Prosecutor: Mineral woman made up rape story

January 18th, 2017

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – An 18-year-old woman went before a judge today in Lewis County Superior Court accused of lying when she reported to a deputy that a 16-year-old boy tried to rape her.

Sierah L. Daniels is charged with malicious prosecution, a felony with a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Jessica Blye told the judge Daniels has no prior criminal history and recommended she be allowed release pending trial on a $5,000 unsecured bond. Judge Joely O’Rourke agreed.

Daniels had been summonsed to appear, after the charge was filed at the end of December.

Charging documents describe a Lewis County Sheriff’s Office deputy being dispatched on Dec. 2 for an attempted rape in Mineral and meeting Daniels at the Morton Police Department.

She reportedly told the deputy the boy, now 17, attempted to have sex with her when he showed up to her trailer in Mineral, first asking her and when she said no, forcing her down on the bed.

She said he began to force her knees apart when her husband’s mother walked in, Deputy Prosecutor Jeffrey Schaap wrote in the affidavit regarding probable cause.

However, the deputy then interviewed the boy who said they’d made a plan to meet at her trailer at 6 o’clock before school, according to Schaap, and after he arrived they hugged and her answer to his question was, “I don’t know.”

He reportedly said he was rubbing her thigh when the mother-in-law walked in and he would take a polygraph to prove he did nothing wrong, according to Schaap.

Schaap wrote that when the sheriff’s deputy re-contacted Daniels, she admitted she lied and made up the story to avoid a rift in her marriage.

Daniels was accompanied to court this afternoon by her husband. She was given a court-appointed lawyer and told to return for her arraignment on Jan. 26.

Winlock man denies molestation charge

January 18th, 2017

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A 50-year-old Winlock man accused by a 6-year-old relative of touching her beneath her underwear was allowed to remain free pending trial on a $10,000 unsecured bond when he appeared in court today.

John M. Stafford was charged in Lewis County Superior Court at the end of December with one count of first-degree child molestation. He was summonsed to appear before a judge this afternoon and did so, accompanied by his parents and his daughter.

Judge Joely O’Rourke set his bail as requested and ordered him not to have any contact with minor children or go anywhere they might congregate.

Court documents state that a Lewis County Sheriff’s Office deputy spoke with the girl’s mother on June 6 and an appointment was arranged with a child forensic interviewer.

The kindergartner allegedly said Stafford sticks his hand down her pants and rubs her panties, he had touched her 33 times and the last time it happened was a the park, Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Melissa Bohm wrote in charging documents.

The girl’s mom said the last time the child was around Stafford was around Easter.

When the deputy interviewed Stafford, he denied the allegations, according to Bohm.

Outside the court room, Stafford said the accusations were false and in retaliation for an incident he had with the girl’s father in the past, who vowed he would get back at him.

Stafford’s arraignment is scheduled for Jan. 26. First-degree child molestation carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.

News brief: Woman missing from Thurston County

January 18th, 2017

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Thurston County authorities are asking the public to call 911 if they see a missing 69-year-old woman or her car.

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Carol Biehl

Carol A. Biehl was last seen at noon yesterday in the Olympia area driving a white 1996 Honda Accord, according to the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office.

Biehl suffers from dementia and has heart conditions, according to Sgt. Carla Carter.

She is 5-feet 4-inches tall, weighs about 235 pounds and has blue eyes with gray hair dyed light brown, according to Carter.

The car has a license plate reading 911 SLJ.

Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

January 18th, 2017
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•••

Updated at 12:12 p.m.

WILD CHILD

• Chehalis police were called at 6:23 a.m. today when a motorist spotted an approximately 3-year-old girl wearing a dress running along Northwest Airport Road toward Northwest Louisiana Avenue. A Twin Transit bus driver picked the child up, called 911 and met a police officer at the stop near Westside Park, according to the Chehalis Police Department. It turns out, she had put on her boots, but not a coat, and left home “off on an adventure” by herself, department spokesperson Linda Bailey said. “Dad however, when he discovered she was missing, was frantically looking for her,” Bailey said. The father called 911 at 6:39 a.m. to report he woke up and found his daughter was gone. The two were reunited at the police department, Bailey said. Bailey said she didn’t have all the details yet, but it didn’t appear the little girl had traveled very far from her home before she was picked up.

GARDEN TOOL TAKEN

• Police were called to the 200 block of Tilley Avenue just after 9 o’clock yesterday morning where someone had stolen a weed eater from the garage during the night.

BANK CARD FRAUD

• Centralia police were called about 11:10 a.m. yesterday to take a report that a credit card had been stolen and was used at a local business, in a case associated with the 2000 block of Borst Avenue. The investigation is ongoing, according to the Centralia Police Department.

OOPS

• Chehalis police were called to the 10 block of Southwest Scott Place about 1:15 p.m. yesterday after a resident discovered a repo man had wrongly hooked up their vehicle to tow it away and caused some damage in the process. A neighbor had observed the tow truck and driver behind the home and remarked that the owner always paid their bills, according to the Chehalis Police Department. The driver checked the paperwork, realized the mistake and unhooked the vehicle, department spokesperson Linda Bailey said. “We’re going to try to figure out who the repo person was,” Bailey said. She didn’t have a description of the damage.

VANDALISM

• An officer was called to the 500 block of Hamilton Avenue in Centralia just before 8 a.m. yesterday following the discovery that power wires going in to a house had been damaged.

ON THE ROAD

• The overwhelming odor of marijuana emitted by a motorist contacted following a traffic stop on Interstate 5 south of Chehalis yesterday morning led to an arrest for driving under the influence. A deputy headed northbound near milepost 73 observed the driver cutting off another vehicle, causing the other vehicle to swerve out of its lane, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Christopher A. White, 46, of Tacoma, was pulled over about 10 a.m. and was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the sheriff’s office.

AND MORE

• And, as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, hit and run; responses for alarm, dispute, civil issue, harassment, vehicle collision, suspicious circumstances … and more among 129 calls for local law enforcement and / or fire-emergency medical services in the 24-hour period ending about 7 a.m. today.

Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

January 17th, 2017
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•••

Updated at 3:16 p.m.

BREAK-IN TOLEDO

• A deputy was called for a residential burglary on Saturday at the 100 block of Templeton Road outside of Toledo in which a safe, three cell phones and two security cameras were stolen. The break-in occurred between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. that day, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The safe was found down the road on Sunday morning, Chief Deputy Dusty Breen said.

BREAK-IN WINLOCK

• Someone got into a Winlock woman’s barn at the 600 block of Meier Road and stole a Chicago meat saw valued at $350 sometime in the weeks previous to Sunday, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

MESSING WITH THE MAIL

• A deputy was called on Sunday to the 200 block of Blakeley Lane in Toledo where a woman reported two $400 rent checks had been stolen from her mailbox sometime during the previous two weeks, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

AUTO THEFT

• Centralia police were called about 6:40 a.m. today to take a report of a black 2000 Honda Civic stolen from the 200 block of South Tower Avenue. The car has a license plate reading BAE 8186, according to the Centralia Police Department.

CAR PROWL

• An officer was called to the 300 block of Southwest 16th Street in Chehalis just before 2 p.m. on Sunday following the discovery of a vehicle prowl that occurred sometime since Friday. The driver’s side back window was broken out, according to the Chehalis Police Department. A window was broken on a friend’s vehicle parked there as well, according to police.

• Chehalis police were called just after 3 p.m. on Saturday to the Lewis County Mall where a woman found someone had broken out her passenger side window. Nothing seemed to be missing, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

• Chehalis police were called about 2:30 p.m. on Friday to the 1000 block of South Market Boulevard to take a report of a stolen rear license plate from a vehicle.

WALLET LIFTED

• Chehalis police were called on Friday afternoon by a woman who had left her purse in a cart at the 2100 block of North National Avenue the Monday before and while someone turned it in to the store, her checkbook-style wallet was missing from inside.

MACGYVER MOVE

• A deputy was called to the Lewis County Jail on Saturday following the discovery an inmate allegedly took apart a mop bucket, removed a metal rod and attempted to sharpen it. Jeremy L. Boggess, 45, of Centralia, reportedly said he wasn’t going to hurt anyone with it but planned to use it to destroy a camera, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Boggess was re-booked for possession of weapon by a prisoner, according to the sheriff’s office.

DRUGS

• A 45-year-old man picked up on an outstanding misdemeanor warrant was also arrested for possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver following a search incident to his arrest on Friday evening at the 500 block of South Oak Street in Centralia. Harold J. Bland, from Centralia, was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

• Chehalis police were called to Green Hill School about 1:45 p.m. on Friday where a 16-year-old student-inmate had allegedly been found with suspicious green vegetable material.

ON THE ROAD, OFF THE ROAD

• Chehalis police were called just after 8:30 a.m. on Saturday after a vehicle slid on some ice in the parking lot at the 600 block of West Main Street and hit the building. The damage was minimal, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

• Two Olympia men were injured when their car crossed the centerline on U.S. Highway 12 about 15 miles east of Packwood just before 9:20 yesterday morning and collided with a fifth-wheel trailer being towed by a pickup truck. The 1997 Audi was totaled as was the fifth-wheel, according to the Washington State Patrol. The driver, Haroun W. Bryant, 27, and his passenger Jordan A. Frost, 25, declined to be taken to the hospital, according to the state patrol. They had been wearing their seat belts and headed westbound, the investigating trooper reports. The 55-year-old driver of the pickup truck, from Puyallup, was reportedly unhurt.

AND MORE

• And, as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, assault, driving with suspended license, driving without a license, misdemeanor assault; responses for alarm, dispute, civil issue, unfounded report, suspicious circumstances, a hypothermic male laying on the road asking passerby for a ride … and more among 116 calls for local law enforcement and / or fire-emergency medical services in the 24-hour period ending about 7 a.m. today.

Self defense course draws moms, daughters

January 16th, 2017
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Chehalis resident Lisa Isom, center, is coached by self defense instructor Rob Gebhart on a move she’s trying with Katie Gift.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – One of them is a registered nurse who sees potentially out-of-control patients, three are teenage girls who want to feel safer on college campus’s and two are mothers of those girls.

Their instructor is a friendly-looking man who’s been studying and teaching martial arts for about 40 years.

On a recent cold weekend in Chehalis, they came together to learn what he calls common sense self defense, for women.

“We won’t be doing a bunch of wristy-twisty, trying to hold someone down type stuff,” Rob Gebhart said.

The focus is how to protect yourself and then get away, he said.

“My goal is to make you harder to kill,” he said.

Gebhart is a fourth-degree black belt in Danzan Ryu Jujitsu. He operates Ohana Martial Arts in Chehalis.

The two-day class was held in the upstairs of the Chehalis Fire Department, where Gebhart is a captain.

The lecture and hands on training is drawn from various disciplines and only one-third of it involves the physical aspects of a fight. As important, according to Gebhart, are the emotional and psychological components of a confrontation.

And preparation.

For example, Gebhart tells the group to get comfortable with violence, in terms of, instead of looking away from it, to do some research to reduce the fear of it. Like someone might do if they’re afraid of snakes, he said.

He talked to the women about paying attention to their intuition, that feeling one might get in the pit of their stomach when something is not quite right in their environment.

The introductory physical responses to a surprise attack were straightforward and simple.

“We take what the body wants to do naturally and show how that can be used in self defense or combat,” Gebhart wrote as he described the course in an invitation to observe.

The class ran from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. on a Saturday and was scheduled for the same hours the following day.

Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

January 16th, 2017
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•••

BUSINESS BURGLARY

• Somebody broke into a business at the 300 block of West Main Street in Centralia and stole clothing and costume jewelry, according to a report made to police about 10:30 a.m. yesterday.

PORTABLE GENERATOR STOLEN

• Centralia police were called just before noon yesterday to the 1000 block of North Scheuber Road where an individual reported that sometime during the night unknown persons unlocked his storage shed and stole a portable gas generator, according to the Centralia Police Department.

YARD PROWL

• An officer was called to the 1500 block of Belmont Avenue in Centralia about 9:30 a.m. on Saturday to take a report that during the night, someone stole a bicycle and air compressor from beside a residence.

CAR PROWL

• Police took a report from the 2300 block of Rosewood Lane in Centralia on Saturday morning that sometime during the night, someone broke the window of a vehicle parked there and stole a backpack.

VANDALISM

• Police were called to the 900 block of H Street in Centralia yesterday just after 11 a.m. where someone had thrown a rock through the back window of someone else’s vehicle.

ON THE ROAD, OFF THE ROAD

• A 60-year-old motorist was arrested for driving under the influence after he lost control of his vehicle which flipped onto its top striking a parked vehicle along the 1000 block of South Gold Street in Centralia on Saturday night. Officers called just after 8 p.m. found his two passengers sustained minor injuries, according to the Centralia Police Department. Robert E. Morrison, 60, of Centralia, was also arrested for reckless endangerment and booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to police.

• A 72-year-old man was injured and two passenger vehicles were totaled when he attempted to cross U.S. Highway 12 in Salkum on Friday evening and his 2012 Ford F150 pickup struck an eastbound 2007 Toyota Tundra pickup. Charles E. Dunham, from Salkum, was transported to Providence Centralia Hospital, according to the Washington State Patrol. Dunham was not wearing a seatbelt, according to the state patrol. The other driver, a 29-year-old man from Vancouver, was reportedly unhurt. Dunham had been traveling on Salkum Road and headed to Fuller Road, according to the state patrol. He was to be cited for failure to yield the right of way.

AND MORE

• And, as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, obstructing, resisting arrest, driving with suspended license, driving under the influence, protection order violation, misdemeanor domestic assault; responses for alarm, dispute, civil issue, hit and run, vehicle collision, third-degree theft, suspicious circumstances … and more among 368 calls for local law enforcement and / or fire-emergency medical services in the 72-hour period ending about 7 a.m. today.