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Updated at 7:15 p.m.
THEFT INVESTIGATION
• Centralia police were contacted yesterday by a local business about suspected embezzlement by an employee. The case was sent over to detectives to investigate, according to the Centralia Police Department.
CAR PROWL
• A pair of teenagers taking photographs for a class project at Schaeffer Park off state Route 507 north of Centralia yesterday evening returned to their vehicle to find a window broken out and both of their purses stolen, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.
• Chehalis police were called about 3:20 p.m. yesterday about the theft of a puppy from inside a car parked behind Safeway on the 1100 block of South Market Boulevard. Its owner said she had locked the doors but left the windows cracked, according to the Chehalis Police Department. An officer got a phone call few hours later from the victim who said her boyfriend recovered the dog from an individual in Centralia after seeing the dog on the Internet, according to police. The male claimed he bought the puppy from another person, detective Sgt. Gary Wilson said.
• Chehalis police were called about 3:20 p.m. yesterday by a teenage girl who discovered someone had got into her car and stolen a backpack containing among other items, school supplies and an iPhone. It happened while she was parked outside a business on the east side of the the 1600 block of Northwest Louisiana Avenue in Chehalis, according to the Chehalis Police Department. She had left her passenger window down, according to police.
• Centralia police were called about 11:45 a.m. yesterday to the 200 block of North Washington Avenue where approximately 50 CDs were stolen from a vehicle.
DRUGS
• A 42-year-old Centralia woman was booked into the Lewis County Jail yesterday for allegedly being caught by drug detectives with a pouch containing plastic packaging, a scale, more than $200 cash and a small bag plus a larger bag of a crystal substance that field-tested positive for methamphetamine. Janet L. Gleason is charged with possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver – in a school zone – and went before a judge this afternoon in Lewis County Superior Court. Her bail was set at $20,000. Charging documents indicate law enforcement began investigating Gleason sometime between May and August of this year and that she was pulled over by a detective, admitted she was on her way to Borst Park to sell 10 grams of and granted him permission to search her car. Jail records show she was booked at about 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. The affidavit of probable cause does not specify where or even what day she was pulled over, but the information charging her states the alleged offense occurred on or about Sept. 17.
• A 36-year-old Packwood resident charged with allegedly growing 24 marijuana plants in his backyard this summer was summonsed to appear in Lewis County Superior Court this afternoon. James M. Miller is charged with manufacture of marijuana, a class C felony with a maximum penalty of five years in prison. A judge agreed to a $10,000 unsecured bond so he could stay out of jail while his case proceeds. Before his hearing, Miller said he has permits but didn’t give them to the sheriff’s office because he didn’t want to get harassed. Charging papers state two deputies went to his home on the 100 block of Rainbow Lane on June 28 to speak with him on another matter, and noticed the marijuana growing in his fenced backyard when a female answered the door and said Miller was not there. The officers reportedly obtained a telephonic search warrant and collected 24 plants in various stages of growth and told the female that if Miller was a medical marijuana patient, he needed to provide the paperwork to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Twenty-four is beyond the 15 plants allowed for a medical marijuana patient. On Aug. 4, when a detective spoke with Miller in the jail, Miller said he had the authorization posted on his fence, but it was stolen, charging documents indicate. Miller’s arraignment is scheduled for Oct. 8. He is the same James Miller indicted in federal court with theft and damaging government property, as one of the three alleged timber cutters involved in illegally harvesting Big Leaf Maple from the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, which was allegedly sold by a Winlock man to out of state companies for more than $800,000.
AND MORE
• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrant, obstructing, shoplifting, driving under the influence, driving with suspended license; responses for alarm, harassment, misdemeanor assault, suspicious circumstances, collision on city street, violation of anti-harassment order … and more.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter