Updated at 5:45 p.m.
CONFUSION OVER BABY LEADS TO COMMOTION OUTSIDE WAL-MART
• A security person pursuing a suspected shoplifter in the Wal-Mart parking lot shouting “they stole, they stole” about a woman carrying an infant led other customers to jump into action believing they were witnessing a child abduction. Police were told they saw a woman throw a baby in the backseat and try to drive away, according to the Chehalis Police Department. “One witness attempted to block her car in to prevent her from leaving and she ended up hitting their car,” Deputy Chief Randy Kaut said this morning. It happened about 1 p.m. on Wednesday outside the retail business on Louisiana Avenue in Chehalis. Security personnel told police the woman shoplifted a pair of boots which subsequently were thrown out the car window in Chehalis, Kaut said. Through a license plate number, the 22-year-old mother was tracked down at her home in Centralia, and she told the officer she panicked and left the scene, according to Kaut. She was not taken into custody, he said. Police will be consulting with prosecutors evaluating the case for possible charges of theft and vehicular assault, Kaut said. The person who used their vehicle to prevent the woman from leaving isn’t expected to be in any trouble, he said.
RESIDENTIAL BURGLARY
• Someone broke into a home in the Adna area yesterday morning between 9:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m., stealing well over $1,800 worth of jewelry, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. A deputy called about 7:30 p.m. to the 100 block of Clinton Road learned a jewelry box containing bracelets, rings and necklaces were missing, along with some change, according to the sheriff’s office.
CAR PROWL
• Police were called about 9:20 a.m. yesterday to the 800 block of South Silver Street in Centralia regarding a bank card getting stolen from an unlocked vehicle overnight.
• Someone took a wallet from an unlocked vehicle at the 100 block of South Silver Street in Centralia, according to a report made to police at 10 a.m. yesterday.
• Chehalis police were called to the parking lot at Wal-Mart around 11:15 a.m. yesterday when an individual discovered someone had broken into their unlocked vehicle. Among the items missing were jacket, tobacco, DVDs, CDs and prescription medication, according to the Chehalis Police Department.
DRUGS
• A 30-year-old Chehalis man was arrested for possession of methamphetamine after he was caught allegedly shoplifting at K-Mart in Chehalis on Wednesday afternoon. An officer responding to the Northwest Louisiana Avenue retailer found he had taken three boxes of candy and a “stylus”: and a search following his arrest turned up a glass pipe with suspected drug residue, according to the Chehalis Police Department. Jason R. Dunham was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to police.
RESIDENT FINDS TWO BURGLARS IN HOME
• Thurston County deputies are still looking for two males after an interrupted burglary on Wednesday in which the 60-year-old resident was assaulted. Deputies called about 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday to the home on the 10000 block of Old Highway 99 north of Tenino near Rich Road learned the homeowner arrived to find his front door kicked in and saw two males coming out a back bedroom. One of them used a sheathed hunting knife he’d picked up to hit the 60-year-old before they ran out, according to Sgt. Ray Brady. A vehicle pulled into the driveway apparently to pick them up, but then drove away because they were taking too long to get in, Brady said. A deputy caught up to the suspected getaway driver, in his gold 2006 Mercedes and arrested a 25-year-old man from Mount Vernon who said they had been in the area because they were going to the mall, Brady said. Brady said it’s the second time this week in Thurston County where a resident has come home to find a burglar in their home.
COLLISION
• A 54-year-old Rochester man was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle after his truck rolled over a guardrail along a creek on Maytown Road just east of Interstate 5 yesterday. Firefighters called about 11:20 a.m. extricated the man after stabilizing the vehicle, according to West Thurston Regional Fire Authority. The 2003 Chevrolet pickup was heavily damaged, according to the Washington State Patrol. Troopers suspect driving under the influence, but the man was transported to the hospital because of a possible head injury, according to the state patrol.
AND MORE
• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, misdemeanor assault; responses for alarms, misdemeanor theft, suspicious circumstances, collision on city street, window broken out of a business; complaint someone dumped trash in someone else’s dumpster … and more.
A Chevrolet pickup is heavily damaged after striking and then rolling over a guard rail on Maytown Road. / Courtesy photo by Washington State Patrol
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
WAIT…..”they saw a woman THROW a baby in the backseat”?????
Was the baby seen by a doctor? Is it okay? Was there really even a baby with her? The baby should take precedence over any of the boots/theft issues.
Got cut off. And finally, based on her character thus far of course she had to have driven like an angel and followed all speed and traffic laws in her haste to get away. She is a sad excuse for a parent. Moms put their children first, not a damn pair of boots. Pathetic.
So were I’d the charge of child endangerment here seeings how it should be the most important one…lets just go over the details here. First she shoplifts with her baby, and boots for goods sake. Were those boots really worth going to jail and baby going into protective custody. Mom of the year. Formula or diapers, I might be more inclined to feel sorry for here, but probably not as I’m sure she uses every government resource she can get her hands on for that. Next, she runs, again risking harm. In a panic and running lugging a baby and precious boots. Next, she THROWS the baby in the backseat, um…carseat anyone?Now with her unbuckled, unsecure baby floating around in the back of her car somwhere, she rams into another car to escape. Let me repeat that: With an UNBUCKLED baby she purposely rammed another car to keep these boots and not get in trouble.
“…led other customers to jump into action believing they were witnessing a child abduction.”
That could have gone so wrong on so many levels.
First, Kudos to the public who at least in Lewis County are no longer content with standing by and doing nothing; Well Done for getting involved.
Second, I sure hope the mother learned something out of that. Her and her child could have been hurt over nothing more than a pair of boots. How pathetic would that have been!
She is so luck someone did not yard her out the wing window by her hair in order to stop her from stealing a baby.