with family and was walking back to their car to retrieve something, with his back to traffic.

He doesn’t recall much, she said.

“All he knew he was walking down the sidewalk, then the lights were out,” she said. “Then he was being loaded into a helicopter.”
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For background, read “Police: Impaired motorist drove onto sidewalk, injuring pedestrian near fairgrounds” from Thursday August 17, 2017, here

Centralia arson: Teen angry about eviction

Friday, August 18th, 2017
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Kelsey T. Rasmussen, in red, is shown to his seat in Lewis County Superior Court

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – He’s charged with knowingly starting a fire in his own home, the top level of a Centralia duplex.

At first he said he was playing with hand sanitizer that caught fire and he got scared so he left.

But then he admitted to a police detective he started the fire because he was mad he was getting evicted with no reason given on the notice, according to prosecutors.

The 19-year-old Centralia man has no criminal history, but was charged yesterday in Lewis County Superior Court with first-degree arson, a felony with a maximum penalty of life in prison. It’s also a strike offense.

Kelsey T. Rasmussen was brought before a judge yesterday afternoon where his bail was set at $50,000.

Temporary defense attorney Rachael Tiller told the judge Rasmussen has no income, at this time, and Judge Andrew Toynbee appointed Centralia lawyer Don Blair to represent him.

Centralia police say they found Rasmussen a short distance away waiting for a taxi as firefighters and police converged around 9 p.m. on Wednesday at the 1200 block of Windsor Avenue where smoke was rising from the roof vents and the second-story windows were blackened.

The first-floor unit was occupied at the time but everyone was able to get out safely without injury, according to authorities. A woman who lived on the ground floor described her upstairs neighbor as the tall, skinny kid with glasses that usually wore a black hoody.

The fire was extinguished, but it caused heavy damage to the upper level of the house which had been converted to a duplex, according to Riverside Fire Authority.

A fire captain told police there was a can of shaving cream in the middle of the bed, which looked like where the fire began, according to charging documents.

The captain said the smoke detectors were found outside sitting on the railing on the porch.

Rasmussen’s arraignment is scheduled for Thursday.
•••

For background, read “Resident of Centralia duplex arrested following fire there” from Thursday August 17, 2017, here

Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Friday, August 18th, 2017
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•••

UNLAWFUL GUN PLAY

• A deputy responding to a report of a vehicle blocking traffic and a man in the middle of the road firing a rifle towards the woods contacted the individual and found he had a prior conviction that prohibited him from possessing guns. It happened about 7 p.m. yesterday at the 1400 block of Middle Fork Road near Onalaska, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The weapon and several spent rounds were collected for evidence and Anthony C. Burchfield, 41, was arrested, according to the sheriff’s office. He was booked into the Lewis County Jail for first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm, Chief Deputy Dusty Breen said.

VEHICLE PROWL

• Police were called about 11:15 a.m. yesterday to take a report that shoes and clothing were taken from a car at the 200 block of North King Street in Centralia on Sunday evening.

VANDALISM

• Two windows of a house had rocks thrown through them at the 400 block of Prairie Rose Street in Centralia, according to a report made to police just before 6 p.m. yesterday. The house was also egged, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• Centralia police were called about 11:25 a.m. yesterday to take a report that three mailboxes were pried open sometime during the previous two days at the 100 block of South Silver Street.

• Chehalis police were called just before 11 a.m. yesterday regarding vandalism to a 2017 Jeep at the 1800 block of Bishop Road. There was a hole in its hood, about an inch in size that looked like a tear, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

• Chehalis police were called about 12:15 p.m. yesterday to take a report of someone “keying” a foul word onto a vehicle.

ON THE ROAD, OFF THE ROAD

• Firefighters were called about 8:15 a.m. today to a rollover crash on Jackson Highway just north of North Prairie Road, Nobody was transported, according to Lewis County Fire District 5.

• Two vehicles were totaled and one driver hospitalized after the motorist didn’t see the SUV in front of her had stopped for road construction on southbound state Route 7 about 11 miles north of Morton this morning. Troopers called to the scene just after 8 a.m. found the Dodge Dakota pickup struck the rear of a 2017 Audi Q7 sport utility vehicle, according to the Washington State Patrol. Sandra L. Gidley, 39, from Spanaway, was injured and taken to Morton General Hospital, according to the state patrol. James M. Bieker, 41, of Eatonville, was injured but not transported, the investigating trooper indicates. Gidley was to be cited for second-degree negligent driving.

• Chehalis police were called about 1:20 p.m. yesterday when a tow truck and passenger car collided at West Main Street and Cascade Avenue.

AND MORE

• And, as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, shoplifting, trespassing, resisting arrest, fourth-degree assault, protection order violation; responses for alarm, dispute, civil issue, harassment, vehicle collision, suspicious circumstances … and more among 149 calls for local law enforcement and / or fire-emergency medical services in the 24-hour period ending about 7 a.m.

Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Thursday, August 17th, 2017
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CRAIGSLIST SCAMMER VICTIMIZES CHEHALIS RESIDENT

• Someone pretending to be the owner of a local house and advertising it for rent on Craigslist has tricked one person into sending them money, according to the Chehalis Police Department. A Chehalis woman contacted police yesterday and said after email exchanges, and paying $700, she was waiting for the keys, when the supposed new landlord asked for even more money for a deposit. It turns out the person who took the woman’s money does not own the residence, according to police. “It’s a shame,” Chehalis Police Department spokesperson Linda Bailey said. “People need to be very, very cautious.”

VEHICLE THEFT

• A gray 2013 Honda Pilot was reported stolen from the 400 block of South Buckner Street in Centralia, according to a report made to police about 1:35 p.m. yesterday. The vehicle has a license plate reading AKE 0476, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• A 33-year-old resident of Idaho Falls was arrested for possession of a stolen vehicle in a case in which a deputy went to the 9000 block of U.S. Highway 12 yesterday afternoon where there was a Honda CRX420 ATV stolen from a Castle Rock woman and subsequently found Spencer C. Kraft walking near Young Road and determined Kraft had been previously operating the ATV, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Kraft was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the sheriff’s office.

OTHER THEFT

• A hydraulic log splitter was reported stolen from a back yard at the 300 block of L Street in Centralia, according to a report made to police about 8:35 a.m. yesterday

• Two Tacoma residents who allegedly stole clothing from a children’s store at the 1200 block of Lum Road in Centralia and assaulted an employee who tried to stop them from leaving with merchandise were subsequently arrested for second-degree robbery yesterday. Police called just before 5:30 p.m. booked Dasia S. McDaniel, 20, and Ittalyah J. Jackson, 22, into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• Centralia police were called yesterday morning to take reports from two victims that rent money was stolen from the 1000 block of North Scheuber Road.

• A Samsung Galaxy Note 5 cell phone was reported stolen from the 500 block of Harrison Avenue in Centralia about 9:45 a.m. yesterday.

FRAUD

• Centralia police were called just after 4 p.m. yesterday to the 1100 block of Harrison Avenue where a forged check had been deposited into an individual’s bank account via an ATM. The investigation is ongoing, according to the Centralia Police Department.

GREEN HILL SCHOOL

• Chehalis police were called just before 10 a.m. yesterday to Green Hill School on the 300 block of Southwest 11th Street to take a report that a 17-year-old student-inmate spit on a staff member. The case is being referred to prosecutors for custodial assault, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

CAR PROWL

• The window was broken out of a vehicle parked at the 1600 block of South Gold Street in Centralia in an apparent attempted  prowl, according to a report made to police about 4:50 p.m yesterday .

• A vehicle prowl was reported about 1:35 p.m. yesterday at the 400 block of South Buckner Street in Centralia in which multiple personal items were stolen from the interior of the unlocked vehicle.

ON THE ROAD, OFF THE ROAD

• A deputy responded to the 1300 block of Highway 603 about 8:45 p.m. yesterday for a single-vehicle collision in which a 1999 Ford F350 pickup was totaled from striking a utility pole. There was no driver around, but two witnesses saw a male leave the area in a white Honda Civic, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

SPARKS SUSPECTED IN I-5 FIRES

• Firefighters in Centralia were called about 11 a.m. yesterday for a brush fire along the shoulder of southbound Interstate 5 near milepost 83. It burned an area about 600 feet long and 10 feet wide, according to Riverside Fire Authority. The fire was easily extinguished, according to Fire Capt. Scott Weinert. According to the Washington State Patrol, it was one of several fires burning along the freeway from the area of Maytown, believed to  have been ignited by a semi truck that was driving on a tire rim, Weinert stated.

AND MORE

• And, as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, driving with no license, fourth-degree assault; responses for alarm, dispute, civil issue, harassment, vehicle collision, shoplifting, suspicious circumstances, misdemeanor assault, protection order violation … and more among 176 calls for local law enforcement and / or fire-emergency medical services in the 24-hour period ending about 7 a.m.

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Crew extinguishes flames north of Centralia along freeway. / Courtesy photo by Riverside Fire Authority

Police: Impaired motorist drove onto sidewalk, injuring pedestrian near fairgrounds

Thursday, August 17th, 2017

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A 58-year-old Chehalis man is listed in serious condition after getting hit by a car that drove up onto the sidewalk outside the Southwest Washington Fair grounds yesterday; its driver suspected to be under the influence of drugs.

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Wednesday August 16, 2017

Mike Summer was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle following the approximately 12:25 p.m. incident. A hospital spokesperson this morning said Summer’s condition is serious but improving.

Police and firefighters responding to the 1900 block of South Gold Street in Centralia found the pedestrian unconscious but he regained consciousness once medical care began.

The Centralia Police Department says 30-year-old Christian D. Brown was behind the wheel of a 2000 Acura TL and when he was searched, they found heroin.

Brown was arrested for driving under the influence, vehicular assault and possession of heroin, according to police. He was booked into the Lewis County Jail.

•••

CORRECTION: This has been updated to correctly reflect the age of Mike Summer. His is 58 years old, not 48, but Centralia police initially released the incorrect age.

•••

For background, read “News brief: Man hit by vehicle near SWW fairgrounds” from Wednesday August 16, 2017, here