Posts Tagged ‘news reporter’

News brief: One seriously hurt in Adna wreck

Wednesday, September 28th, 2016

Updated at 6:35 p.m.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – One person in critical condition was flown to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle after a collision between a dirt bike and another vehicle yesterday in Adna.

Firefighters and medics called about 3 p.m. to the 100 block of Spooner Road arrived to find bystanders performing CPR on a man on the roadway, according to Lewis County Fire District 6.

Medics stopped CPR when the patient regained consciousness, according to fire department spokesperson DJ Hammer.

The man, in his early 70s, was transported to the Adna High School stadium where he was picked up by a helicopter, according to Hammer.

It appeared the 72-year-old Chehalis resident pulled out of his driveway on his motorcycle and failed to yield, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. He was hit by a GMC2500 pickup truck, which sustained major damage, Chief Deputy Dusty Breen said.

The 40-year-old Chehalis man driving the pickup was reportedly unhurt.

Breen said the victim had been wearing a helmet, but it was ripped off from the wreck, leaving him with head trauma.

His 1986 Dual Sport Honda XL250 motorcycle was licensed for the road, but was a total loss, according to Breen.

Drugs, guns and an arrest in Chehalis

Tuesday, September 27th, 2016
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Drannon B. Smythe sits with his temporary defense attorney this afternoon in from of judge in Lewis County Superior Court.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – He said he came to the door with a loaded AK-47, but put it down when law enforcement outside verified who they were, court documents state.

Twenty-three-year-old Drannon B. Smythe was charged today in Lewis County Superior Court with possession of heroin with intent to deliver, possession of methamphetamine and second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm.

The criminal charges follow his arrest at his Chehalis home yesterday on the 200 block of Newaukum Valley Golf Course Drive, according to the documents.

Drug detectives served a search warrant there, seizing thirteen firearms from around the apartment, several of which were loaded, including a TEC-9 that was on the wall, the documents relate.

Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Paul Masiello writes law enforcement collected approximately one ounce of heroin, roughly a quarter ounce of meth, digital scales and just over $3,000 cash as well as several prescription pills. They found thousands of clean, unused baggies, according to Masiello.

Smythe allegedly told detectives the guns belonged to him and he’d obtained them through drug transactions.

He reportedly said if law enforcement had served the warrant the previous day, he’d have had pounds of methamphetamine, but he was robbed.

The case was handled by the local Joint Narcotics Enforcement Team. Further details were not readily available this afternoon.

Temporary defense attorney Joely O’Rourke told the judge this afternoon her client was currently unemployed and has only one previous conviction.

Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Joel DeFazio requested bail be set at $25,000. Judge Nelson Hunt ordered Smythe held with $100,000 bail.

News brief: Lewis County sheriff’s office investigating logging road crash, death

Tuesday, September 27th, 2016

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Deputies and firefighters were called out early this morning when passersby came across a truck that was wrecked and burning on a remote road south of Glenoma. The occupant was deceased.

Lewis County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Dusty Breen said the state patrol estimated the Ford F150 was traveling as much as 70 mph on a long straight stretch before striking a tree and catching fire.

The impact was so great it severed the tree, part of which fell back on to the vehicle, according to Breen.

It happened on the Champion 200 Line, a gravel road off of Champion Haul Road, he said.

The sheriff’s office was dispatched at 6:23 a.m. Members of Lewis County Fire District 18 were joined by personnel from Lewis County Fire DIstrict 14 and extinguished the fire.

Breen said they believe it occurred sometime around 5:30 a.m. or 6 o’clock.

The victim’s identity is being definitively established by the Lewis County Coroner’s Office, but the sheriff’s office suspects he is a 27-year-old Glenoma resident.

Chief Breen said as of this afternoon, they didn’t really know how or why it happened.

Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Tuesday, September 27th, 2016
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FIREARMS MISSING FROM RESIDENCE

• Someone broke into an Onalaska home yesterday, stealing a 25 caliber pistol, a 30-30 lever action rifle, two laptop computers and a tablet, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Deputies arriving just after 6 p.m. to the 3700 block of Centralia-Alpha Road canvassed the area and found some of the victim’s belongings down the road, as though discarded by an intruder, according to the sherif’s office. Chief Deputy Dusty Breen said the break-in occurred between 12:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. and they got in through the back door.

AUTO THEFT

• Police were called just before 1 p.m. yesterday to take a report of a maroon 1988 Toyota Camry stolen from the 300 block of Yew Street in Centralia. The four-door car went missing sometime during the previous two days, according to the Centralia Police Department.

FRAUD

• Centralia police were called about 9:45 a.m. yesterday for a fraud case associated with the 900 block of South Scheuber Road. The victim’s credit card was used to make purchases over the Internet and have items shipped to an address where another suspect took possession of them, according to the Centralia Police Department.

BROKEN GLASS

• A 26-year-old Chehalis man allegedly running into stores, yelling and asking for money at the 500 block of North Market Boulevard ended up injuring himself and getting arrested for a felony yesterday afternoon in Chehalis. Officers caught up with Drake A. Lorber at the 400 block of Northwest Chehalis Avenue and discovered he had an outstanding municipal warrant, according to the Chehalis Police Department. As Lorber was being placed into a patrol vehicle, he used his forehead to break out the window, according to police. While they waited for aid to arrive, Lorber allegedly spit blood onto an officer, department spokesperson Linda Bailey said. He was  booked into the Lewis County Jail for the warrant, for malicious mischief and third-degree assault, Bailey said.

• Centralia police reported this morning a summons will be issued to a 43–year-old Chehalis man who allegedly punched an acquaintance’s windshield, shattering it. The incident at the 1200 block of Harrison Avenue was reported just after 11 a.m. yesterday, according to the Centralia Police Department.

BROKEN DOORS

• Centralia police were called just before 1 p.m. yesterday to the 1000 block of Eckerson Road where an individual was seen kicking in doors at a motel, causing extensive damage. The person fled, reportedly crossing a river and taking a seat in a gazebo at Riverside Rotary Park, according to the Centralia Police Department. Anthony E. Brennan, 34, of Tumwater, was located in the gazebo, arrested for second-degree malicious mischief and booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to police.

AND MORE

• And, as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrant, probation violation, possession of marijuana, misdemeanor domestic assault, driving with suspended license, driving under the influence; responses for alarm, dispute, civil issue, hit and run, third-degree theft, disorderly person, suspicious circumstances, collision on city street … and more among 146 calls for local law enforcement and / or fire-emergency medical services in the 24-hour period ending about 7 a.m. today.

Senior citizen inadvertently discharges firearm inside Chehalis store

Tuesday, September 27th, 2016

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A customer at the checkout counter of a Chehalis pet supply store accidentally fired his 38 revolver, injuring himself yesterday.

Police called at 12:42 p.m. yesterday to the Twin City Town Center found the victim and his wife had already headed to the hospital, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

The 79-year-old Onalaska resident shot himself in the foot, according to police.

He and his wife were at the counter at Petsense when he placed his hands in his pockets, and then witnesses heard a loud bang, department spokesperson Linda Bailey said. The man, who was not named, then stated he shot himself, Bailey said.

An officer made contact with him, and he confirmed what happened, according to Bailey.

The victim was treated at Providence Centralia Hospital for the non-life threatening injury and has been released, according to Bailey.

Bailey said nobody else was injured. She didn’t know how many people were inside the business at the time.

The strip mall is just west of Interstate 5 on the 1400 block of Northwest Louisiana Avenue.

The case will be forwarded to Chehalis Municipal Court prosecutors for a review of possible charges, according to police.

Three years ago, after a 40-year-old man holstering his firearm in the parking lot at Sunbird Shopping Center accidentally fired a round through his hand and into his wife’s thigh, he was charged with reckless endangerment.

Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Monday, September 26th, 2016
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Updated

WOMAN ATTACKED IN GARAGE

• Deputies were called about 4:40 p.m. yesterday to the 100 block of Gershick Road in Silver Creek where a woman said she walked into her shop building and was struck in the face by a white male with an unkempt beard. She fell to the ground, but said she saw the subject – about 5-feet 10-inches tall – and another male exit the building, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The 45-year-old woman was dizzy and had a bruise and was taken to Providence Centralia Hospital to be evaluated, according to the sheriff’s office. Chief Deputy Dusty Breen said a police dog searched the area but nobody was located. They think she might have interrupted a burglary, according to Breen.

BREAK-IN CENTRALIA

• Centralia police were called about 6:50 a.m. today following the discovery of a burglary at a home being remodeled at the 1200 block of Bayne Street. Tools were stolen, according to the Centralia Police Department.

INTERRUPTED BURGLARY

• Deputies were called about 4 o’clock yesterday morning to the 1600 block of Windsor Avenue in Centralia where a resident interrupted a prowler in his car port. The intruder fled and nothing was missing, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

CAR PROWL

• Police were called about 4 p.m. yesterday regarding a vehicle prowl at the 1100 block of Harrison Avenue in Centralia. A stereo was taken, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• Police were called just after 1 p.m. on Saturday to take a report that someone removed and stole a car’s battery, around the corner from a location on the 200 block of Northwest Chehalis Avenue.

DRUGS

• Chehalis police called just after 1:20 a.m. on Saturday to the 500 block of Southwest Parkland Drive about a male looking in the windows of vehicles in the parking lot discovered Jesse J. Wheeler, 35, of Chehalis, had an outstanding warrant and subsequently located residue of suspected heroin, according to the Chehalis Police Department. Wheeler was booked into the Lewis County Jail for a drug violation, according to police.

• An officer who made contact with a vehicle about a dispute at the 1600 block of Northwest Louisiana Avenue in Chehalis at about 3 a.m. on Saturday discovered one occupant had an outstanding warrant and subsequently located suspected heroin, according to the Chehalis Police Department. Robert R. Green, 29, from Napavine, was booked into the Lewis County Jail  for a drug violation, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

BREAKING CARS

• A 27-year-old Centralia man detained for an assault investigation about 5:45 p.m. yesterday at the 500 block of North Tower Avenue was arrested after he allegedly kicked out the rear window of a Centralia patrol car. Wellington M. Waggener was booked into the Lewis County Jail for second-degree malicious mischief, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• Centralia police took a report about 11:30 a.m. yesterday from the 900 block of West First Street where someone vandalized a vehicle, causing severe damage to windows and a door, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• Police took a report just after 1 p.m. on Saturday of someone breaking out the driver’s side window of a Ford Explorer parked at the 100 block of Southeast Adams Avenue in Chehalis.

AND MORE

• And, as usual, other incidents such as arrests for misdemeanor domestic assault, driving with suspended license, driving under the influence; responses for alarm, dispute, civil issue, hit and run, suspicious circumstances, a pair of individuals wearing clown masks and dark clothing walking between houses near Southwest 20th Street in Chehalis after dark … and more among 149 calls for local law enforcement and / or fire-emergency medical services in the 24-hour period ending about 7 a.m. today.

More to come

Thousands of dollars removed from governmental association account, Centralia woman arrested

Monday, September 26th, 2016

Updated at 12:09 p.m.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A 35-year-old Centralia woman has been arrested following an investigation into as much as $70,000 discovered missing from the account of an association she worked for while employed at the Lewis County Health Department.

April K. Kelley was booked into the Lewis County Jail for first-degree theft on Friday and is tentatively scheduled to go before a judge this afternoon in Lewis County Superior Court.

Lewis County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Dusty Breen said that Kelley was the treasurer for the Association of County Human Services between 2010 and 2014 while she worked at the county health department.

A new treasurer last year reviewed the books and found $60,000 to $70,000 missing, according to Breen.

The association takes in about $90,000 each year in dues from members, comprised of representatives from each of Washington’s 39 counties, according to Breen.

ACHS is a non-profit group with members who provide or administer programs related to chemical dependency, mental health and developmental disabilities. It is an affiliate of the Washington State Association of Counties, according to information on its web site.

Breen said this morning Kelley admitted to removing money from the account, saying she didn’t keep track but estimated around $90,000. She replaced $50,000 of it in 2011 with money borrowed from a family member, he said.

He said the amount stolen is currently estimated as between $40,000 to $70,000.

Kelley was hired at the Lewis County Department of Public Health & Social Services in July 2007. She is no longer employed there, as of this past Friday, according to Director Danette York.

She was the social services manager, with responsibilities for programs for housing, behavioral health, developmental disabilities, and senior services.

It appears she may have bailed out of jail yesterday, from information on the Lewis County Jail’s online roster.