Updated at 6:15 p.m.
FINGER GUN GETS OFFICER’S ATTENTION
• A 33-year-old Centralia man ended up in jail after he was walking along the 1600 block of Kresky Avenue just before 5 o’clock this morning and reportedly pointed his finger at a passing police car and made a trigger-pulling gesture. Officer Ruben Ramirez stopped to speak with the man who at one point tried to walk away and when Ramirez grabbed his arm, the man grabbed Ramirez’s arm and wouldn’t let go according to the Centralia Police Department. Other officers arrived and Jeremy J. Phillips was taken into custody, Officer John Panco said. Nobody was hurt, but Phillips was booked into the Lewis County Jail for third-degree assault, Panco said. He had been drinking, Panco said, although he wasn’t sure how much.
HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT ARRESTED
• A student at W.F. West High School in Chehalis was arrested yesterday in connection with an attempt to steal a winch from the school shop and an alleged threat made to a fellow student he was trying to get to help him. Chehalis police were called to Southwest 16th Street where they were advised of the incident and told that 19-year-old Brady A. Jenkins was being expelled, according to the Chehalis Police Department. Jenkins was arrested at his home in Pe Ell and booked into the Lewis County Jail for felony harassment and theft, detective Sgt. Gary Wilson said.
ANGRY CLIENT
• Chehalis police responded to the Lewis County Mall yesterday after a phone caller to the veterans clinic said not to hang up and threatened they would blow the person’s f****** head off, according to the Chehalis Police Department. The line disconnected and there was no way to learn who had called, or why they were upset, police said.
BREAK-IN CENTRALIA
• Centralia police were called at noon yesterday to a home on the 1400 block of Logan Street about a burglary in which two computers and some jewelry were stolen.
• Centralia police were called about 10:15 p.m. yesterday to the 500 block of West Cherry Street in Centralia where someone had kicked in the back door to a home. It’s unknown if anything was missing, according to the Centralia Police Department.
CAR PROWL
• Chehalis police were told yesterday of a vehicle prowl which had reportedly occurred days earlier at the 1300 block of Louisiana Avenue. A wallet was missing from the vehicle which had been left unlocked, according to the Chehalis Police Department.
UNRULY PATIENT
• A 43-year-old woman was cited for fourth-degree assault and then released after an incident when the fire department was called about 7:50 p.m. yesterday to the 400 block of South Pearl Street. Someone there had called 911 for aid because they felt Brenda V. Jones-Gonzalez was in some kind of medical distress and the fire department asked police to come for what was described as an out-of-control female, according to the Centralia Police Department. Police say that for no apparent reason, Jones-Gonzalez grabbed another female there by the throat and hair, Panco said. “She was having some issue of some type,” Panco said.
WRECKS
• A 38-year-old Napavine man was cited for traveling too fast when his log truck trailer tipped onto its side as he was making a left turn to head north on Interstate 5 in Chehalis yesterday. Troopers called at 1 p.m. to the onramp at Main Street noted Jason L. Dunn was uninjured and the onramp was blocked for a time. The loaded trailer was damaged, but the truck was able to be driven from the scene, according to the Washington State Patrol.
• Troopers concluded an unsafe lane change started the multiple vehicle collision on Interstate 5 in Centralia yesterday that left a sport utility vehicle straddling the concrete center barrier and a minor injury to another motorist who rear-ended a car that stopped short of the scene. Troopers called about 1:20 p.m. said the wreckage just beyond the northbound onramp at Harrison Avenue happened when a vehicle entering the freeway swerved to miss another vehicle and then shoved a GMC Yukon onto the divider. The Washington State Patrol reports four vehicles were involved but only the SUV had to be towed. It was totaled, according to the state patrol. One person with shoulder and knee pain was transported to Providence Centralia Hospital, according to Riverside Fire Authority. Once the SUV was taken away, southbound traffic was stopped for a time while a large front end loader shoved the jersey barrier back where it belonged, according to the fire department.
AND MORE
• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, shoplifting, violation of no contact order; responses for disputes, suspicious circumstances, misdemeanor theft, collision on city streets, report a child smacked another child in the face, an individual who got a “pop up” on their computer that prevented access to files unless they paid $500 … and more.
Traffic moved slowly in both directions after four vehicles wrecked on Interstate 5 in Centralia. / Courtesy photo by Krystin-Hernandez
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
Every time a Lewis County law enforcement officer, or someone in the ‘good-ol’ boy’s club, commits a crime, their army of little nitwit monkeys always come here to obfuscate, deflect, and mislead.
Guilty Bystander… As far as preventing someone from walking away ending in a death… The Centralia Police Dept. took care of that a few months ago.
AA Lurker… Why would you attempt to subdue discussion on police misbehavior? Why would you try to ridicule valid points posted on this blog? Do you think it is OK for pigs to harass and brutalize citizens?
AA Lurker… Who would ever want to be president… The president has to govern millions of people like you.
Guilty Bystander… The police had no reason to talk to Mr. Phillips. He told them to leave him alone and tried to get away. Anything beyond that is brutality and harassment. Even your assertion that they were questioning him provides an excuse for their misbehavior. I may be mistaken, however it sounded to me that you thought that police brutality and assault on Mr. Phillips was amusing.
“A Lurker” sure sounds a lot like Brian Green. Sounds like “A Lurker” is at every confrontation in which Law Enforcement is involved with in Lewis County. He is just so smart! A Lurker, please run for President. You are wise way beyond your years. Gag.
How am I “making excuses” when I say that Ramirez probably overreacted, Lurker? If you want to equate a cop trying to finish questioning someone by keeping the subject from walking away with murder, be my guest. That’s just a leap that I’m not willing to make.
Guilty Bystander… You are making excuses for criminal actions performed by law enforcement. It is never a good idea to grab a cops arm. that isn’t the point. If the police wouldn’t have assaulted Mr. Phillips, he wouldn’t have had the opportunity to grab his arm. Mr. Phillips was assaulted first and remember you have only been told one side of the story. He could have simply been fending off further attack in grabbing the arm. How would you feel if someone you loved was murdered by one of these thugs? Would you still be making excuses for their actions?
All kidding aside, when is it ever a good idea to grab a police officer’s arm and hold on to him? Ramirez probably overreacted a bit to the situation (my guess is that the initial contact involved him asking Phillips what the hell he was doing), but common sense says you don’t just turn around and walk away when a cop is questioning you, ESPECIALLY when you’re doing nothing wrong.
Bottom line: Spending a night in jail sleeping off the effects of what was buzzing him wasn’t the worst thing that could’ve happened to Phillips, the assault charge was dropped the next day so there’s nothing on his record regarding this incident and there’s no valid reason to charge Ramirez with assault when the worst thing he did was prevent someone he was in the middle of questioning from walking off (which is hardly in the same ballpark as tasing someone).
Im just wondering will the police officer be charged with assault on this citizen? Fair is fair.
Busty Babe Says: HOW DID THE OFFICER KNOW HE DIDNT HAVE A REAL GUN. Do you seriously mean that comment? Perhaps you should check the validity and accuracy of your statements. Do you honestly believe that the officer had a valid reason to apprehend Mr. Phillips? Police can arrest someone if they believe that they have committed or are committing a specific crime. Can you tell me what crime Mr. Phillips committed? Other than that, cops are just ordinary citizens. If a citizen grabs another citizen, it is an assault. The officers committed a false arrest on top of the assault.
Mr. Phillips most likely dislikes police because of previous experiences. People do not learn to hate pigs in a vacuum, pigs give them plenty of reasons and this is just another example. Is he supposed to fear police. I thought our educational system taught us to respect police. Which is it anyway BustyBabe?
Any individual who joins law enforcement, not expecting to get flipped off or told to fuck off in one form or another has ABSOLUTELY NO BUSINESS joining law enforcement in the first place. Then take a look at the people they hire and it is absolutely no surprise that they end up getting the name pig.
Someday the County will get the shit knocked out of them in a police brutality lawsuit and it will cost taxpayers a lot of money. I think any reasonable person could review law enforcement actions in the county and come to the conclusion that there is widespread police misconduct and brutality across the County involving multiple law enforcement agencies.
There have been way too many people killed without justice being served, with law enforcement being involved in most of the cases. Law enforcement regularly assaults and batters the citizenry, and the general public allows it to occur. I hope the police brutality settlement is HUGE, so you all have to pay.
Has anyone asked the candidate for Sheriff if he has used performance enhancing drugs illegally? Wouldn’t it be just perfect if the answer is yes? Head of the drug task force and then on to sheriff. Someone should ask him what the name Charles Rouska means to him.
Okay, so I left the group. I just want to say to Stefanie Goodrich, WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE TO ACCUSE ME OF KNOWING THIS OFFICER BETTER??? WHAT IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN!?? I’m damn pissed I didn’t get a chance to respond and “oh” tee he…..what a stupid asinine comment once I’d blocked you. You’re a sick human to say things about other people like that!! Why don’t you take your goody two shoes and fly off to another county. Running your mouth all over. We don’t need hypocrites of every thing like you here!! “Are people seriously going to live in fear of every little thing they can” (the train post) really?? No one cares!!! Get a grip on real life and walk away from your high and mighty “I’ve never done anything wrong before, so I’m better than you” attitude towards just about everything you say and SHOVE IT!!! Someone will knock you off the pedestal you put yourself on someday, princess!!!
THE ARREST OF THE FINGERMAN MAY SEEM LIKE A JOKE TO YOU ALL BUT HOW DID THE OFFICER KNOW HE DIDNT HAVE A REAL GUN IN HIS POCKET? THE GUY EVEN TRIED TO WALK AWAY AND WE ALL KNOW A PERSON CANT DO THAT..IF A STUDENT GOES TO SCHOOL AND MAKES THAT GESTURE, THEY GET SUSPENDED AS ITS TAKEN AS A THREAT,,
I bet Officer Reynolds cannot wait to taze the wave of finger bandits!
When is the Prosecuting Attorney going to file assault charges against Ruben Ramirez? Doesn’t equal enforcement of the rule of law require his arrest? This and other acts of prosecutorial negligence are becoming problematic for Lewis County. It is unfortunate that the Dept. of Justice is equally corrupted at this point in time, because they need to come in and throw a few pigs in the poke.
One less finger banger off the streets.
Fingers must be outlawed so we’ll all be safer, especially our children (who far too often bring fingers from home to school with disastrous consequences). Whenever you hear that tired canard, “When fingers are outlawed, only outlaws will have fingers,” just remember this incident. It could happen to you.
FYI, news reporter Sharyn Decker here … just got word the prosecutor’s office declined to charge “the finger gunman” with third-degree assault, of the officer … he is being released from jail …
The finger gunman has been shooting people on the streets for far too long. It’s about time somebody somewhere had the courage to stand up to such a villain.
It’s no surprise the Centralia PD rises to the challenge and does what every other law enforcement agency in the country has been afraid to do; stand up to the finger gunmen that are ruining this nation.
BRAVO!!!
Who knows. If he was drunk enough to make that gesture to a cop, he might have stumbled into traffic.
He was not arrested for the fingers, but for grabbing a n officer’s arm and not letting go.
“I feel so much safer without the finger gunman off the streets?” perhaps you would feel safer “with” the finger gunman off the streets ?
Tax payers get to pay for finger gestures, and an aggressive cop with a chip on his shoulder. Good call Lewis County. No wonder your community is broke and has no faith in you.
I feel so much safer without the finger gunman off the streets, what if he had pointed his finger gun at my kids, I shudder to think of the consequences. Thank you officers for bravely standing up to the finger gunman, you saved countless lives today. God bless.