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Updated at 5:55 p.m.
SEXUAL ASSAULT ALLEGATIONS IN RANDLE
• A 21-year-old man arrested and jailed on Monday in one case found himself facing possible new charges yesterday for incidents that allegedly occurred in November at his home on the 200 block of Silverbrook Road in Randle. Nickolas J. Hardman-Schmitt was arrested at his residence for allegedly talking about sex on Facebook with a young teen and then yesterday at the Lewis County Jail he was additionally booked for second-degree assault and two counts of third-degree rape in connection with alleged encounters with a 19-year-old woman he is acquainted with, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.
FROG NEARLY STOLEN
• Chehalis police were called about 5:30 p.m. yesterday to a report that an individual got into a storage area or shed at the 200 block of Northwest Chehalis Avenue and took a large wooden frog. The man was confronted and dropped the frog before leaving, according to the Chehalis Police Department.
AUTO THEFT
• Centralia police were called about 4:35 a.m. today about a car missing from the parking lot in front of its owner’s home on the 1400 block of Harrison Avenue. There had been a spare key left inside the unlocked blue 1997 Nissan Altima, according to the Centralia Police Department. The license plate is AKJ 8813, according to police.
BACKYARD THEFT
• An individual called Centralia police yesterday from the 2200 block of North Tower Avenue to report a marine battery had vanished from their backyard sometime since December.
MAIL THEFT
• Police were called about 2:40 p.m. yesterday regarding mail stolen from a mailbox on the 3000 block of Russell Road in Centralia.
DRUGS
• A 29-year-old man from Toutle was arrested yesterday for possession of heroin after he was contacted by an officer who was responding to a call about unspecified suspicious circumstances in a commercial area at the 1300 block of Rush Road in Napavine. Craig D. Ballard was standing outside of a vehicle and allegedly admitted he was at the location to purchase heroin, according to court documents. The allegations include that he gave the officer a friend’s name instead of his own when asked, but subsequently acknowledged who he was. He was booked into the Lewis County Jail and charged today in Lewis County Superior Court with identity theft and possession of heroin. His bail was set at $10,000. The suspected heroin reportedly fell out of Ballard’s pocket onto the ground when Officer Noel Shields asked him take his hands out of his pockets.
SUSPICIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES
• Chehalis police were called about 10:30 a.m. yesterday about a boom box abandoned in front of a retailer business at the 1600 block of Northwest Louisiana Avenue which was making people nervous. The radio was wet and was thrown away by an officer, according to the Chehalis Police Department.
AND MORE
• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, driving with suspended license, failure to transfer vehicle title; responses for alarm, dispute, hit and run, shoplifting, misdemeanor assault, collision on city street … and more, among the 150 calls for local law enforcement and / or fire-emergency medical services in the 24-hour period ending about 4 a.m. today
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter