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WOMAN SCAMMED OUT OF MONEY
• A 53-year-old woman contacted her Chehalis bank and then police yesterday upon discovering she’d been tricked by an online offer of government grants. It came through Facebook and enticed her to turn over $2,000 for “processing fees” to obtain a supposed $60,000 grant, according to the Chehalis Police Department. She was told to deposit the money into a certain account and then subsequently contacted and told to turn over more money via gift cards, according to police.
SCAMMERS POSING AS DEPUTIES
• The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office received several calls yesterday in which potential scam victims say they were called in reference to the Internal Revenue Service by people using names of actual members of the sheriff’s office. They are investigating, and meanwhile, want the public to know the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office does not request credit card or financial information for any of its services, nor does the office conduct IRS investigations. Chief Deputy Bruce Kimsey says it appears scammers are using Internet and social media resources to identify actual law enforcement members. Anyone who has received a message and is unsure about it, may contact the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office at 360-748-9286 and ask the deputy named to contact them.
ATTEMPTED EQUIPMENT THEFT
• Chehalis police were called about 4:15 a.m. today to the 1000 block of Northwest Maryland Avenue where someone had attempted to steal a log splitter from outside of a business. They had cut the security cord and moved the splitter, which was found laying toward the end of the driveway, according to the Chehalis Police Department. The item’s value is just short of $2,100, according to police.
ASSAULT INVESTIGATION
• Chehalis police were called to Green Hill School about 9:30 a.m. yesterday to investigate a third-degree assault by a student-inmate on a staff member, according to the Chehalis Police Department. Further details were not readily available today.
DRUG VIOLATION
• Brian M. Williams, 30, of Centralia, was arrested for possession of methamphetamine after his backpack was searched by security at a federal building at the 1800 block of Cooks Hill Road at about 9:30 a.m. yesterday. He was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department.
AND MORE
• And, as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, third-degree theft, fourth-degree domestic assault; responses for alarm, dispute, civil issue, vandalism, trespassing, misdemeanor theft, vehicle collision, misdemeanor theft, suspicious circumstances … and more among 167 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