Toyota Tacoma truck/ Courtesy photos by Brad Bozarth
Tree on Middle Fork Road
TRUCK VERSUS TREE
• A 39-year-old Chehalis man was flown by helicopter to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle yesterday with suspected internal injuries after his truck crashed into a tree on Middle Fork Road near Jackson Highway south of Chehalis. Aid and deputies called about 2:15 p.m. found the 2006 Toyota Tacoma truck totaled but the driver was up and walking around, according to responders. The driver, Richard M. Axtell, was cited for driving under the influence, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. He remains hospitalized this morning in satisfactory condition.
ROLLOVER CRASH ON MILITARY ROAD
• Aid and police called 5:15 p.m. yesterday to a single-vehicle rollover accident on the 1700 block of Military Road in Centralia found a pickup truck on its side with nobody inside. The 28-year-old driver, Richard A. Lange, of Centralia, was subsequently arrested for negligent driving, hit and run and obstructing for fleeing the scene, according to the Centralia Police Department. He also was operating with a suspended license, police reported.
SUSPECTED HEROIN AND METH FOUND IN CAR
• A 28-year-old Cinebar man was arrested last night when Chehalis police found an estimated 80-plus grams of drugs in his car. It began around 10 p.m. when an off-duty Centralia police officer reported seeing a person he knew had a warrant at the 100 block of Southwest Interstate Avenue in Chehalis. Officers then went looking for a vehicle connected to that person which they believed had drugs in it, Deputy Police Chief Randy Kaut said. The car was found near the Labree Road freeway exit and impounded. Police found suspected methamphetamine and heroin, Kaut said. Christopher Chrisman was booked into the Lewis County Jail for intent to deliver, Kaut said.
TRESPASSING
• A 25-year-old man who was found hiding in the shower in an otherwise vacant motel room in Centralia yesterday was cited for trespassing and then arrested for a misdemeanor warrant, according to police. Matthew L. Emery, of Centralia, was booked into the Lewis County Jail, after the incident at the Peppertree Motel on the 1200 block of Alder Street, according to the Centralia Police Department.
• Police arrested a 21-year-old man yesterday at Centralia College who allegedly went onto the campus and took down a flyer with his picture on it – a flyer warning students to be on the lookout for him because he was prohibited from being at the school. Nicholas A. Claudio, of Centralia, was arrested for second-degree burglary, according to the Centralia Police Department. Claudio had reportedly assaulted a student previously.
BURGLARY AND THEFT
• Centralia police were called about 4 p.m. yesterday to a report of a residential burglary on the 600 block of Yew Street. Someone had forced open the back door and then stolen several gaming units and a camera, according to police.
• Centralia police took a report yesterday morning of pain medications stolen from the 900 block of West Pear Street.
• A deputy took a report about 7:30 p.m. yesterday of a break-in to a shop at the 700 block of Gish Road in Onalaska. Exactly what was missing wasn’t yet available. The padlock was cut off the door sometime between Feb. 21 and Thursday, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter