BLEAK BLACK FRIDAY FOR SERIAL SHOPLIFTERS CAPTURED IN CENTRALIA
• Centralia police say they broke up a shoplifting ring on Friday afternoon after employees at a Centralia Outlet store called 911 and chased suspects about 4 p.m. near West High Street and Harrison Avenue. Officers were told a woman walked out of the Nike store wearing a pair of their shoes, and one male ran off while another drove away, according to police. Arriving officers found one suspect when he popped out of some bushes and another behind the wheel of his car on Harrison Avenue, Officer Angie Humphrey said. The female was tracked down in Casa Ramos restaurant where she had hid her purse containing the stolen shoes, Humphrey said. Merchandise stolen from as many as a half dozen stores, totaling about $1,200, was recovered from the vehicle, according to police. Booked into the Lewis County Jail for organized retail theft and second-degree theft were Whitley Y. Schiele, 20 and Cedric A. Dorsey, 19, both of Federal Way; as well as a 16-year-old boy from Des Moines, according to the Centralia Police Department.
POLICE: INTOXICATED INDIVIDUAL PUNCHES PATROL CAR WINDOW
• A 21-year-old man was arrested just before 4 a.m. today after he allegedly punched the windshield of a patrol car in Chehalis. A Centralia police officer on his way to work stopped at Maurin and Bishop roads to assist a disabled motorist, according to the Centralia Police Department. It was a father trying to catch up to his intoxicated son, Officer Angie Humphrey said. The son became irate and broke the windshield with his fist, according to Humphrey. Joseph M. Pierce, of Tumwater, was booked into the Lewis County Jail for second-degree malicious mischief, according to police.
THEFT
• Centralia police responded to a burglary at a home on the 2000 block of Ahlers Avenue about 4:45 a.m. yesterday. Missing were rings and $2,000 cash, according to police. Someone apparently got in through a window, according to the Centralia Police Department.
• An officer was called to a business yesterday on the 1200 block of South Gold Street in Centralia to take a report about the theft of several security cameras.
CAR PROWL
• Cash, jewelry and a GPS device were stolen from two vehicles parked on the 1100 block of West Plum Street in Centralia, according to a report made to police yesterday morning.
• A Kenwood stereo was reported missing from a vehicle parked on the 1000 block of South Pearl Street in Centralia on Friday morning.
• An iPod and an XPlode stereo were missing from a car parked on the 600 block of Scott Drive in Centralia, according to a report made to police on Thursday morning.
• Centralia police took a report about 3 a.m. on Friday from an individual at the 200 block of Johnson Road in Centralia who said someone broke out the windows of his vehicles sometime during the previous two days.
DRUGS
• A 46-year-old Centralia man was arrested for possession of methamphetamine after contact with an officer about 9:30 p.m. yesterday in an alley near the 200 block of South Tower Avenue. James A. Nix was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department.
• A 60-year-old Centralia woman was arrested for a warrant and possession of methadone about 4:45 a.m. yesterday after contact with an officer on the 900 block of Harrison Avenue in Centralia. Kathie I. Martin was booked in to the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department.
• A 36-year-old Seattle-area man was arrested about 7 a.m. on Friday for possession of methamphetamine, according to the Centralia Police Department. Enrique Orozco-Caberra was booked into the Lewis County Jail after contact with an officer on Woodland Avenue, according to police.
RV CATCHES FIRE
• Firefighters were called yesterday evening to a fully-involved in flames motor home parked in a driveway on the 2000 block of Cooks Hill Road in Centralia. It was an older motor home, nobody was injured and the cause of the blaze is under investigation, according to Riverside Fire Authority Capt. Erik Olson.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter