CENTRALIA MAN SOUGHT FOR ASSAULT AND KIDNAP ATTEMPT
• Law enforcement officers are looking for a 29-year-old man who allegedly barged into his ex-girlfriend’s Rochester home, beat her up and dragged her out of the house by her hair last night. The 24-year-old woman escaped as he was walking her away from her home, and she fled to her mother’s house, according to the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office. Juan Epifanio Mejia, 29, of Centralia, is wanted on suspicion of second-degree kidnapping and first-degree burglary, sheriff’s Lt. Greg Elwin said today. Elwin said it happened between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. at the 7500 block of 191st Avenue Southwest. The pair were reportedly arguing about their relationship when Mejia “went crazy” punching the woman in the face several times, Elwin said. He didn’t know where Mejia was taking her, but said the couple was stopped briefly outside by a passing deputy who saw they were holding hands, and was told by Mejia “everything’s okay”. Then Mejia fled, Elwin said. That was about 10 p.m., according to Elwin. Her neighbors called 911 about midnight to report her missing and she was contacted at her mother’s house, he said.
HOMELESS MAN ACCUSED OF ASSAULTING OFFICER
• Centralia police used their Taser on a 57-year-old homeless man who reportedly threatened to assault and then charged an officer early yesterday morning near Harrison Avenue and Interstate 5. David R. Anderson was booked into the Lewis County Jail for third-degree assault after the approximately 3:20 a.m. incident. Further details were not readily available.
MAN FLEES DEPUTY ON STOLEN MOTORCYCLE
• A stolen motorcycle was recovered and a 37-year-old Glenoma man arrested after a chase in the Randle area on Saturday afternoon, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. A deputy tried to stop a 2003 Suzuki Volusia Intruder traveling 65 mph in a 35 mph zone about 2:30 p.m. but the driver fled into a residence on the 800 block of Cline Road, according to Chief Deputy Stacy Brown. Jake N. Dunaway, 37, was subsequently contacted there and then booked into the Lewis County Jail for possession of a stolen vehicle, driving without a license and other offenses, Brown said.
MAN HIT BY VEHICLE IN CHEHALIS
• Police and aid were called about 6 p.m. on Friday by a man who said he’d been hit by a car near Safeway on South Market Boulevard in Chehalis and hurt his leg. The driver reportedly took the man home about six blocks away and then left, according to police. The man was taken to Providence Centralia Hospital to be evaluated.
DRUGS
• A pair of Marysville teenagers were arrested in Centralia just before 3 o’clock this morning and one of them was booked into the Lewis County Jail for possession of Ecstacy, according to police. Jordan T. Godsey, 19, was jailed and Chloe A. Kaehukaiopuaena, 19, was arrested for possession of drug paraphernalia, according to the Centralia Police Department. Kaehukaiopuaena was released after the contact with an officer near the northbound onramp from Harrison Avenue onto Interstate 5, according to police.
VEHICLE PROWLS
• Sometime between 11 p.m. on Friday and 2 p.m. on Saturday somebody prowled a car in a driveway on the 100 block of Dieckman Road in Adna, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. A neighbor’s Honda car was broken into the during the same time period, Chief Deputy Stacy Brown reported this morning. From that car, an estimated $350 of CDs were taken, according to Brown.
VANDALISM
• Centralia police were called just before 3 a.m. today about the rear window of a vehicle being smashed out at the 600 block of Harrison Avenue in Centralia.
HONDA STOLEN FROM WINLOCK FOUND STRIPPED OF WHEELS IN PORTLAND
• Lewis County detectives are looking for information about a white 1993 Honda stolen from Winlock car lot on the 400 block of Hart Road on Jan. 22 and then found on Jan. 31 in Portland missing its wheels and tires. The loss is estimated at more than $2,000. Anyone with information is asked to call Lewis County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-748-6422.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter