MAN COULD GET FIVE YEARS FOR DUI
• A 38-year-old Toledo man was convicted today for felony driving under the influence, under the state law that makes the fifth DUI within a 10-year period a felony. Richard Leland Harrington Jr. faces a sentence of somewhere between four plus years to a little more than five and half years when he is sentenced, according to the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office. He was charged July 13 and a jury today in Lewis County Superior Court found him guilty, according to the office. Elected Prosecutor Michael Golden said his office has only had a few of these kinds of cases since the law went into effect in 2006.
THIRD-DEGREE THEFT TURNS TO ROBBERY ARREST
• A juvenile male who reportedly shoved a clerk when he was confronted about shoplifting in Centralia yesterday was arrested for second-degree robbery and booked into the Lewis County Juvenile Detention Center, according to the Centralia Police Department. The clerk at the store on the 500 block of South Tower Avenue was not injured, according to police.
HIT AND RUN
• Centralia police were called to Alder and Mellen streets after a car crossed the center line and avoided a head-on collision by swerving, but still struck another vehicle in the side and then fled. It happened about 6 p.m. yesterday. Police describe the offending vehicle as a blue or green Nissan Maxima which would have front end damage. The victim was not injured, according to the Centralia Police Department.
STEALING FROM VEHICLES
• Somebody stole a 20 HP Mercury outboard motor valued at $1,000 from Taidnapam Park at the east end of Riffe Lake, the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reported yesterday. It happened sometime between 2 p.m. on Monday and 8 a.m. on Tuesday, according to sheriff’s Cmdr. Steve Aust.
• Centralia Police took a report of the theft of a pistol from a vehicle on the 1100 block of West Plum Street on Tuesday.
• Chehalis police were called to Wal-Mart on Northwest Louisiana Avenue yesterday about a vehicle prowl in which several items including a cell phone, camera, cash and a $400 check were taken from a diaper bag in a car.
• The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reported today a vehicle prowl occurred sometime between 1 p.m. on Sunday and 2:15 p.m. on Tuesday in Silver Creek. Somebody stole a $300 stereo from a vehicle on the 100 block of Chief Kiona Road, according to the sheriff’s office.
• Centralia Police took a report of a burglary to a recreational vehicle on Tuesday from the 200 block of East Main Street.
TIRES SLASHED
• Centralia police took a report yesterday evening from Railroad Avenue and East Maple Street where somebody’s tires had been slashed over the weekend.
LITTLE CAR FIRE AT DRIVE-THROUGH RESTAURANT
• A small fire started under the hood of Honda Accord as it went through the drive-through at Jack-in-the-Box in Centralia on the 1100 block of Harrison Avenue on Tuesday night but the driver pulled into the parking lot and put water on it, according to Riverside Fire Authority.
MAILBOX BLOWN UP
• Chehalis police were called Tuesday to the 100 block of Southeast Monroe Avenue where somebody had blown up a mailbox. It happened the night before and police don’t have any suspects, according to the Chehalis Police Department.
WRECKS
• The state patrol blames inattention on a minor wreck on Interstate 5 in Chehalis Tuesday night that sent a Portland woman to the hospital. Donna C. Cameron, 59, was traveling northbound near the 13th Street exit when her car began to slow from mechanical problems, according to the Washington State Patrol. A 2002 Hyundai driven by a 25-year-old Centralia woman ran onto the back of Cameron’s 1985 Nissan, according to the investigating trooper. Both cars were drivable after the approximately 11:20 p.m. collision but Cameron was taken to Providence Centralia Hospital with neck pain, the state patrol reported. Heather D. McKibben, 25, was expected to be cited for following too closely, having no insurance and driving with a suspended license, according to the trooper.
• An 18-year-old Chehalis resident who was flown by helicopter to Southwest Washington Medical Center in Vancouver early yesterday morning after a single-vehicle collision at the 100 block of Hawkins Road in Winlock has been released from the hospital. Andrew J. Jacaway was driving a 2004 Chevrolet pickup and failed to negotiate a turn and ran into a guard rail and railroad crossing arms, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. It happened about 2:20 a.m. Responders from Lewis County Fire District 15 found him a short distance away, walking down Highway 603. He was airlifted to the Vancouver hospital because of possible head or internal injuries, according to the sheriff’s office and District 15.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter