Archive for August, 2017

Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Monday, August 7th, 2017
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Updated at 5:29 p.m.

ON THE ROAD, OFF THE ROAD

• Firefighters called about 4:40 a.m. today to U.S. Highway 12 near South Prairie Road arrived to find a vehicle fully involved flames. The female was able to get herself out okay and nobody was injured, according to Lewis County Fire District 5.

• A 50-year-old Centralia man was arrested for driving under the influence after a single-vehicle wreck in the area of Taylor Street and Yahtahay Lane in Centralia about 6 p.m. yesterday, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The 1994 Honda Accord struck a ditch and a stump and sustained minor damage, according to the sheriff’s office. Jeffrey W. Harris was booked into the Lewis County Jail.

• A 67-year-old Chehalis woman was arrested for driving under the influence after she allegedly ran into a ditch and totaled a 2013 Kia utility vehicle about 10:35 p.m. on Saturday at the 500 block of Lucas Creek Road east of Chehalis. Norma Rogers was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office

• A Longview man was arrested after a deputy was advised of a vehicle parked along Highway 603 west of Chehalis, running with a person slumped over at the driver seat at about 2:40 a.m. on Saturday. Chey E.C. Moore appeared to be under the influence of intoxicants and was booked into the Lewis County Jail for being in physical control of a vehicle while intoxicated, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

• A driver who reportedly fled from an attempted traffic stop in Toledo allegedly drove recklessly including through yards and eventually slid to a stop in a backyard at the 100 block of Penny Lane on Friday afternoon. The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office said Timothy A. Perkins, 44, ran into a garage but was subsequently arrested for attempt to elude. The Toledo resident was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the sheriff’s office.

ASSAULT

• Police were called to Providence Centralia Hospital about 3:15 a.m. today where a patient allegedly assaulted two nurses. No arrest was made, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• Morton police arresting a homeless person about 10:50 p.m. on Saturday for an outstanding warrant further arrested him for third-degree assault. Steven W. Tower was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Morton Police Department.

• An officer called over to Green Hill School on Friday to investigate an earlier incident found an 18-year-old student-inmate who was being restrained because he was being aggressive allegedly spit on a driver and made threats, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

BURGLARY

• A deputy was called to the 200 block of Cispus Road on Saturday night where a Randle man reported his home and a pump house had been broken into sometime since July 23. Among the missing items were an $800 bike, tools and various household items, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

• The Morton Police Department reports today it is investigating a possible burglary near the 200 block of state Route 7 that came to their attention last week. On Wednesday, an officer located a female near the river and recovered property that may be related to a burglary, according to police.

AUTO THEFT

• A silver 2000 Toyota Tundra was reported stolen from the 300 block of M Street in Centralia at about 2:35 p.m. yesterday. It has a license plate reading B52208F, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• A 15-year-old Centralia boy was arrested for possession of a stolen vehicle after a red 2004 Dodge Dakota pickup truck missing from Napavine was located at the 2800 block of Mount Vista Drive in Centralia  on Saturday afternoon. The teenager was booked into the Lewis County Juvenile Detention Center, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office

OTHER THEFT

• An individual reported the theft of their wallet and credit cards from the 900 block of Harrison Avenue in Centralia about 6:30 a.m. today. The case is under investigation, according to the Centralia Police Department.

CAR PROWL

• Centralia police were called about 5 o’clock this morning to the 100 block of East Bridge Street where a boat and a vehicle had been prowled during the night.

• A .22 Stevens long rifle with a scope and other items were stolen from the vehicle of a Doty man while he was picking berries near a swimming hole at the 300 block of River Road west of Chehalis yesterday. The victim called 911 about 7:30 a.m. and said he heard a car door slam and then saw his vehicle being prowled and the suspect leave in another vehicle which had a female driver, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The gun has a blue and gray synthetic stock, according to the sheriff’s office.

AND MORE

• And, as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, driving under the influence, driving with no license, misdemeanor domestic assault, protection order violation; responses for alarm, dispute, civil issue, hit and run, harassment, third-degree theft, vehicle collision, suicidal person, suspicious circumstances, dog alone in parked vehicle … 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.

Centralia resident reports motorist tailgated him, then stole his SUV

Monday, August 7th, 2017

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Police are investigating after a 26-year-old man reported he was car-jacked yesterday evening in Centralia.

The black 1999 GMC Yukon was later found burning on state Route 6 about four miles west of Pe Ell.

Police were called about 5:20 p.m. by the victim who said he had been traveling in the borrowed SUV north on North Gold Street and was being tailgated by a silver sedan so he pulled over near Ham Hill Road.

He said a man from the silver car got out, approached him and struck him in the head with a stick, according to the Centralia Police Department.

“He said he ran (away) so hard he lost his shoes in the bushes, he hitched a ride home and called 911,” detective Sgt. Carl Buster said this morning.

The 26-year-old Centralia man described his assailant as about 6-foot 4-inches tall, on the heavier side and bald, maybe with a tattoo under his eyes, Buster said.

Police booked the victim into the Lewis County Jail because he was wanted for a warrant, but got a call from the Pacific County Sheriff’s Office about 11 p.m., according to Buster.

Someone had reported the GMC Yukon was on fire on state Route 6 about milepost 23, he said.

Buster said he expected detectives would be getting the report from Pacific County and attempt to contact the registered owner of the Yukon.

The victim didn’t have a visible injury, according to the incident report Buster referred to for his information this morning.

News brief: Police launch drone to aid Winlock urban rescue

Sunday, August 6th, 2017

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Firefighters and police spent as much as three hours last night retrieving a man who got caught by darkness walking Olequa Creek in Winlock.

Firefighters were called about 11:20 p.m. to assist law enforcement in locating a person who was unable to get out of the woods and had made a small signal fire, according to Lewis County Fire District 15.

He had been on Tennessee Road and was walking the creek and it got dark, Firefighter Patrick Jacobson said. The man, in his 40s, didn’t have a flashlight with him.

The area was northwest of the bridge near the 1400 block of Kerron Street, according to Jacobson.

Four fire department personnel and two police officers took part in the effort.

“We went into the woods just north of the bridge, hiked up and around and came back down to him,” Jacobson said. “We were able to walk him out the way he came in.”

The terrain was such, the rescuers couldn’t always see the small fire the man had lit, so Toledo Police Department Sgt. Sam Patrick launched a drone and hovered it above the man’s location, Jacobson said.

“We were able to see the drone, and use that for a visual reference,” he said.

Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Sunday, August 6th, 2017
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Updated

U.S. 12 CLOSED FOR MOTORCYCLE WRECK

• Two motorcyclists were knocked from their bikes when one rear-ended the other which was slowing to turn off of U.S. Highway 12 about two miles west of Mossyrock earlier today. Troopers were called about 11:20 a.m. and report both were injured. Sheila G. Short, 52, from Ocean Shores, was taken by LifeFlight to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, according to the Washington State Patrol. Bruce E. Bratton, 66, of Quilcene, was not transported, according to the state patrol. They had been traveling westbound when Bratton slowed to turn onto Village Road and he was struck from behind by Short, according to the patrol. The Harley Davidsons were removed by private tow. The scene was not cleared until about 1:40 p.m. The investigating trooper indicates Short was to be cited for following too closely.

ASSAULT

• A male of unspecified age was transported to the hospital with an injury to his face following a dispute just before midnight yesterday at the 100 block of South Tower Avenue in Centralia, according to the Centralia Police Department. As of this morning, a suspect had not been identified, but the incident is being investigated as second-degree assault, according to police.

• A 30-year-old Chehalis woman was arrested for third-degree assault in a case on Friday morning associated with the 1100 block of Harrison Avenue in Centralia. Kendra C. Comfort was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department.

PARCEL PILFERING

• Centralia police were called regarding the theft of a package from a porch on the 1300 block of Logan Street about 1:20 p.m. on Friday.

CAR PROWL

• Police were called just before 9 a.m. yesterday for a vehicle prowl at the 100 block of North Tower Avenue in Centralia. A purse was taken, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• Police were called to the 1500 block of Lewis Street in Centralia for a vehicle prowl about 2:30 p.m. on Friday. Someone forced open a sliding window to gain access and stole power tools, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• Someone forced their way into someone else’s vehicle at the 900 block of Harrison Avenue in Centralia and took a purse, according to a report made to police about 8:20 p.m. on Friday.

LOST AND FOUND, URBAN RESCUE

• Firefighters were called to Stan Hedwall Park in Chehalis about 5 p.m. yesterday to help a man who got stuck in the sticker bushes. He stays at the park in the summertime and decided to take a shortcut back from the river, in his bare feet and got confused, according to the Chehalis Fire Department. He got stuck in a hole and had been there for about a half hour, Fire Capt. Casey Beck said. The crew talked him out of his predicament, gave him Gatorade, granola bars and an extra pair of shoes one of the firefighters happened to have, Beck said.

ON THE ROAD, OFF THE ROAD

• A sedan backing out of a parking spot in downtown Chehalis yesterday evening somehow accelerated enough to collide with at least two vehicles parked on the other side of the street, according to the Chehalis Fire Department. Firefighters called to the 400 block of North Market Boulevard about 6:30 p.m. said the driver was injured and taken to the hospital but his elderly passenger was unhurt.

• A motorist was transported to Providence Centralia Hospital in stable condition after a rollover wreck that involved a utility pole and power lines pulled down on state Route 508 near Hyak Road in Onalaska yesterday afternoon. Lewis County Fire District 1 was called at 3:31 p.m. found the driver had gotten himself out of the Chevrolet S-10 pickup and was being tended to by nearby residents, according to Assistant Fire Chief Rhonda Volk. Light smoke was showing from brush where power lines landed, according to Volk. The highway was restricted to one lane of travel for two and a half hours because of the live lines on the road.

AND MORE

• And, as usual, other incidents such as arrests for drugs, warrants, hit and run, attempt to elude, driving under the influence, driving with suspended license; responses for alarm, dispute, civil issue, suspicious circumstances, vehicle collision … and more among 370 calls for local law enforcement and / or fire-emergency medical services in the 48-hour period ending about 7 a.m. today.

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Chevrolet S-10 pickup after it’s turned upright again. / Courtesy photo by Lewis County Fire District 1

News brief: Window broken, man gravely hurt in downtown Centralia

Saturday, August 5th, 2017

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A Centralia resident in his mid- to late- 20s suffered a life-threatening laceration when he reportedly punched a plate glass window downtown last night.

Centralia police had been breaking up a dispute involving dozens of people behind the two bars on South Tower Avenue when they heard the sound of glass breaking just to the north, according to the Centralia Police Department.

Police Sgt. Kurt Reichert said he understood the man cut an artery, an officer put a tourniquet on his arm and medics came.

It happened on the 100 block of North Tower Avenue at Nyholm’s appliance store, just before 1:30 a.m., Reichert said.

The patient was transported to the hospital by ambulance, according to police. Further details weren’t readily available.

Reichert said nobody was arrested at the bar fight and he didn’t know what it or the laceration victim’s upset was about.

“I would hazard a guess, alcohol was involved,” he said.

News brief: Employee airlifted after tangling with large forklift

Saturday, August 5th, 2017

Updated

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A worker who just got off shift at National Frozen Foods in Chehalis was struck and seriously injured by a forklift overnight.

Both police and firefighters responded to the call about 3:15 a.m. to the plant at Northwest State Avenue and West Street, according to the Chehalis Fire Department.

“Police got there first and applied a tourniquet to his leg,” Fire Capt. Ted McCarty said.

The man was conscious, but suffered a severe injury to his left leg, McCarty. He said it was one of the large forklifts and he believed the worker was hit by a rear wheel.

The 31-year-old Centralia man was transported to the Chehalis Airport and flown to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle for treatment, according to authorities.

National Frozen Foods processes corn, carrots and peas in Chehalis, according to information from the company’s website.

News brief: Train hits man on tracks in Tenino

Saturday, August 5th, 2017
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Law enforcement investigates railroad fatality. / Courtesy photos by Thurston County Sheriff’s Office

Updated at 1:32 p.m.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A pedestrian was struck and killed by a freight train about a half mile south of Tenino late yesterday afternoon.

The Thurston County Sheriff’s Office said it happened approximately 5 p.m. near the 16800 block of Old Highway 99.

The southbound locomotive had been blowing its horn for one-eighth of a mile and went into emergency braking but the man was slow to respond, according to authorities.

He was unable to clear the tracks and was hit by the train, sheriff’s Sgt. Carla Carter stated in a press release.

Carter described him as a 30-year-old white male from Tacoma, but did not release his name.

The death is under investigation. The line was shut down for one and a half hours, delaying six trains, according to BNSF spokesperson Gus Melonas.

Melonas said it was the 13th railroad trespasser fatality in Washington this year.