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Updated at 6:32 p.m.
MATTRESS CATCHES FIRE
• Firefighters were called about 12:30 a.m. today to a house on Northwest Quincy Place in Chehalis after a smoke alarm alerted an upstairs family to a fire on the ground level. The downstairs resident was at work and for an unknown reason, the mattress on her bed was burning, according to Firefighter Kevin Reynolds. When the crew arrived, the upstairs resident was pulling the smoldering mattress out the front door, Reynolds said. Reynolds credited the working smoke detector that caused the upstairs resident to go look around downstairs for saving the building. It could have been a very different story, he said. “Nobody would have noticed, because she was not home,” he said.
AUTO THEFT
• A white 2002 Ford van left unattended while it was warming up this morning was stolen from the 2600 block of Cooks Hill Road in Centralia. Police called at 6:39 a.m. say the vehicle was taken by an unknown suspect and has a license plate reading 693 ZAA.
OTHER THEFT
• A Chehalis resident contacted police about 10:10 a.m. yesterday to report fraudulent charges to his bank account. Police are waiting for further information, according to the Chehalis Police Department.
CAR PROWL
• Centralia police were called just after 4 p.m. yesterday to the 400 block of West Pear Street where someone had stolen a wallet and papers from a vehicle. They also attempted to start the vehicle, according to the Centralia Police Department.
SUSPICIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES
• Chehalis police were called about 6:05 p.m. yesterday by an individual reporting someone had been tampering with a lock on a storage shed at the 1500 block of North National Avenue.
FROM THE COURTHOUSE
• A 19-year-old Chehalis resident appeared in Lewis County Superior Court this afternoon, facing felony charges of four counts of communication with a minor for immoral purposes. Hayden VonBargen was summonsed to court following an investigation that began April 19, with the Pe Ell Marshal’s Office. He and the girl – who reportedly told VonBargen she is 13 but almost 14 when they communicated over the Internet – allegedly knew each other from a youth group and engaged in sexually explicit conversations, according to charging documents. He was allowed to remain out of custody with an unsecured bond. His arraignment is Thursday.
• An 18-year-old Winlock resident was charged today with second-degree burglary for an incident over the weekend in which he allegedly went onto the porch of home inside a fenced property with a claw hammer, waking up the residents who thought he was using it trying to break in. Lewis County Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher told the judge this afternoon that further information he learned suggested it maybe was not a random event by an intoxicated person. Meagher said Steven E. Dodds may have ties to a gang known for destruction of property, given a Juggalo tattoo on his arm. When police responded to the approximately 3:15 a.m. call on Sunday to the 1400 block of Northwest Kerron Avenue in Winlock, Dodds was reportedly still on the porch, soaking wet and shivering, according to charging documents. The resident told police later on Sunday the suspect also had poured starter fluid over the porch by the door and said he was going to set it afire, giving various reasons for that, including because he was cold, the court documents relate. Dodds was booked into the Lewis County Jail. However, on Monday afternoon when he was brought before a judge, prosecutors had not yet decided to file charges and he was allowed release on a $5,000 unsecured bond. He returned to Lewis County Superior Court this afternoon with his mother, after charges were filed and Judge Joely O’Rourke said his conditions of release would be modified with a 6 p.m. curfew. He has no criminal history. His arraignment is Thursday.
AND MORE
• And, as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants; responses for alarm, dispute, civil issue, disorderly person, hit and run, vehicle collision, disorderly person, suspicious circumstances … and more among 144 calls for local law enforcement and / or fire-emergency medical services in the 24-hour period ending about 7 a.m.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter