Lewis County Sirens.com

Tami McGinty appears before a judge in Lewis County Superior Court

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A Chehalis area woman was jailed this week for allegedly demanding property she believed she should have been awarded in divorce proceedings from her ex-husband, a law enforcement officer, and telling him she’d “hate” to turn him in to internal affairs at his workplace.

Tami McGinty, 42, was charged yesterday in Lewis County Superior Court with second-degree extortion as well as a violation of a civil anti-harassment order.

Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer told a judge the order had been served in November out of Lewis County District and McGinty violated it the same day.

“After that, she escalates her conduct,” Meyer said.

Charging papers in the case state the court order allowed contact via text message regarding the children.

Chehalis police were called just after 9 a.m. on Tuesday to the 300 block of West Main Street where the ex-husband reported she had been repeatedly violating the order.

Among the text messages shown to police were ones in which she suggested she wanted a table, her dog and then a riding lawn mower, according to the documents.

“Because I know a LOT. So do the right thing and bring them to us,” McGinty allegedly texted.

When Chehalis officers contacted McGinty on Thursday, she reportedly said their child was mentioned in a text exchange so it wasn’t a violation.

She denied threatening to contact internal affairs, but then indicated she was “giving notice” about being honest on paperwork, Prosecutor Meyer wrote in charging documents. She was booked into the Lewis County Jail.

Lewis County Superior Court Judge Andrew Toynbee yesterday afternoon imposed a no contact order. Defense attorney Kevin Nelson was appointed to represent McGinty.

Her arraignment is scheduled for Jan. 18.

Electrical outlet and the plug in Pest Repeller which burned, along with another Pest Repeller. / Courtesy photo by Duran McDaniel

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – When he and his wife saw smoke coming out from under the kitchen sink, fortunately he knew what to do, but more importantly they had a fire extinguisher handy.

Lewis County Fire District 8 Chief Duran McDaniel said luckily, they happened to be home when it happened, or it may have ended differently.

“I grabbed an extinguisher, got in there, got it out and shut off the power,” McDaniel said.

They called 911 shortly after 11 o’clock yesterday morning and the fire crew arrived to their home on Gore Road north of Salkum.

What happened was about five years ago, the McDaniels got an electronic device called Pest Repeller that emits a tone of some sort to keep mice away, McDaniel said. His wife plugged it into an outlet beneath the sink, he said.

And then they forgot about it, he said.

They disassembled the electrical outlet to examine the area. McDaniel said it didn’t spread beyond the device and outlet and into the wall, only because the two were home to catch onto it immediately.

The chief said it is a good reminder of just how valuable keeping a fire extinguisher in a home can be. He’s definitely not going to plug the rodent repeller back under the sink, where it’s out of sight, he said.

He recalled responding to a wall fire in the recent past that appeared to have been ignited from a cell phone charger plugged into an outlet. He said his neighbor, who works for an insurance company, told him she had been seeing claims for similar problems stemming from plug in air fresheners.

It’s probably a good idea to pay some attention to the various devices we plug in at home, the chief said.

“I guess we ought to check them every once in awhile to see how warm they are,” McDaniel said. “And replace them every once in while.”

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A 25-year-old Mineral resident has been charged with  alleged misuse of a fire department department gas card while he was a volunteer firefighter.

Brady J. Mounce was summonsed into Lewis County Superior Court and appeared before a judge yesterday afternoon.

Temporary defense attorney Rachael Tiller said her client works as a farm hand and his earnings indicated he was eligible for a court appointed lawyer.

Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer requested Mounce’s bail be set with a $10,000 unsecured bond and Judge Joely O’Rourke agreed.

The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office said this summer a detective investigated after a Washington State Auditor’s Office report came back showing misappropriation of fuel from Lewis County Fire District 9 in Mineral. Mounce was a volunteer and his father was fire chief.

In June, Chief Deputy Dusty Breen said the information showed some of the activity occurred in the Morton area and some in Eatonville. Theft charges were filed in Pierce County, Breen said.

Lewis County prosecutors filed a charge of second-degree theft against Mounce on Dec. 5.

The affidavit regarding probable cause states the issue arose at the Jan. 24, 2016 fire commissioner’s meeting after the acting fire chief scrutinized a fuel bill from Stanley’s Oil Company and found Mounce’s use of the card did not match the run sheets. The matter was forwarded to the state auditor.

Sheriff’s detective Gene Seiber spoke with a fire commissioner who said she had recently resigned because of the issue.

Seiber wrote in his police report that the auditor’s findings showed Mounce made 20 purchases of fuel at Stanley’s Petroleum in Morton, totaling $1,503.12.

The time period of the activity is shown as three years during 2013, 2014, 2015 and through Jan. 1, 2016.

Detective Seiber spoke with the acting chief who told him Mounce had admitted to the “whole thing” in both counties, but when Seiber attempted to talk with Mounce, Mounce denied doing anything in Morton, according to charging documents.

After his court hearing yesterday, outside the courtroom, Mounce said he didn’t have any comment about his case. He will be represented by Centralia attorney David Brown.

His arraignment is scheduled for next Thursday.
•••

For background, read “News brief: Mineral Fire Department audit shows fuel misappropriation” from Wednesday June 14, 2017, here

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A Winlock woman who admitted to second-degree theft from the estate of an individual she was a caretaker for was sentenced today to a year and a day in prison.

The attorney for Aurora S. Fulmer, who also uses the last name of Contreras, hoped to persuade a judge to impose a parenting sentencing alternative, but Lewis County Superior Court Judge James Lawler said no.

Aurora S. Fulmer

Fulmer was arrested in June following an investigation by the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office, after the estranged daughter of a Centralia woman who died found Fulmer at her mother’s home and discovered she had taken over bank accounts.

The sheriff’s office initially suggested Fulmer wrongfully withdrew more than $43,000 from two of the woman’s accounts.

But Fulmer, 34, pleaded guilty in November to one count of second-degree theft (more than $750 but less than $5,000) and three counts of second-degree identity theft in a plea deal with prosecutors.

Defense attorney Shane O’Rourke pitched what he called a pretty elaborate program of supervision and said it included being sent to prison if she failed to comply. He called it a complicated case, for the mother of six who had gotten clean and is working full time.

“There was some indication my client made arrangements to have some of the money in exchange for taking care of her,” O’Rourke said. “She did take care of her for a significant time

“But that’s irrelevant, it would still be a crime for her to rifle through the money like this without probate.”

Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Joel DeFazio said the state opposed the sentencing alternative.

The deceased woman’s daughter told the judge the past year has been a nightmare and she didn’t want anyone else to have to deal with what she had to.

Fulmer told the judge she understood better the stress she put the woman’s daughter through, after hearing her speak in court.

Judge Lawler ordered Fulmer directly into custody from the hearing.
•••

For background, read “Caretaker who spent deceased client’s money pleads guilty” from Friday November 10, 2017, here