STRANGER BARGES INTO APARTMENTS
• Centralia police were called to an apartment building about 10 p.m. yesterday after a stranger walked uninvited into two different units and said he was looking for someone. One of those inside thought they saw the outline of a gun in his waistband, according to police. The individual, described as a tall, skinny male, said if he didn’t find who was looking for, he would be back, according to the Centralia Police Department. It happened on the 300 block of Centralia College Boulevard. Those inside said they did not know him, Sgt. Brian Warren said.
VACUUM CLEANERS, BIG BUSINESS
• Chehalis police yesterday arrested a 45-year-old woman for organized retail theft in connection with a vacuum cleaner she allegedly shoplifted from Wal-Mart on Saturday. Brigette Romero reportedly admitted she and others have been targeting various Wal-Mart stores over the previous three or so weeks and then returning the goods or selling them, according to Sgt. Gwen Carrell. Vacuum cleaners are becoming an especially hot item to shoplift from retail stores, Carrell said.
BURGLARY
• Centralia police are investigating a burglary at an apartment on the 1000 block of Scammon Creek Road. It was reported about 4:40 p.m. yesterday.
• The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office says they are looking for information about a male and two females seen the past two weeks walking up and down Berry Road west of Napavine as they investigate a burglary in which a house was ransacked. A resident on the 400 block of Berry Road returned home on Monday evening after being gone less than two hours and found the back door wide open, according to the sheriff’s office. Missing was a shotgun, a jewelry box and prescription medications including Oxycontin, hydrocodone and blood pressure pills, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said. One of the suspect women came to a neighbor’s door during the past two weeks and asked to use the bathroom, and then ran away, Brown said.
MORE THEFT
• A motor was stolen from a boat parked at West Reynolds Avenue near Interstate 5, according to a report made to Centralia police on Tuesday morning.
• A 10 horsepower outboard motor was removed from a boat parked inside a fenced area at a storage facility on the 300 block of West Reynolds Avenue in Centralia, according to a report made on Sunday to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.
• Sometime between 9 p.m. Sunday and 7:30 a.m. on Monday, a red generator was stolen from behind a motor home on Riffe Road in Packwood and a blue generator was stolen from where it had been chained to a tree on U.S. Highway 12 at Huntington Road, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s office.
VEHICLE PROWL
• Chehalis police were called about 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday to the parking lot at Valley View Medical Center on Northeast Kresky Avenue to a vehicle prowl in which patient information and other items were reported stolen. Among the missing items were a stethoscope, medical ID, a metal case and paperwork, according to the Chehalis Police Department. There was no forced entry into the vehicle, according to police.
• Chehalis police were called to Southwest Fourth Street where someone had taken a bicycle and broken into a motor home, according to a report made on Saturday evening.
DRUGS
• A 28-year-old Centralia woman was arrested for illegal possession of prescription medications and rendering criminal assistance yesterday afternoon following contact with an officer at the 300 block of North Tower Avenue in Centralia, according to police. April L. Jones was booked into the Lewis County Jail.
• Centralia police on Tuesday afternoon arrested a woman at the 1300 block of Lum Road for possession of methamphetamine and a warrant. Jessica E. Ackley, 30, was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department.
• Mitchell Galster, 36, of Centralia, was arrested following a traffic stop early Tuesday morning when he was stopped for driving with a suspended license. He acknowledged there was marijuana in his vehicle when a drug sniffing dog alerted to the presence of drugs and allowed police inside the vehicle, according to Chehalis police. Suspected residue was found in a pipe and on a knife, Sgt. Gwen Carrell said. Galster was subsequently booked into the Lewis County jail for possession of methamphetamine and heroin, Carrell said.
TEENS IN TROUBLE FOR DRINKING PARTY
• A Chehalis mother called police when she arrived home to find at least a half dozen youngsters and a party going on. The 16-year-old who lives there is being referred to prosecutors for a possible charge of furnishing liquor, according to the Chehalis Police Department. Officers subsequently contacted three underage individuals who were cited for being a minor in possession of or under the influence of liquor, Sgt. Gwen Carrell said. It happened just before 11 p.m. at a home on the 100 block of Southwest William Avenue.
BOYS WITH PANTS DOWN
• Chehalis police were called just before 5 p.m. on Sunday when six teenage boys were seen walking on Southeast Adams Avenue with their pants around their ankles. It wasn’t clear if an officer was able to locate them, according to police.
VANDALISM
• Police were called to the 600 block of Field Avenue in Centralia about graffiti sprayed onto a building, according to a report made Tuesday afternoon.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter