MAN SURVIVES ATV ACCIDENT AT GRAVEL PIT
• An ATV rider was rescued this afternoon after he somehow drove off a 70-plus-foot embankment west of Centralia. Firefighters called just before 12:30 p.m. to an area off Lincoln Creek Road were told the man initially was knocked unconscious but when they found him he was claiming he was okay, according to Riverside Fire Authority. “He landed on a shelf or embankment so he didn’t go the whole distance,” Capt. Greg Schwartz said. The ATV however went all the way to the bottom of the gravel pit, Schwartz said. Responders found a roadway leading to the patient, so they didn’t need to hoist anyone up or down with ropes, he said. The man was transported to Providence Centralia Hospital where, according to Schwartz, they would have checked him from head to toe for possible internal injuries.
BICYCLIST HIT BY DUI DRIVER IN CENTRALIA
• An STP bike rider was hospitalized after he was struck by a vehicle in Centralia yesterday evening. It happened about 5 p.m. at East Summa and South Gold streets, according to police. Centralia Police Department Sgt. Carl Buster said the man behind the wheel, 69-year-old Dale G. Schmidt, of Centralia, was arrested and booked into the Lewis County Jail for driving under the influence of drugs. Buster said he didn’t know what kind of drugs, nor did he have details about the bicyclist, other than he was transported to Providence Centralia Hospital.
FIGHT BREAKS OUT OVER CELL PHONE
• Centralia police were called to an assault over a cell phone outside a tavern on the 300 block of North Tower Avenue about 11:30 p.m. yesterday. The male who took it gave it back, but had removed its “sim” card, the electronics inside that store its memory, according to police. The 22-year-old victim chased the guy down to get it back and was beat up, Sgt. Carl Buster said. The suspect has not yet been identified, but is now wanted for second-degree robbery, Buster said. “Instead of just thieving, once you use force, it becomes robbery,” he said.
BURGLARY
• Police were called about 2:45 p.m. yesterday about a break-in to a shed on the 1100 block of Marion Street in Centralia. It wasn’t immediately clear if anything was missing, according to the Centralia Police Department.
VANDALISM
• Someone spray painted gang related graffiti on a sidewalk at West Summa and South Pearl Street in Centralia, according to a police report yesterday afternoon.
AND MORE
• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, driving with suspended license; police responses for collisions, cell phone stolen while at a tavern … and more.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter