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Updated at 12:28 p.m.
STRANGER DETAINED FOR GIVING TRINKETS TO KIDS
• Chehalis police were called at 7:30 p.m. yesterday to the 1000 block of Northwest Prindle Street where they were told a stranger was in the neighborhood shaking children’s’ hands and giving out tokens. Parents spoke to him and had asked him to leave, department spokesperson Linda Bailey said. “We found he could be arrested for unwanted touching,” Bailey said. James P. Sauter, 54, of Chehalis, was arrested for fourth-degree assault and booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Chehalis Police Department.
FAUX IRS AGENT VICTIMIZES CHEHALIS RESIDENT
• A 43-year-old Chehalis man was tricked out of $2,750 after he was contacted by someone claiming to be with the IRS who said he owed back taxes and needed to make the payment in the form of gift cards. “Unfortunately the victim did provide what they were asking for and then they asked for more,” Chehalis Police Department spokesperson Linda Bailey said. The man called police yesterday evening to report what had occurred and was told it was a scam, Bailey said. The police don’t have anything they can follow up on in the case, she said. “No phone numbers, name, nothing,” she said. The real Internal Revenue Service does not operate in that manner, Bailey said.
BURGLARY PACKWOOD
• A deputy was called yesterday afternoon about a break-in to a cabin at the 100 block of Timberline Drive in Packwood in which at least $1,000 worth of property was stolen. Among the missing items a Yamaha guitar, a pair of women’s snowboard boots and bindings as well as a 30-inch flat screen television, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. It happened between 3 p.m. on April 8 and 2 p.m. yesterday, Chief Deputy Dusty Breen said.
BURGLARY CENTRALIA
• Centralia police were called about 10:50 a.m. yesterday to a business at the 100 block of Harrison Avenue in Centralia where sometime during the night someone had cut the fence to the compound and stole a cash register and scale, according to the Centralia Police Department.
• Police were called about 7:45 a.m. yesterday to the 1500 block of Lewis Street in Centralia where a victim reported someone broke into his detached garage and stole tools, according to the Centralia Police Department.
BURGLARY CHEHALIS
• A 26-year-old Winlock woman was arrested yesterday after residents of the 300 block of Newaukum Valley Drive arrived home and discovered a person in their house who locked them out, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Deputies dispatched just before 3:35 p.m. entered the residence, contacted the woman and took her into custody, according to the sheriff’s office. Shila K. Brennan was booked into the Lewis County Jail for burglary, Chief Deputy Dusty Breen said. The suspect is unrelated to the victims, he said.
• Someone broke into a storage unit at the 300 block of Kirkland Road south of Chehalis and stole a box spring-mattress set, three samurai swords and movie prop swords, according to a report made yesterday afternoon to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The victim reported the items were there when he left at 2:30 p.m. on Friday but when he returned at 8 a.m. Saturday the lock was gone and the property missing, according to the sheriff’s office.
BURGLARY WINLOCK
• A deputy was called yesterday afternoon to the 200 block of Winlock Waters Drive south of Winlock where someone had pried a sliding glass door from its rails and broken it, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The woman who owns the property isn’t yet sure if anything was taken, according to the sheriff’s office.
BURGLARY MOSSYROCK
• The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reports this morning a residence on the 200 block of Blankenship Road near Mossyrock was broken into by someone who caused significant damage inside and stole thousands of dollars worth of valuables including 10 firearms. A deputy responding on Monday learned it happened sometime between 9 p.m. Sunday and 10:30 a.m. on Monday, according to the sheriff’s office. Among the items stolen are a coin collection in a tackle box, a Gibson Epiphone guitar, a Carvin 30-watt amplifier, two gaming consoles and games, more than 20 knives and the guns which included rifles, shotguns and a revolver, according to Chief Deputy Dusty Breen. Five doors, two televisions a computer and other belongings were damaged, Breen said.
DRUGS AT SCHOOL
• Police were called about 1:45 p.m. yesterday to Chehalis Middle School on the 1000 block of Southwest 20th Street on a report of three juveniles possessing a green leafy substance. The case is being investigated, according to the Chehalis Police Department.
VANDALISM
• An individual reported about 2:10 a.m. today that an unknown person smashed out several windows of his vehicle at the 1000 block of Eckerson Road in Centralia, according to the Centralia Police Department.
AND MORE
• And, as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, probation violation, misdemeanor assault, driving with suspended license, ignition interlock device violation; responses for alarm, dispute, shoplifting, vehicle collision, suicidal person, suspicious circumstances … and more among 151 calls for local law enforcement and / or fire-emergency medical services in the 24-hour period ending about 7 a.m. today.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter