SUSPECTED STOLEN VEHICLE DRIVER FOUND HIDING NEAR ROCHESTER HIGH SCHOOL
• The subject of police pursuit yesterday that prompted the lockdown of Rochester High School and the grade schools south of there was a Chehalis man wanted on a Chehalis DUI warrant who was apprehended about 1:15 p.m., according to the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office. Richard N. Mayer, 44, was booked into the Thurston County Jail after he was found hiding near a home on the 20,000 block of Carper Road Southwest, adjacent to the high school, sheriff’s Lt. Chris Mealy said this morning. The situation began around 6 a.m. when law enforcement officers from Grays Harbor County and then Thurston County pursued a stolen vehicle along U.S. Highway 12 and into Rochester, Mealy said. The driver ditched the Chevrolet Silverado near the 7400 block of James Road and a police dog tried to track him but he apparently went into the Chehalis River, Mealy said. At about noon, 911 began getting calls, including one of a man seen walking into a wooded area near the primary school’s soccer field. Deputies advised the Rochester Primary School, Grand Mound Elementary School and the high school to lock their doors as a precaution, Mealy said. Mayer was arrested for possession of a stolen vehicle.
MAN ARRESTED AFTER “PEEPING TOM” REPORTS IN CHEHALIS
• Chehalis police arrested a 42-year-old man after getting two different reports of a man peering into windows on South Market Boulevard. It happened around 9 p.m. on the 1600 block and the 1800 block, according to detective Sgt. Rick McNamara. Jose N. Gonzalez-Lemus, whose home is listed in Anaheim, Calif, was arrested for criminal trespass, a misdemeanor, McNamara said.
THEFT FROM PATIENT REPORTED AT CHEHALIS RETIREMENT HOME
• Chehalis police were called yesterday home to a retirement center on Northwest Quincy Place to investigate the theft of $40 from a patients room.
PURSE STOLEN FROM PARKED CAR
• The Thurston County Sheriff’s Office reported today they took a report of a vehicle prowl on the 20,100 block of Dakota Court Southwest in Centralia. Somebody took a $220 navigation system from a Honda and also stole a purse containing a checkbook and $132 dollars of tip money, according to sheriff’s Lt. Chris Mealy. It happened late on Sept. 19 or early the following morning. The victim said her car may have been left unlocked, he said.
SCAM REPORTED IN CENTRALIA
• Centralia police are warning the public about a scam they say has reached the local area. Basically, according to police, if a person ever receives a check in the mail they are asked to deposit and then return some amount of money back to the sender: it is a scam. The recent case involves a letter congratulating the potential fraud victim for being chosen to pose as a customer service evaluator at selected stores, according to a news release. The target is asked to deposit the enclosed check, conduct certain purchases and then return the leftover money via Western Union, according to police. Anyone who receives such a letter is asked to call their police department and advised not to cash the check.
TARGET OF CHILD SEX STING GETS MORE THAN SEVEN YEARS IN PRISON
• A 24-year-old Tumwater man caught in a sting operation in which he thought he was meeting a mother and her 13-year-old daughter for a sexual encounter but was instead met by waiting Lewis County Sheriff’s Office detectives, was sentenced this morning to a minimum of seven and a half years in prison. Michael J. Eplett will be subject to supervision by the state Department of Corrections for the rest of his life following his sentencing in Lewis County Superior Court for second-degree attempted rape of a child, according to the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office. Eplett was charged in May and in August, a jury returned a guilty verdict in just nine minutes. As part of his sentence, Eplett must get a sexual deviancy evaluation, submit to the recommended treatment and may not access the Internet, according to a news release.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter