Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

December 27th, 2016
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Updated at 12:41 p.m.

DOMESTIC INCIDENTS

• A 49-year-old man who allegedly grabbed his roommate by the throat from behind and pulled her to the ground was arrested on Sunday night for second-degree assault. A deputy responding to the 400 block of 10th Street in Vader about 8:20 p.m. booked James M. Shank into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Prosecutors declined to file the felony charge and are moving the case to Lewis County District Court.

• A 25-year-old Longview man who allegedly broke the back window of his girlfriend’s vehicle at the 3600 block of Cooks Hill Road in Centralia on Friday afternoon during a dispute was subsequently located and arrested for third-degree malicious mischief, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Christopher K. Brotherton was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the sheriff’s office.

• A 23-year-old Curtis resident was arrested yesterday for second-degree malicious mischief for a Friday morning incident at the 2200 block of Wildwood Road in Curtis in which she allegedly damaged her father’s antique desk, a wall and the floor. Lara N. McComb was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

THEFT, THEFT, THEFT

• Centralia police were called to the 100 block of West High Street about 7:15 p.m. yesterday where the business reported two males stole over $1,000 worth of merchandise and then fled the store.  The case is currently under investigation, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• An individual called Centralia police just after 7 p.m. yesterday to report a residential burglary at the 700 block of Euclid Way. Sometime during the previous 24 hours, someone broke in and stole clothing and speakers, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• Centralia police were called to the 2900 block of Mount Vista Road just before 6 p.m. yesterday to take a report someone had damaged a vending machine by prying open the money ports, according to the Centralia Police Department. It’s not yet known if anything was taken, according to police.

• An individual called Chehalis police about 12:30 a.m. today to report that previously someone had placed his truck on blocks – on Southwest Seventh Street – and stole the rear tires and then returned to try to take the front tires, but he had put locking lug nuts on them, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

• An officer was called about 3:45 a.m. on Saturday by a resident on the 1000 block of South Market Boulevard in Chehalis who said she heard a noise and when she checked, saw a male on her front porch take her wind chime, put it in a backpack and leave on a bicycle.

• Officers responded to the 100 block of Engle Drive in Morton about 10:45 p.m. on Thursday to a possible vehicle theft.  A 1998 Ford Contour was reported to possibly be stolen by two individuals that had been staying at the residence, according to the Morton Police Department. The case is still under investigation, according to police.

CAR PROWL

• Police were called about 11:35 p.m. yesterday to the 1600 block of Northwest Louisiana Avenue in Chehalis when an employee discovered someone had rummaged through the glove box and trunk of her car and stole six packs of cigarettes, the vehicle owner’s manual and some “owl” cards, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

• A deputy was called to the 100 block of Armstrong Road outside Chehalis yesterday following the discovery of a vehicle prowl in which someone stole a jacket with a Smith and Wesson handgun in its pocket, $520 cash and a stocking cap, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. It happened sometime between 1:30 a.m. and 8:30 a.m., according to the sheriff’s office.

• Centralia police were called regarding a vehicle prowl about 4:25 p.m. on Friday at the 800 block of Harrison Avenue. A backpack was taken, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• Someone broke the window of a vehicle parked at the 700 block of Harrison Avenue in Centralia and stole a gift, according to a report made to police just before 2 p.m. on Friday.

DRUGS

• A deputy responding to a dispute about 11:45 p.m. yesterday subsequently contacted one of the parties who had left and arrested him for possession of cocaine. Rafael Martinez-Ledesma was located driving along Little Hanaford Road outside Centralia and smelled of alcohol, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. A search incident to that arrest turned up two bindles of a white powder that field tested positive for the drug, according to the sheriff’s office. He was booked into the Lewis County Jail and a case of driving under the influence will be referred to prosecutors, according to the sheriff’s office.

TRESPASSING

• Centralia police arrested a 31-year-old man inside a vacant house at Centralia College Boulevard and Washington Avenue about 11:45 p.m. on Christmas Eve after discovering he had broken in, according to the Centralia Police Department. Steven D. Couch, of Chehalis, was booked into the Lewis County Jail for first-degree criminal trespass, according to police.

• An officer was called about 4:40 a.m. on Saturday by a woman at the 10 block of Southwest Cascade Avenue in Chehalis who said she found someone left candy by the pillow on her bed, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

OTHER CRIMES

• A man called Chehalis police about 10:30 p.m. yesterday to report that when his vehicle’s door was shut at a parking lot, the rear window shattered. It was the second time he was similarly victimized, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

ON THE ROAD, OFF THE ROAD

• A 34-year-old Onalaska resident who was allegedly driving under the influence when he ran his vehicle into a ditch near the intersection of Middle Fork and Tauscher roads was arrested about 7 p.m. on Saturday. Dustin L. Nichols was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

• A police vehicle slipped on black ice and struck a utility pole on Mellen Street in Centralia about 6 o’clock on Saturday morning, according to the Centralia Police Department. The officer was not injured and an outside agency was asked to conduct the investigation, according to police.

• An individual called 911 just before 7 p.m. on Friday to say someone threw something off the West Street overpass which struck the caller’s car as it was traveling north on Interstate 5. They said they did not need contact, according to the Chehalis Police Department. A responding officer was unable to locate a suspect, according to police.

AND MORE

• And, as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, misdemeanor domestic assault, driving under the influence, driving with suspended license, violation of no-contact order; responses for alarm, dispute, shoplifting, civil issue, hit and run, vandalism, vehicle collision, third-degree theft, suspicious circumstances … and more

Flames tear through turn-of-the-century Salkum home

December 27th, 2016
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Two-story house on Fuller Road is surrounded by yellow tape after blaze on Christmas Eve Day. / Courtesy photo by Derrick Paul

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The cause of a fire that destroyed a large, old two-story farmhouse on Saturday in Salkum remains under investigation.

Firefighters called about 10:45 a.m. to the 200 block of Fuller Road found the wood frame structure fully involved in flames, with a large hole already burned through its roof, according to Lewis County Fire District 8.

There were vehicles parked in the driveway, but after two thorough searches of the interior, they concluded nobody was there, Fire Chief Duran McDaniel said.

McDaniel said it’s probably one of the oldest homes in the valley, constructed around the turn of the century.

Nearly 20 firefighters from two districts battled the blaze, hauling about 20,000 gallons of water, McDaniel said.

They stopped the spread before it consumed an attached shed, he said.

McDaniel said he’s not sure who was living there, but understands a sheriff’s deputy, who was first on the scene, later interviewed the gentleman who resided there.

A crew was on scene until 3:15 p.m., according to McDaniel.

A fire investigator was there a few hours on Saturday and plans to return this week.

Christmas Eve crash claims a life, south of Chehalis

December 25th, 2016

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – One person died at the scene and another was hospitalized after a single-vehicle wreck last night on state Route 508 near Forest-Napavine Road.

Troopers and aid were called about 8:40 p.m. to the wreck with entrapment south of Chehalis. The Honda Accord had been westbound, left the roadway to the right and struck a tree, according to the Washington State Patrol.

The passenger, Thomas D. Lininger, 43, of Chehalis died at the scene, according to the state patrol.

The driver, Kimberly J. McPherson, 51, from Centralia, was transported to Providence Centralia Hospital because no air transport was available due of the weather, according to responders.

Both had been wearing seat belts, the state patrol reports.

The state patrol is investigating the collision but indicates drugs or alcohol were believed to be involved.

Merry Christmas and happy holidays to all

December 25th, 2016

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By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Centralia rape charge that ended in mistrial is dismissed

December 24th, 2016
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By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A judge has found a Lewis County rape case must be dismissed because of intentional governmental misconduct by the sheriff’s deputy assisting the prosecutor during the trial.

The trial in Lewis County Superior Court began and then ended the same day last month in a mistrial.

Jordan T. White, 23, of Centralia, was facing a charge of second-degree rape for an alleged incident in 2014 at a rural Centralia home involving a young woman with whom he had somewhat of an intimate relationship.

Lewis County Superior Court Judge Nelson Hunt decided last week to dismiss the case. At issue was nonverbal communication in front of the jury by Lewis County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Justin Rodgers, who was seated at the prosecutor’s table for the trial. Rodgers investigated the case.

Defense attorney Shane O’Rourke and Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Melissa Bohm each filed a proposed written order to document the judge’s decision. The two differed in how to characterize what occurred.

This week, the two lawyers and Judge Hunt spent almost an hour in a hearing discussing what the order should state. The document is called Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law.

They agreed that Deputy Rodgers, while seated next to Bohm, dropped his pen onto the table at a particular point during the trial which drew the attention of members of the jury. He also had gestured to the alleged victim while she was on the witness stand.

“Deputy Rodgers engaged in intentional governmental misconduct by showing his disgust at the defendant’s version of events and communicating with the alleged victim through hand gestures during her testimony,” Hunt said of the wording he would adopt in the final document.

Judge Hunt went on to say that when the jury was sent out of the room and he questioned the deputy about his actions, the deputy was not immediately forthcoming in his answers.

The state has 30 days in which to decide if it will appeal the dismissal, according to Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer.

The mistrial occurred on Nov. 29. Follow up hearings were held on Dec. 14 and this past Wednesday.

The incident was reported in the spring of 2015 to the sheriff’s office and charges were filed late this summer. The alleged victim said she was heavily intoxicated and realized the next morning she had been anally penetrated, according to court documents. White told the deputy what they did was her idea, because she wanted to remain a virgin, according to the documents.

O’Rourke said his client has mixed feelings about the outcome of his case.

“I think a lot of people would expect relief, or jubilance,” he said. “It’s not like that.”

Their position on the case was White was wrongly charged and they had been prepared to go all the way to a verdict, O’Rourke said.

An attempt to seek comment from Deputy Rodgers through the sheriff’s office resulted in Chief Deputy Dusty Breen stating that neither they nor the deputy would comment. Breen said the sheriff’s office would review what occurred.
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For background, read “Rape case: Trial cut short in Lewis County Superior Court” from Wednesday November 30, 2016, here

Centralia wife pleads not guilty to murder

December 23rd, 2016
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Janet L. Anderson is led to the defendant’s table in Lewis County Superior Court.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The Centralia woman who drove to the police station to report she’d fatally shot her husband was brought before a judge again yesterday afternoon for arraignment.

Janet L. Anderson, 39, has been held in the Lewis County Jail since she was arrested on Saturday. She is charged with second-degree murder.

Clad in red jail garb, handcuffed and shackled at her waist, Anderson sat silently beside her court appointed lawyer.

Lewis County Superior Court Judge James Lawler asked Anderson for her plea.

Her eyes were on the judge when she leaned forward slightly toward a microphone and responded, “Not guilty.”

Anderson is being held on $1 million bail.

She told police she and her spouse, 41-year-old Ty Anderson, had been arguing at their home off of West Oakview Avenue and he grabbed his gun and pointed it at her.

However, Ty Anderson’s body was located in their bedroom wrapped in a tarp, with a bullet hole in the back of his neck and another in his lower back, prosecutors allege.

Lewis County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Sara Beigh has told the court they suspect as much as 12 hours may have passed before Anderson turned herself in.

She is represented by Centralia attorney Shane O’Rourke.

O’Rourke and Beigh yesterday scheduled Anderson’s trial for the week of Feb. 13.
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For background, read “Centralia husband took a bullet to the base of the back of his neck, wife charged with murder” from Monday December 19, 2016, here

Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

December 23rd, 2016
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GIFTS SNATCHED FROM PORCH

• Centralia police were called about 11 a.m. yesterday when two people were reportedly seen stealing Christmas presents off of the front porch of a house at the 1000 block of B Street shortly after they were delivered. The presents were located and returned to their owner, according to the Centralia Police Department. Jeff D. Prindle, 31, of Centralia, and Cherisse M. Pearson, 29, of Spokane, were arrested and booked into the Lewis County Jail for third-degree theft, according to police.

FRAUD

• Police were called about 8:45 a.m. yesterday by an individual who reported suspicious charges on his bank account in Chehalis and saw someone had used his debit card.

HANDBAG STOLEN

• Chehalis police were called just before 6 p.m. yesterday by an individual who realized she left her purse in a shopping cart in the parking lot at the 1600 block of Northwest Louisiana Avenue and discovered nobody had turned it in to lost and found.

‘EVICTED’ FROM SOMEONE ELSE’S HOME

• A 36-year-old man who had taken up residence in a vacant house on the 100 block of South Washington Avenue in Centralia was arrested just before 6 o’clock this morning, according to the Centralia Police Department. Travis L. Gray, a homeless person, was wanted on two outstanding warrants, according to police. One was a Centralia Municipal Court warrant related to trespassing and the other a Lewis County Superior Court warrant for possession of a stolen vehicle, according to police. He was booked into the Lewis County Jail.

AND MORE

• And, as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, third-degree theft, misdemeanor domestic assault, driving with suspended license; responses for alarm, dispute, civil issue, harassment, disorderly person, vehicle collision, suspicious circumstances, person sleeping on a sidewalk, person sleeping on an outdoor bench, backdoor kicked in at a vacant house … and more among 131 calls for local law enforcement and / or fire-emergency medical services in the 24-hour period ending about 7 a.m. today.