This was updated at 6:15 p.m.
THREATS WITH GUNS
• A 22-year-old Centralia man was jailed last night after police were told he pointed a sawed off shotgun at three individuals at apartments on the 100 block of Virginia Drive in Centralia and threatened to shoot them. Officers were called about 7 p.m. and took Samuel Ponce-Ruiz into custody without incident, according to the Centralia Police Department. It began as an argument between neighbors, according to police. Ponce-Ruiz was booked into the Lewis County Jail for three counts of first-degree assault, according to police. The landscaper who works in Rochester was subsequently charged today with three counts of first-degree assault and ordered held on $100,000 bail. Ponce-Ruiz’s fiance was reportedly arguing with neighbors across the street from their apartment about the father of her 10-year-old son who had come around asking about the child, according to charging documents. The three un-named individuals said Ponce-Ruiz pulled up his shirt to show a long gun with a brown handle, the documents allege. The three witnesses said he pointed it at them, saying they were lucky there were children there; he denied it to police, according to the documents. Centralia police found a 20-gauge firearm in a couch cushion in his apartment when they searched, the documents state.
• A 24-year-old Glenoma man was arrested for second-degree assault after he allegedly assaulted his wife and brandished a pistol on Saturday afternoon in Glenoma. A family member took the gun away and then Evan L. Blake produced a rifle which he pointed at himself and his wife, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Blake was booked into the Lewis County Jail.
SIGN TAPED ON COURTHOUSE DRAWS POLICE
• Chehalis police were called yesterday morning to investigate a sign taped to the front door of the Lewis County Law and Justice Center with a rambling note mentioning District Court Judge R.W. Buzzard. The judge was informed and police are asking their city attorney to determine if the message constituted harassment, according to Chehalis police. “It looks like the writing of somebody who has mental issues,” detective Sgt. Rick McNamara said this morning. The sign included statements such as “The Law and Justice Center is a lie,” he said. A 63-year-old woman who apparently authored the note signed it, he said.
JUVENILE ESCAPES FROM PARK WORK CREW
• Centralia police were called about 9 a.m. on Saturday when a inmate from the Lewis County Juvenile Detention Center ran away from a work crew in Fort Borst Park. The 14-year-old boy, picked up within a few hours at a Chehalis apartment, said he was sorry for running away, Chehalis police said this morning.
THEFTS
• A Ford Ranger stolen from Longview was recovered yesterday at property on the 700 block of Rhoades Road in Winlock, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. A 43-year-old man at the address is being referred for a possible charge of possession of a stolen vehicle, the sheriff’s office reported. A stolen hay baler thought to be on the premises was not found, according to Chief Deputy Stacy Brown.
• A deputy took a report Friday night of the theft of dark blue 1991 Plymouth acclaim from the 200 block of Mattson Road west of Centralia. The victim believed the $650 car was towed from the end of his driveway sometime between Feb. 15 and last Tuesday, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.
• A four-wheeled ATV valued at an estimated $1,500 was reported stolen from the 200 block of Plomondon Road near Toledo, according to a report made yesterday, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Missing is a 1996 Yamaha Warrior 350, according to the sheriff’s office.
• Centralia police took a report of unauthorized charges to a woman’s credit card on Friday morning from the 1200 block of Lum Road in Centralia. The victim was reportedly the subject of a recent vehicle prowl, according to police.
• Police were called about 6 a.m. on Saturday morning to a burglary on the 600 block of Main Avenue in Morton. Somebody got in the residence through a window and stole an estimated $700 of “miscellaneous personal items”, according to the Morton Police Department.
• Morton police took a report about 1 p.m. on Thursday of a recreational vehicle being broke into at a storage facility in the 700 block of Airport Way. The value of the items taken is not yet available, according to the Morton Police Department.
DRUGS
• Centralia police arrested a 52-year-old Centralia man early this morning for possession of methamphetamine. Steven M. Yoke was booked into the Lewis County Jail after contact with an officer on the 700 block of Harrison Avenue about 2:45 a.m. today, according to the Centralia Police Department.
VANDALISM
• Chehalis police were called to the Lewis County Juvenile Detention Center on Southwest Pacific Avenue yesterday about damage to a cell by one of the detainees. An officer was told the 17-year-old boy cracked a light and carved on the toilet seat, door and wall, according to police.
• Chehalis police took a report of BB gun holes in a window at the Eugenia Center on the 100 block of Northwest Chehalis Avenue on Friday morning.
• Chehalis police were called about 2:30 a.m. on Saturday about a car being “egged” on the 1000 block of 20th Street.
• Police took a report on Friday morning of graffiti on a shop building in the 1500 block of Windsor Avenue in Centralia.
TEENAGE ADNA PARTY BUSTED
• Deputies broke up an underage drinking party on Friday night in Adna where at least 13 individuals were cited or potentially will be cited, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Deputies called about a dispute about 11:45 p.m. on the 700 block of Twin Oaks Road found no dispute, but did find 10 juveniles and three 18-year-olds at the party, according to Chief Deputy Stacy Brown. The juveniles were turned over to their parents, Brown said.
COLLISIONS
• Deputies called about 8 p.m. last night to the 3200 block of Jackson Highway in Chehalis found a truck with an estimated $750 damage and a cow with a broken leg, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The driver said it was dark and she didn’t see the animal in the middle of the road, the sheriff’s office reported. She was reportedly unhurt.
• A 32-year-old Chehalis man was treated for a minor head injury after his vehicle ran into a tree off state Route 6 near River Road west of Chehalis early Saturday morning. Troopers called about 3:45 a.m. reported James M. Greenwood III would be cited for driving under the influence. His 1998 Toyota pickup sustained an estimated $4,000 damage, according to the Washington State Patrol. He was taken to Providence Centralia Hospital and has since been released.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter