‘I SEE YOU’
• A sheriff’s detective driving by the Handi Mart on Kerron Avenue in Winlock yesterday morning stopped when he spotted an individual on a mountain bike making repeated brief contacts with people in cars in the parking lot. The detective observed for awhile because numerous complaints have been received over the past few months about suspected drug dealing there, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. When the man motioned for one motorist to follow him up the street and the detective saw some kind of exchange, he contacted the bicyclist, Christopher W. Shope, 47, Winlock, and arrested him for possession of methamphetamine, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said. Shope denied selling drugs but admitted he had about $20 worth of meth with him, Brown said. Shope was booked into the Lewis County Jail.
ASSAULT WITH WOODEN ROD
• A 49-year-old Centralia man was arrested for second degree assault yesterday morning after he allegedly threatened to strike family members with a wooden closet rod. Keith A. Smith was booked into the Lewis County Jail after contact with an officer about 8:20 p.m. at the 1400 block of Johnson Road in Centralia, according to the Centralia Police Department.
ONE DOWN, ONE TO GO
• A woman wanted for hit and run for allegedly colliding with some mailboxes on the 1400 block of Centralia-Alpha Road as her boyfriend fled an alleged assault on Tuesday was arrested when she was spotted at Dennys in Chehalis last night. Raelynn D. Gonzales said she didn’t know where Mitchell W. Sinclair was, Lewis County Sheriff’s Office Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said. She was booked into the Lewis County Jail. He is wanted for allegedly striking a woman in the head and face with a steel bar.
THE GOOD STUFF IS GONE
• An empty purse found on a piece of equipment at a business on the 600 block of Northwest State Street in Chehalis was turned into the police department yesterday. The brown handbag discovered with an empty blue cloth lunch bag had no name or anything inside of it, according to police.
DEER WRECK
• A 37-year-old Castle Rock woman escaped serious injury when she swerved to miss a deer, crossed over the center lane and hit a guard rail before heading down an embankment. It happened about 8 p.m. yesterday on the 1000 block of Jackson Highway South near Toledo, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Her vehicle sustained major damage and she was cited for wheels off the roadway because her attempt to avoid the deer was unsafe, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said.
CHIMNEY FIRE
• Firefighters were called just before 7 p.m. yesterday to a fire on Vine Street in Napavine found five-foot high flames coming from a chimney. It was extinguished before it spread to the structure, according to Lewis County Fire District 5. Firefighter Brad Bozarth said its a good time for folks to get their chimneys cleaned if they haven’t already done so. This one was cleaned last year, but not very well, he said.
NEIGHBORS HELPING NEIGHBORS
• Four firefighters from West Thurston Regional Fire Authority traveled to Mason County last night to assist with a wild fire that has burned about 150 acres. Fire Chief Robert Scott reminds folks there is a red flag alert in place in parts of Western Washington because weather conditions are ripe for fires. The (Tacoma) News Tribune reports the blaze near Shelton threatened about 100 structures when it began yesterday but 100 firefighters who worked through the night have it 30 percent contained.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter