Updated at 8:08 p.m.
SHERIFF: FRAUD OPERATION UNCOVERED IN ONALASKA
• An Onalaska woman was arrested yesterday at her home where deputies found a suspected check-printing operation. Two others wanted on warrants were arrested at the same time, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. An investigation began about two weeks ago with a 67-year-old who was victimized when someone wrote a fraudulent check at the Chehalis Safeway for $352 worth of groceries, according to the sheriff’s office. Yesterday, when surveillance video that was obtained revealed the woman at the grocery store, whose name was on the check, deputies and members of the Centralia Police Department went together to contact her at the 400 block of View Ridge Road, as well as several people with warrants believed to be hanging out with her, Chief Deputy Stacy Brown said. Shauna Ridgley was detained and gave law enforcement permission to go inside her home to find wanted persons, Brown said. A 30-year-old Tumwater woman came out with a knife in her hand, wouldn’t obey commands and made comments about “suicide by cop”, Brown said. Officers used a Taser to take her – Amy Moore – into custody, according to Brown. Inside, they found Francisco Lamas, 29, of Centralia. While inside, officers saw check printing materials in the kitchen and subsequently got a warrant to collect numerous identifications, documents and pieces of mail belonging to other people, according to Brown. Ridgley was arrested for theft, forgery and manufacturing fraudulent financial documents, according to the sheriff’s office. The other two were arrested for their warrants and all three booked into the Lewis County Jail. The 67-year-old is just one of the victims, according to Brown.
AUTO THEFT
• A 71-year-old woman reported yesterday her red 2000 Ford Mustang was stolen overnight from the 6000 block of state Route 508 near Morton. The car disappeared sometime after 10 p.m. Sunday and before 7 a.m. yesterday, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. It has a license plate of ANS 3279, according to the sheriff’s office. The loss is estimated at $10,000 Chief Deputy Stacy Brown said.
OTHER THEFT
• Centralia police were called about 12:15 p.m. yesterday regarding the theft of medications from the 2000 block of Cooks Hill Road.
• Chehalis police were called yesterday about mail stolen from mailboxes along Southwest 15th Street.
CAR PROWL
• Police were called about 9:25 p.m. yesterday to the parking lot at Providence Centralia Hospital after someone was caught breaking into a car. The owner caught him, but he ran away, however, officers found something the suspect accidentally left behind with his name on it, according to the Centralia Police Department. Charles A. Riggs must have dropped his discharge papers from the hospital and he was subsequently located and arrested for second-degree vehicle prowl, according to Sgt. Jim Shannon. He was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to police.
• Centralia police took a report yesterday afternoon about an overnight vehicle prowl at the 600 block of Warren Street.
DRUGS
• A 15-year-old girl was arrested for possession of marijuana yesterday in connection with an incident at the 800 block of Eshom Road in Centralia.
SHRUB ISSUES
• A 54-year-old Morton man made a vandalism complaint after someone pruned his junipers and threw the limbs in his yard last week. The suspect in the incident on the 100 block of Collar Avenue is an 81-year-old neighbor, according to the Morton Police Department. The damage is estimated at $5,000, police report.
FROM THE COURTHOUSE
• A public works employee in Somerville, Texas has been booked into the Lewis County Jail on a charge of child molestation following an investigation that began last year about incidents that allegedly took place in Centralia around 2009. Teddi B. Kendig, 54, yesterday was ordered held on $50,000 bail. Prosecutors state in charging documents that a girl told police last April that when she was 6 or 7 years old, the man her mother was dating pulled down his pants and asked her to touch him, when they were alone together. First-degree child molestation has a maximum penalty of life in prison. Kendig’s arraignment is scheduled for Thursday in Lewis County Superior Court.
• A 28-year-old homeless man was arrested after his 9-year-old daughter was found alone and wandering the streets on the 100 block of Ribelin Road outside Chehalis about 6 a.m. on Saturday, and deputies learned the two had broken into her grandmother’s house nearby to watch television and then slept in the loft of a shack. Charging documents state the girl was hysterical, shivering and shoeless and had been looking for her dad after awakening about an hour earlier and finding him gone. About two hours after responding to the call, a deputy found Derrick W. Burke hiding on the property, and he said he’d gone in the house to take a shower, but then found the door wide open and feared there were burglars, so he hid in the bushes, according to charging documents. Burke had an outstanding warrant for his arrest, the documents state, that he said he was unaware of. Charging documents state the child’s mother gave conflicting statements to police about the situation. Burke was charged yesterday in Lewis County Superior Court with reckless endangerment, first-degree criminal trespass and also for escape from community custody for failing to maintain contact with his community corrections officer – in connection with a 2013 conviction for possession of methamphetamine. Defense attorney Joely O’Rourke told a judge yesterday her client was currently working at a Chehalis vehicle repair business, but hadn’t yet gotten his first paycheck. His bail was set at $10,000 and his arraignment is Thursday in Lewis County Superior Court.
WRECK
• Car parts were left behind in a hit and run that damaged a large section of chain link fence at Winlock High School, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. A deputy responding yesterday to North Military and Nevil roads believes it was a small car and reports the cost is $500 to $1,000, according to the sheriff’s office.
AND MORE
• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, driving under the influence; responses for alarms, disputes, report of rape, collision on city street … and more.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter