PORTABLE GARAGE GOES UP IN FLAMES TODAY IN CENTRALIA
• Fire destroyed a fabric-sided garage-like structure and everything in it this morning in Centralia. Firefighters were called just before 9 a.m. to the blaze in a back yard on the 300 block of North Diamond Street. Riverside Fire Authority Capt. Greg Schwartz said it might have been an electrical problem as it was at the end where there was wiring and cords for a space heater and lights. Nobody was injured.
SHOVE IN TAVERN LEADS TO SEVERE HEAD INJURY
• A 65-year-old Chehalis man remains unconscious and on life support following a head injury he got during an altercation in a downtown bar last week. The Chehalis Police Department today arrested a 49-year-old man they say shoved the man who then fell down and struck his head. Police called to the Star Tavern on the 200 block of Northwest Chehalis Avenue about 10:30 p.m. on Nov. 30 found the man unconscious on the floor in a large pool of blood, according to police Chief Glenn Schaffer. He was taken to Providence Centralia Hospital and then flown to Haborview Medical Center in Seattle, according to a news release. Schaffer reported the argument between the two customers apparently stemmed from comments the victim made to the bartender. James M. Abbott, 49, of Chehalis, was arrested at his residence today for second-degree assault and booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to police.
SEMI TRUCK WRECKS NORTH OF CENTRALIA
• A big rig was destroyed when it crashed overnight on Interstate 5 north of Centralia. The driver was reportedly uninjured. A trooper was called about 12:40 a.m. to the northbound lanes near the Lewis-Thurston county line. The 1999 Peterbilt hauling a soft-sided trailer hit the center barrier after striking the jersey barrier on the shoulder side, according to the Washington State Patrol. A car in the southbound lanes was damaged minimally when it hit some cement debris, the state patrol reported. Diesel spilled from the truck’s tanks drew the state Department of Ecology to the scene, according to the investigating trooper. The 31-year-old driver from Renton was expected to be cited for going too fast.
FREEWAY CRASH SENDS ONE TO HOSPITAL
• A woman was taken to the hospital to be checked out after a single-vehicle collision about 8:45 a.m. yesterday on southbound Interstate 5 near Harrison Avenue, according to Riverside Fire Authority.
TOLEDO DOG CASE ENDS WITH FINES, JAIL AND COMMUNITY SERVICE
• A Toledo woman is prohibited from ever having dogs again following her sentencing yesterday in connection with animals which were seized from her property last year. Theresa Hahn, 27, was charged in October of last year for inflicting unnecessary suffering or pain upon 20 dogs which were subsequently seized, according to a news release from the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office. A Lewis County District Court judge ordered her to pay a mandatory $1,000 penalty, to reimburse the county for the care of the animals and also to pay a $2,000 fine. She was sentenced to 100 days in jail, half of which can be taken care of with community service at the Lewis County Animal Shelter, according to the news release. Yesterday’s sentencing followed a September plea agreement in which she pleaded guilty to second-degree animal cruelty, according to the prosecutor’s office.
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Correction: This has been updated to reflect Chehalis police arrested James M. Abbott for second-degree assault Thursday Dec. 9, 2010, not the day before.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter