BRANDISHING A FIREARM
• Police arrested a Centralia resident yesterday for pointing a gun at 36-year-old man who who came to his door. Officers were called about 6:30 p.m. about the incident that reportedly occurred at the 1500 block of Lewis Street. Officer John Panco said Christopher L. Spencer, 34, and his wife were home when the man showed up to tell him some information that Spencer didn’t like hearing. Spencer reportedly retrieved a handgun, pointed it at the visitor and told him to leave, according to Panco. Spencer was arrested and booked into the Lewis County Jail for unlawful display of a firearm. Panco didn’t reveal what the information was, suggesting it was personal. Spencer’s actions didn’t rise as it sometimes would to level of assault for pointing the gun because the victim told police the behavior didn’t leave him fearing he was in serious danger, Panco said.
THEFT
• For the fourth time in the recent past, Lewis County PUD reported yesterday someone stole copper ground wire from multiple utility poles, leaving the public at risk for getting electrocuted. A deputy was called to state Route 7 in Morton to the latest report, where some 70 feet of wire had been taken from power poles, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. That apparently occurred in May and cost PUD about $2,500, according to the sheriff’s office. On Friday, a deputy took a report that someone had taken stole six-foot lengths of copper ground wire from 21 utility poles along Lincoln Creek Road outside Centralia. PUD Superintendent Greg Hart said today it’s happened four times around the county lately and a missing ground wire leaves the risk for someone getting electrocuted. Not to mention the person cutting the wire, Hart said. He recently learned there were 29 fatalities last year around the country connected with such attempts, he said.
WANTED MAN FOUND IN CENTRALIA
• Centralia police arrested Ricardo Martinez-Hernandez about 1 p.m. yesterday at the 300 block of East Magnolia Street for second-degree assault in connection with an incident the day before in which he allegedly hit his wife with an aluminum chair and punched her in the face. The 25-year-old man was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department.
COLLISION WITH AMBULANCE
• Centralia police were summoned about 10:45 a.m. yesterday to East Summa and South Gold streets where a vehicle bumped into the back of an ambulance. No injuries were reported, according to the Centralia Police Department.
FRAUD
• A 91-year-old Lewis County woman was tricked into handing over $1,400 purported to be a fee she needed to pay to collect millions of dollars she won in a lottery, the sheriff’s office revealed on Monday. The sheriff’s office reports she is one of at least three recent victims – in Toledo, Winlock and Vader – of a scam that has targeted older residents locally. Detectives have found victims are contacted by phone and told they won a “huge lottery” but need to wire money or mail a money order for the “winning fee”, according to a news release from the sheriff’s office. The sheriff’s office thinks the scammers are working out of Jamaica, the news release notes. Further details about the crimes or when they occurred was not released. Sheriff Steve Mansfield stated in the news release that real lotteries don’t ask for money in order to pay out winnings and anyone who is unsure if they are dealing with a legitimate organization can call the sheriff’s office.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter