Updated at 5:45 p.m.
MISSING TRUCK FOUND VIA GPS UNIT
• A 28-year-old Chehalis resident called 911 yesterday morning after he discovered both his Dodge pickup truck and an acquaintance had disappeared from his apartment on the 100 block of North Market Boulevard. The vehicle had a GPS device in it which helped law enforcement locate it and the woman on Anderson Road at the Chehalis Reservation, according to the Chehalis Police Department. Oliva Flores-Purser, 20, of Centralia, was arrested and booked for possession of a stolen vehicle, according to Officer Linda Bailey.
GUNS, PICKUP STOLEN FROM CURTIS
• A second person was arrested yesterday in connection with a burglary reported on June 30 at the 200 block of Hubbard Road in Curtis in which several firearms, power tools, jewelry, financial documents and a Dodge pickup truck were stolen, the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reported this morning. Marcus T. Almanzor, 41, was picked up at his home in Olympia, according to the sheriff’s office. Twenty-nine-year-old Christopher Lopez, a homeless person, was arrested on Friday, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said. Some of the stolen goods have already been recovered from residences in Chehalis and Rochester, including the truck, Brown said. Still missing are an SKS rifle, a Ruger 22 pistol and four hunting rifles, she said. The case remains under investigation and other arrests are expected, according to Brown.
BREAK-IN IN CENTRALIA
• Centralia police were called yesterday to an apartment which was broken into on the 200 block of North Rock Street after its tenant was evicted. Police say they do have a suspect and are investigating. It wasn’t noted if anything was taken.
CAR VERSUS BIKE
• Centralia police responded to a collision in which a passenger vehicle struck a small utility trailer being pulled behind a bicycle on the 1300 block of North Pearl Street just before noon yesterday. Police said the bicyclist suffered a minor injury.
HOUSE FIRE IN SALKUM
• A Salkum woman and her pets escaped without injury when a kitchen fire broke out at her home on Raydell Drive last night. Firefighters called about 7:15 p.m. contained the blaze to the kitchen, but they had to tear out part of the ceiling, according to Lewis County Fire District 8. She was in the living room reading when her refrigerator caught on fire, according to Chief Duran McDaniel. “I don’t know how many cats she had, 11 or so, but they all seemed to make it out okay,” McDaniel said. The home had smoke damage throughout but is fixable, he said.
FROM THE COURTHOUSE
• The now former treasurer for the Morton Athletic Association appeared before a judge today in Lewis County Superior Court who set her bail with a $5,000 unsecured bond. Sarah J. Erskine, 34, of Morton, was responding to a summons for her charge of first-degree theft. Prosecutors allege in court documents Erskine misappropriated M.A.A. funds that were kept in the Morton bank where she worked. She no longer works there. Defense attorney Bob Schroeter told the judge Erskine plans to hire Centralia attorney Don Blair and requested her arraignment be scheduled for Aug. 1. Judge Nelson Hunt agreed and ordered her to visit the jail for a so-called administrative booking – get fingerprinted and get her photograph taken – before the hearing.
WRECKS
• A 34-year-old woman and a 7-year-old boy from Beaverton, Ore. were evaluated by medics after a rollover wreck on state Route 7 just north of Morton yesterday. Troopers called about 12:30 p.m. report Cory A. Maronay was traveling northbound when she lost control of her 2004 Kia Optima, according to the Washington State Patrol. She was taken to Morton General Hospital where she was treated and released, according to authorities. Both had been wearing seatbelt restraints, the vehicle was described as totaled, according to the patrol.
• A couple in their 70s traveling from Massachusetts on a tour of the country were struck by a pickup truck as they headed to see Mount St. Helens yesterday. Both vehicles were totaled and blocked the 50 mph undivided highway for a period of time, according to responders. It happened about 11:40 a.m. just east of Toledo on state Route 505, according to the Washington State Patrol. Injuries were all minor, according to a spokesperson for the state patrol. Troopers reported Daniel W. Fultz, 49, of Chehalis, was pulling a flatbed trailer loaded with a car behind his pickup truck when the trailer began to fishtail and he crossed the centerline. All the occupants declined treatment, but as the couple was at the fire station making arrangements for a rental car, firefighters talked him into going to the hospital to be checked out, according to Lewis County Fire District 2. David Firmin, 76, Worster, Mass., was transported to St. John Medical Center in Longview, Chief Grant Wiltbank said. A firefighter took his traveling companion, Ruth A. Roginsky, 73, from Port Charlotte, Fla., to meet him there, according to Wiltbank.
AND MORE
• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, driving with suspended license; responses for misdemeanor theft, suspected fraud, suspicious circumstances, parking lot fender bender … and more.
Responders assist at a two-vehicle collision near Toledo. / Courtesy photo by Washington State Patrol
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter