Updated at 6:34 p.m.
BANK FRAUD
• Centralia police yesterday took a report from the 200 block of North Pearl Street regarding fraudulent checks being written at a bank. The case is under investigation, according to the Centralia Police Department.
DRUGS
• Centralia police arrested 25-year-old man yesterday morning for possession of heroin and a warrant. Panther W. Risling of Centralia was booked into the Lewis County Jail after contact with an officer at the 1200 block of Alder Street about 9:30 a.m., according to the Centralia Police Department.
FROM THE COURTHOUSE: NAPAVINE’S NAKED DRIVER LOCATED
• Jeremy R. Hamilton was charged only with attempting to elude police for the Napavine incident in which he allegedly slipped away as he was being handcuffed and fled through a field into the night, barefoot and completely unclothed. The 39-year-old Napavine resident is expected in Lewis County Superior Court tomorrow for his arraignment; he was charged on Monday following his arrest over the weekend. According to charging documents, Napavine Police Chief Chris Salyers discovered Hamilton was in the jail on outstanding warrants. The Sept. 5 incident began about 10 p.m. when police were called by a resident on the 400 block of Eighth Avenue who said a person was in a car parked in front of her house, she asked him to leave and he refused, according to the documents. Police said as a patrol car approached, Hamilton drove away without turning on his headlights, and a short pursuit ensued, basically around the block and ended back in front of the original home. Officer Noel Shields drew his Taser and ordered Hamilton from the vehicle, which he did, charging documents state. Hamilton was naked and struggled away after he was partially handcuffed, according to police. He escaped over a fence, but Shields identified him by the Washington State identification card in the wallet on the ground next to his car, charging documents state. The court papers offer no explanation as to why he was driving around nude, nor if he was acquainted with the woman whose house he was parked in front of. However, among his past criminal offenses are harassment, a drug violation, a protection order violation and a warrant for an unresolved indecent exposure offense from 2009, according to court documents. He remains in the jail on $25,000 bail.
FORK PEAK FIRE UPDATE
• The seventh day of firefighting on timberland outside Pe Ell began with the Fork Peak Fire at 80 percent containment. The forest fire has spread over 126 acres since it was discovered, about five miles southwest of town in Pacific County, according to the Department of Natural Resources. The property is owned by Rayonier. DNR reported this morning it continues to smolder, with low spread potential. Two hundred and twelve personnel are assigned to the fire. On today’s plan of action was to keep fire south of A-Line, north of the 7820 Road, west of the F-line and east of the Weyerhaeuser ownership, according to the report.
AND MORE
• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, misdemeanor theft; responses for disputes, suspicious circumstances, drug investigation, telephone harassment, dead deer across from Southwest Moonlight Lane in Chehalis, a vehicle stuck on railroad tracks on Floral Street in Centralia, naked man sitting in the bushes near Best Western Hotel in Chehalis who turned out to be sleepwalking; complaints about landlord, people laying on outdoor benches, vehicle owner’s behavior when contacted by a repo man … and more.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter