Defendants in large-scale fuel theft out on bail

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Three of the individuals implicated in trafficking stolen fuel from a residence in Doty have pleaded not guilty and are out of custody awaiting trials, but law enforcement is still looking for the man they say owned a canopied pickup truck with darkened windows which held two large fuel tanks, a portable pump and a nozzle.

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John Lewis, aka Jason A. Lewis

The man identified as Jason A. Lewis, 47, was arrested when deputies searched the property on Elk Creek Road late last month, but after he made bail, the sheriff’s office concluded he really was John Lewis. They haven’t seen him since.

Detectives were led to their suspects from nighttime surveillance video at a Texaco station on U.S. Highway 12 in Silver Creek from July 28 that showed three vehicles arrive and somehow pump about $6,000 worth of fuel without paying.

They subsequently found numerous containers of gasoline including a 55-gallon drum of it and other items such as a half dozen plug-in access keypads for gas pumps at the Doty property.

Charges were filed Aug. 1 against Lewis, 28-year-old Harold E. Lusk who resides on the Elk Creek property, and Raymond T. Hankins, 48, from Yelm. Prosecutors subsequently charged Lusk’s girlfriend, 20-year-old Alyssa J. Hanson with trafficking in stolen property and possession of methamphetamine.

Lusk and Hanson both appeared in Lewis County Superior Court early last week and again yesterday, when they got dates set for their trials.

Taken from the Silver Creek business was about 1,600 gallons of regular unleaded gasoline, highway diesel and off-road diesel, according to charging documents.

The trials are all on the court calendar for this autumn.
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For background, read “On the run: Lewis County deputies seeking three in connection with large-scale fuel theft” from Sunday August 10, 2014, here

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This entry was posted on Friday, August 22nd, 2014 at 1:54 pm and is filed under Top story of the day. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

One Response to “Defendants in large-scale fuel theft out on bail”

  1. Erin says:
    Friday, August 22, 2014 at 8:36 pm

    My husband was the one who was hit by a car while on a bike. Who knew hurting so bad you couldn’t go to work because someone ran their car into your body was minor injuries. He’s been on pain pills and having a hard time walking. Thanks lady who can’t look both ways and centralia police for letting her get away with running her car into people and getting away with it.