PILOT HOSPITALIZED AFTER SCAREY LANDING IN CHEHALIS
• A “belly landing” at the Chehalis-Centralia Airport yesterday left no one injured but the pilot was so shaken he had to be taken to the hospital, according to the Chehalis Fire Department. Firefighters called about 2 p.m. said a couple in the small amphibious-type plane were stopping for fuel on their way home to Lakewood from California. The pilot said he forgot to lower the landing gear, according to fire Capt. Ted McCarty. Surprisingly there was not much damage to the aircraft, McCarty said.
NEIGHBOR PURSUES SUSPECTED JEWEL THIEVES
• Deputies spent much of yesterday morning searching for a trio of suspected burglars off Big Hanaford Road outside Centralia. Just before 10 a.m. a neighbor spotted intruders inside a home on the 2800 block of Little Hanaford Road and confronted them, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The three fled in a car but the neighbor followed them and called 911, Chief Criminal Deputy Gene Seiber said. They abandoned their car and fled into the woods, Seiber said. According to Seiber, a Centralia police dog was summoned to search the area and eventually found 40-year-old Billy D. Powell. Two women were picked up later walking along the roadway. Jewelry was taken from the home, which had also been burglarized not long ago. Deputies were planning to conduct a search of the car in hopes of recovering the items, according to Seiber. Booked into the Lewis County Jail for burglary were Powell, Jean R. Muxen, 46, and Jerry L. Peterson, 46, all from Centralia, according to the sheriff’s office.
CAR VERSUS BUILDING
• A 51-year-old Rochester driver was arrested after she reportedly hit a building in Centralia this morning and then left the scene. Police were called about 6 a.m. to the 1000 block of Caveness Drive, where a vehicle had run into Les Schwab. An officer contacted Alicja Z. Scolypollari nearby and cited her for hit and run, driving with a suspended license and operating a vehicle without a required interlock device, according to the Centralia Police Department.
DRUGS
• Two individuals were arrested for possession of methamphetamine after contact with police about 12:30 this morning behind Rite Aid on Harrison Avenue in Centralia. A small bindle and a “scraper baggie” of suspected meth were found, according to police Sgt. Kurt Reichert. Booked into the Lewis County Jail were Danita K. Oster, 42, of Pe Ell, and Sean D. Cheever, 19, of Centralia, according to the Centralia Police Department. Cheever was also booked on an outstanding warrant, police reported.
CAR PROWL
• Centralia police took a report about 8 a.m. yesterday of a wallet stolen from an unlocked vehicle on the 1200 block of Alder Street. it was later recovered, according to police.
OVERNIGHT CRASH
• Firefighters were called just before 5 o’clock this morning to the southbound lanes of Interstate 5 near the Mellen Street interchange in Centralia where three vehicles were involved a collision, including a big truck belonging to the state Department of Transportation which is designed to park and protect roadway workers. Nobody was injured, according to Riverside Fire Authority.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter