Updated at 5:28 p.m.
POLICE: REBUFFED CELL PHONE SELLER ATTACKS WOMEN
• A meet-up in a Chehalis parking lot following an internet offer of the sale of two cell phones got violent yesterday when the buyers decided the merchandise was substandard. Police were called about 4:40 p.m. to Rite Aid on the 500 block of South Market Boulevard. Detective Sgt. Gary Wilson said the 23-year-old Chehalis woman and 28-year-old Centralia woman told the seller they changed their mind because a screen was cracked or something. Then an argument ensued about the man traveling all the way to meet them and he reportedly pulled out a collapsible baton and struck one of them, and threatened to stab them with a pocket knife, Wilson said. The women left and called police from home, according to Wilson. One of them ended up with a minor cut on her hand, he said. The suspect was picked up a few hours later by a Thurston County deputy and booked into the Lewis County Jail for second-degree assault, according to WIlson. The suspect, Anthony A. Caldwell, 57, is from Olympia and described as transient, he said.
SHOPLIFTING INCIDENT TURNS SCAREY
• A Centralia convenience store clerk who tried to retrieve a stolen six-pack of beer from a shoplifter yesterday found herself threatened with a knife, according to police. Officers called about 6:25 p.m. to Apex on the 400 block of West Main Street learned the 50-year-old woman followed the man out of the business and confronted him several blocks away, pleading with him to give the beer back, according to the Centralia Police Department. He pulled a knife and began walking towards the clerk, and then she fled, according to police. The man left. A 26-year-old man described as transient from California was subsequently arrested for first-degree robbery, Sgt. Kurt Reichert said. Officer called around 4:30 a.m. to a disturbance at or near Dennys on the 1000 block of Harrison Avenue contacted that subject and concluded he resembled the surveillance image from Apex, Reichert said. Mathew T. Gonzalez was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to Reichert.
UNRULY HOSPITAL VISITOR JAILED
• A 27-year-old Centralia woman was arrested for third-degree assault after allegedly trying to slap and strike security guards who were escorting her out of Providence Centralia Hospital yesterday evening. Officers called to the 900 block of South Schueber Road about 7:45 p.m. learned she was visiting a patient and asked to leave because she was being disruptive. Sherene R. Cluzel, was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department.
AUTO THEFT
• A 1991 Honda station wagon was stolen from Shaeffer Park north of Centralia after its owner had mechanical trouble and left it there, locked but with the keys in the ignition. A deputy called about 1 a.m. yesterday to the 800 block of state Route 507 was told the car was worth $1,000, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.
TOO MUCH SKIN
• A 37-year-old Centralia man was arrested last night for allegedly exposing himself in the parking lot of the train station in Centralia. Officers responding about 9:25 p.m. to the 200 block of North Railroad Avenue booked Charles R. Simpson into the Lewis County Jail for indecent exposure and also possession of methamphetamine, according to the Centralia Police Department.
TRUCK VERSUS DEER
• A 37-year-old Chehalis man escaped serious injury but totaled his pickup truck when he swerved to miss a deer yesterday on Centralia-Alpha Road west of Chehalis. A deputy called about 5:40 p.m. to milepost 15 found the 1992 Ford F250 in the ditch and the deer underneath it, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The driver complained a headache, according to the sheriff’s office.
AND MORE
• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, trespassing, misdemeanor assault, underage possession of marijuana; responses for alarm, dispute, shoplifting, collisions on city streets and county roads; complaint of smell of marijuana from neighboring apartment … and more.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter