A crowd gathers as law enforcement officer investigate a two-vehicle wreck at Summa Street and South Tower Avenue in Centralia. / Courtesy photo by Kelli Taylor
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
A 16-year-old boy was taken to Providence Centralia Hospital after a two-vehicle collision yesterday evening when an off-duty police officer ran a stop sign in a south Centralia neighborhood.
Police and aid called just before 7 p.m. found Angie Humphrey’s 2004 Acura Sport Utility Vehicle had been westbound on Summa Street and T-boned a southbound Honda-type car with four occupants at South Tower Avenue, according to the Centralia Police Department.
Humphrey, 43, works for the Centralia Police Department, but was with her 13-year-old daughter on their way to the fair.
She said the sun blinded her after she crossed the railroad tracks and she took her foot off the accelerator, but “then all the sudden there was the Honda.”
Riverside Fire Authority said they saw five possible patients, four of whom declined to go to the hospital.
Centralia police Sgt. Stacy Denham called it a fairly minor-injury collision, considering the way it happened, and said one youngster had shoulder pain and was transported. His name was not released.
Denham said two individuals from the car left before police arrived. He described the car as totaled.
Humphrey was ticketed for failing to stop at a stop sign and openly admitted it was her fault, Denham said. There were no indications of high speed or gross negligence, he said.
The car’s driver, an 18-year-old from Chehalis, was ticketed for not having a valid license, he said.
Humphrey said she felt horrid.
“I got a ticket just like anybody else would, it was my fault,” she said. “I’m not perfect. It is what it is.”
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
Everyone wants to jump her case but yet how many of you have been in an accident I mean come on get over your self’s as for the CPD most of them SUCK but not Angie Lowery is corrupt in my opinion I think people are to quick to judge just because of someone’s job tittle!!!!
Wow. Thanks Free air! That’s going above and beyond. So it seems LC’s answer was an unnofficial “sort of” if you read between the lines. I wonder if the officers get grief for too many warnings vs. tickets that bring in $. In my personal experience, the last few times I have been pulled over I’ve gotten a verbal warning.
Curious about the WSP’s answer. Very funny line, Guilty Bystander!
I heard a great line about quotas once. I used to live next door to a King County Sheriff’s deputy who told me he’d pulled a guy over for speeding and as he was handing the ticket to the offending driver, the guy said “I bet you guys have a quota system going.” The deputy replied, “No, we don’t. We can write as many of these as we want.”
LC_stoner says:
Wednesday, August 21, 2013 at 8:51 am
I have a clean record and have nothing to be scared of but CPD is something to be scared of. They’ll arrest you for nothing. I have seen video proof of this. Especially that crooked douche bag M. Lowery. CPD doesn’t care about its citizens. They care about their quota and how’s my people try in rightfully arrest. Fuck Centralia cops. They all need to be replaced.
When your arrested and booked into jail there must be a charge of some kind on the booking paperwork or warrant, or you can’t be arrested. The jail cannot take someone and hold them for “nothing” without them getting some serious charges leveled against them. So, what was the person in the video arrested for?
B.L. Zebub says:
Thursday, August 22, 2013 at 3:15 pm
Just curious here, and its a bit off topic, but does anyone know if LC does operate on a quota system? I’ve been reading about some cops around the country who are refusing to do quota arrests and tickets and getting a lot of flak from their bosses. I kind of thought quotas werent used so much anymore.
I just love the questions that give me an excuse to ask.
No.
Lewis County has no “quota system” but they do keep track of how many calls for service, arrests and tickets are written as a way of making sure all deputies are doing their part.
A deputy with low numbers gets their cases looked at to see if they are slacking or just doing harder cases. The example given to me was a burglary with lots of stolen items is going to chew up a day or two as will any evidence recovered because of fingerprinting and chasing down serial numbers of stuff. That deputy might only have one call in a day.
Another deputy doing a traffic or DUI emphasis patrol is expected to make several stops per hour, but no quota of tickets.
Just depends on what they are working on.
When I asked the WSP, I was put through an official spokesperson who was not at the desk, so it went to the answering machine.
I’ll let someone else ask them.
I would guess there is no four way stop sign there due to the rail road tracks.
Just curious here, and its a bit off topic, but does anyone know if LC does operate on a quota system? I’ve been reading about some cops around the country who are refusing to do quota arrests and tickets and getting a lot of flak from their bosses. I kind of thought quotas werent used so much anymore.
I have a clean record and have nothing to be scared of but CPD is something to be scared of. They’ll arrest you for nothing. I have seen video proof of this. Especially that crooked douche bag M. Lowery. CPD doesn’t care about its citizens. They care about their quota and how’s my people try in rightfully arrest. Fuck Centralia cops. They all need to be replaced.
Oh Tabitha…..
There are less than liked cops everywhere in the world but this rant of yours seems to be motivated by a criminal past of your own or others close to you. I too know Humphrey and she would not have run. Now the passengers of the vehicle she struck ran and that is not caused by shock, but more like a warrant or contraband being carried.
Humphries a good cop?? What a joke. This person in authority along with a few other of centralias “finest” jokers are nothing but a bunch of law breaking jerks who get away with any and everything they can. Talk about a corrupt law enforcement, this town is one of the top 10. She would have left if she could have fast enough,(then we would have been reading about how an unknown driver of an unknown vehicle left the scene) but there were witnesses.
Again a joke.
Ok first and formost……. the kids left because they w were scared and in shock….. the police have not contacted us…. idk about the others… i will be going there tomorrow i Am a single mom and have to work. I have not bad mouthed anyone i understand it was an accident…. taking my son back in to Dr. Because his urine still has blood. Also at 6 this morning he had a nightmare about the whole thing.
Ya it is what it is. She was another driver on the road just like anyone else. Maybe the “caring” and “so concerned” mother should be more worried about with who her son is riding with in a vehicle since the driver didn’t have a driver’s license. And big deal you had to sit in the ER for several hours. A minor shoulder injury doesn’t constitute an ER trip. That’s why it’s called an Emergency Room. It’s for emergencies. But I’m sure you’ll use this as a way to soak up some money from the “at fault” driver. I’m sure the kid probably wouldn’t have even been transported to the ER had mom not known it was an off duty officer. Then all she sees is $$$. What a joke. Thanks to the “at fault” driver for being honest and staying at the scene. Unlike the hoodlums that ran from the scene. I can only imagine why.
I actually think this intersection should be a four-way stop. I encounter it quite often when leaving a local business that is nearby and it always feels to me like the traffic I am stopping for should be the traffic that has to stop. Especially, if they are only going to stop traffic in one direction. Plus, it’s only a block or two from a school zone. Yet another reason to make it a four-way stop.
The officer owned up to her part in it and made no excuses. The only people who would make negative comments about her part in this situation are likely just criminals who have an overall dislike of the police.
THE ONLY PEOPLE THAT WOULD HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THIS WHOLE THING ARE THE CRIMINALS IN CENTRALIA THAT HAVE BROKE THE LAW AND HAVE PROBLEM WITH THE POLICE DEPARTMENT I think they are doing a extent job somebody breaks the law they take care of it.
The CPD is a joke, enough said!
How does it feel to be on the otherside of the law??
Officer Humphrey is one of the great Centralia Police Officers that we have. Sgt. Stacy Denham is another one. This here shows that there is no favoritism just because you are a officer of the law. Officer Humphrey in my eyes has made herself better as a person and a officer by admitting that it was her fault and not trying to get out of it like some officer would. Sgt. Denham handle the accident the right way by righting a ticket to both the drivers. Just glad that this was not in a police car when it happened cause it would have went on for week in the paper and then all the investigation would have went on and on with the cop car and what not. Good luck Humphrey, Denham and all other involved in the accident…see you on the road.
Angie Humphrey is a wonderful woman and police officer. I do not say that about just anybody. I have come across some rotten cons in centralia pd but not her! She handled this situation very well. I don’t even know why this is news. There’s minor accidents in this town multiple times a day. Just because she was a cop does not make this news unless it was a DUI or something serious.
A polic eofficer off duty is like any other citizen. Angie took responsibility and was given a ticket. She was not impaired and did not take off. Centralia PD did not cover it up. Luckily everyone is okay with minor injuries.
“Humphrey said she felt horrid.” I’m sure that she felt more “horrid” about having had an accident AND hurting a teen then she felt “horrid” that she’s “not perfect”.
Angie is an great lady..Accidents happen, just because she is an officer does not mean anything, “She is human”.. I am sure she is feeling awful.. There is nothing her or anyone can do about the fact that the kid was at the hospital until 3:30 a.m. that part is not her fault…
Reina M.
IT WAS A MINOR COLLISION! Too bad the accident happened, but lets now chat about the boy driving without a proper license. If everyone is going to be up in arms about a licensed driver making a mistake and running a stop sign, lets also discuss the teenager who was braking the law by even being behind the wheel. If he had caused an accident the insurance would not have paid.
Also the kids that left the scene of the accident. Why did they leave before the police got there? Why would they not wait? Did they have something to hide? Did the police contact them after they left?
Something about this accident is just odd. It’s not the way the officer conducted herself, but the passengers and families.
Officer Humphrey took responsibility and kept her integrity. She was off duty with her daughter so I am confused why her job title was brought into this article.
It is what it is??? She wasn’t at.the hospital till 330 in morning…