News brief: Garage goes up in flames at Grand Mound

July 1st, 2016
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Melon Street Southwest early this morning. / Courtesy photo by West Thurston Regional Fire Authority.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

The cause of an early morning fire that burned through a detached garage in South Thurston County is under investigation, according to West Thurston Regional Fire Authority.

Family living on the property awoke to an unspecified loud sound and saw the structure was on fire with a lot of smoke, department spokesperson Lt. Lanette Dyer said.

Firefighters responding to the 3:55 a.m. call to the 192000 block of Melon Street Southwest found heavy smoke with flames showing, Dyer said.

They were assisted by personnel from four other fire departments.

The approximately 30-foot by 40-foot building housed an unoccupied apartment and two vehicles. The garage and vehicles are destroyed, she said.

Nobody was injured and the property is insured.

Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

July 1st, 2016
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•••

AUTO THEFT

• Centralia police were called just before 4:30 a.m. today about a vehicle stolen from the 1200 block of West Chestnut Street. The owner found it a short time later not far away, but the keys and a cell phone were missing, according to the Centralia Police Department.

STOLEN FIREARMS

• Centralia police were called about 10:45 a.m. yesterday about the theft of two handguns from the 600 block of South Gold Street. A person on interest has been identified, according to the Centralia Police Department.

MISSING MONEY

• Centralia police were called twice yesterday to the 1300 block of Alexander Street for reports of stolen cash.

CAR PROWL

Centralia police were called about 2:50 p.m. yesterday to the 400 block of North Rock Street about a vehicle prowl. Medication was reported missing, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• A GPS device and a Droid were reported stolen from a vehicle parked at the 200 block of South Iron Street in Centralia at about 12:20 p.m. yesterday.

• Police were called to the 1400 block of Eshom Road in Centralia about 10:50 a.m. yesterday regarding a car prowl. Someone rummaged through the vehicle but nothing appeared to be missing, according to the Centralia Police Department.

UNHAPPY CUSTOMER

• Chehalis police were called about 11:40 a.m. yesterday to a store on the 500 block of South Market Boulevard where a teenage boy allegedly showed up, threw a bag of chips at an employee and called her names. He had previously been told not to come back to the business so a case for trespassing will be forwarded to juvenile prosecutors, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

DRUGS

• A 30-year-old Centralia resident was arrested for possession of methamphetamine after contact with officers about 1:20 p.m. yesterday at the 1000 block of Eckerson Road in Centralia. Christopher D. Buck was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department.

AND MORE

• And, as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, shoplifting, no-contact order violation, driving under the influence; responses for alarm, dispute, parking issue,  suspicious circumstances, collision on city street    … and more, among 170 calls for local law enforcement and / or fire-emergency medical services in the 24-hour period ending about 7 a.m. today.

News brief: Shared fire service in and around Chehalis on agenda

June 30th, 2016

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Officials from the city of Chehalis are getting together with leaders of the neighboring fire district this evening to talk about shared fire services.

The joint meeting with members of the city council and the board of commissioners for Lewis County Fire District 6 begins at 6:30 p.m.

It will be held at District 6’s main station at 2123 Jackson Highway.

According to the agenda, they will talk about the future of fire service for the area and have an open discussion about annexation.

Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

June 30th, 2016
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•••

NOT A VICTIM

• A 34-year-old shopper who left her purse in a dressing room while she stepped out to get something else to try on, caught another woman who’d taken items from her purse last night at the Centralia Outlets. Centralia police called just after 7 p.m. to a store on Lum Road learned the 34-year-old Chehalis woman encountered the thief coming out of her dressing room and demanded her to give her back her belongings, according to the Centralia Police Department. The suspect, who was described as having long brown hair and weighing about 175 pounds, with bad teeth, gave the items back and fled before officers arrived, police said. The victim sustained minor injuries in the struggle, according to police.

SAW STOLEN

• Centralia police were called at 12:51 p.m. yesterday for a burglary to a garage at the 100 block of West Alaska Way in Centralia. A chop saw was stolen, according to the Centralia Police Department.

MISSING HONDA FOUND

• Chehalis police called about 11:55 a.m. yesterday about a possible burglary occurring on the 100 block of Southwest 11th Street contacted four individuals, arresting one of them for allegedly being in possession of a Honda car stolen in Chehalis with plates on it that had been stolen in Centralia. Peter J. Herman Jr., 33, was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Chehalis Police Department. The other people were released, according to police.

VEHICLE THEFT

• Chehalis police were summoned to a business on the 200 block of West Main Street yesterday following the discovery that a U-Haul trailer recently taken in turned out to be stolen in Oregon.

• The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reports this morning they are investigating an incident of taking a motor vehicle without permission that occurred on Monday at the 100 block of Fineview Drive in Chehalis. The owner of a 2004 Ford Focus earlier wouldn’t give a person there a ride to Centralia and when he went to bed, put the car keys on his headboard, according to the sheriff’s office. When he awoke, the car was gone.

CAR PROWL

• Chehalis police were called about 8:20 p.m. yesterday to the 300 block of Southwest 16th Street where someone removed items, including a wallet, from a vehicle while a man was sleeping inside of it, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

• Chehalis police were called late yesterday afternoon about a vehicle prowl at the 400 block of Southwest 18th Street. Stolen from the unlocked pickup truck was a trailer brake box, black in color, according to the Chehalis Police Department. The brand is Primus, police said.

• Police were called about 1:20 p.m. yesterday by a woman who said her backpack had been taken from her vehicle while it parked at the 1100 block of South Market Boulevard in Chehalis and then found by an acquaintance, but her cell phone was missing.

ON THE ROAD, OFF THE ROAD

• Police responded just before 3 p.m. yesterday when a woman on a bicycle and a vehicle collided on the 100 block of West Maple Street just outside City Hall in Centralia.  The injuries were minor, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• Firefighters called just before 10 a.m. today to a collision between a semi truck and a passenger truck on state Route 6 near Curtis Hill Road found none of the three occupants were injured but the big rig’s trailer was blocking both lanes. The roadway was closed for a time as approximately 45 gallons of diesel spilled onto the road, according to Lewis County Fire District 6.

AND MORE

• And, as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, shoplifting, unlawful transit conduct; responses for alarm, dispute,  civil issue, third-degree theft, suspicious circumstances, graffiti on a sign, collision on city street    … 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.

Centralia man un-convicted of child sex crimes back in court

June 29th, 2016

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A Centralia man whose convictions for child sex abuse that put him in prison for 30 years were reversed, is back in the Lewis County Jail.

Lewis County prosecutors are preparing for a new trial for now 41-year-old Paulo Botello-Garcia.

Botello-Garcia was arrested early in 2012 after a 15-year-old girl’s mother found writings in the teen’s journal about incidents that had occurred in the past. He was convicted by a jury in Lewis County Superior Court of two counts of second-degree child molestation and two counts of second-degree rape of a child in early 2014.

The Washington State Court of Appeals found the trial court erred in admitting certain evidence and earlier this year remanded the case for a new trial.

It was a lengthy trial, said Joely O’Rourke who prosecuted the case.

O’Rourke has since left the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office and now serves as temporary defense attorney for individuals at their first court appearance. On Monday afternoon when Botello-Garcia was brought back before a judge, O’Rourke excused herself from the courtroom.

Botello-Garcia, who told Judge Richard Brosey he only spoke a little English, was accompanied at the defense table by only an interpreter.

Judge Brosey noted Botello-Garcia’s trial lawyer has died and asked if he needed a court appointed attorney. Botello-Garcia said he did and Centralia lawyer David Arcuri was assigned to represent him.

Since the case was tried before Judge James Lawler, the case will go back to him, Brosey said.

Court documents show the 2014 trial lasted at least six days. The offenses for which he was convicted occurred when the girl was 12 and 13 years old. They were members of the same household.

Lewis County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Sara Beigh argued the appeal. Deputy Prosecutor Melissa Bohm will be handling the case now, Beigh said today.

Botello-Garcia is scheduled for his next court hearing tomorrow.

Sheriff’s Office seeking info on Mossy woman’s disappearance

June 29th, 2016

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office is attempting to locate a 56-year-old woman who was reported missing on Sunday, but last seen a month earlier near Mossyrock.

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Myrna R. LeBeau

Myrna R. LeBeau may suffer from mental health issues, according to the sheriff’s office.

She was last seen leaving her home southeast of Mossyrock on May 26, walking on Green Mountain Road, Chief Deputy Stacy Brown said.

LeBeau was then wearing a green windbreaker, sweatpants, white tennis shoes and carrying a blue purse. She is described as a white female, 5-feet 6-inches tall, 130 pounds with brown hair, and green eyes.

Brown said LeBeau does not live alone and deputies are looking into why she wasn’t reported missing sooner. Detectives are interviewing an individual this afternoon, Brown said.

Anyone with information that can help locate LeBeau, is asked to please contact detective Jeff Humphrey at the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office at (360) 748-9286.

Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

June 29th, 2016
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•••

Updated

KIDS INJURED IN SUSPECTED DRUNK DRIVING WRECK

• A 39-year-old Chehalis man was arrested for driving under the influence after he wrecked his car running into a tree along the 2100 block of Rice Road yesterday evening, with four child passengers. Deputies called just before 6 p.m. report only one of the kids, ages 7, 9, 10 and 13, was unhurt. The others sustained cuts, scrapes and bruises, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The driver, Robert K. Hilkemeier, was treated at the hospital and then booked into the Lewis County Jail. He was also booked for four counts of reckless endangerment, Chief Deputy Stacy Brown said this morning. The 2005 BMW was totaled, Brown said.

ASSAULT CENTRALIA

• Centralia police were called just after 7 p.m. yesterday to an incident at the 200 block of Downing Road where a 19-year-old man allegedly pulled a knife on a man in his 50s over some kind of family matter. Kanaan J. Reanier, of Burien, was arrested and booked into the Lewis County Jail for second-degree assault, according to the Centralia Police Department.

BURGLARY CHEHALIS, CENTRALIA

• Chehalis police were called just before 9 a.m. yesterday to the 100 block of Southeast 11th Street where a bicycle, a lawn mower and a portable torch had been stolen from the yard, a shed and the garage.

• An officer was called to the 600 block of Southeast Dobson Court in Chehalis about 9:15 a.m. yesterday where they were told someone entered an unlocked apartment and stole pill bottles containing hydrocodone the previous day.

• A leaf blower was reported missing yesterday from a garage on the 1200 block of South Tower Avenue in Centralia. It went disappeared sometime during the previous week, according to the Centralia Police Department.

AUTO THEFT

• Centralia police were called just after 10 a.m. yesterday for the theft of a Toyota Camry from the 400 block of West Main Street. The car was recovered later in the morning about 10 blocks away, according to the Centralia Police Department.

CAR PROWL

• Police were called about 5 p.m. yesterday to a car prowl at the 100 block of Virginia Drive in Centralia. Registration documents were stolen from the unlocked vehicle, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• Centralia police were called about 11:25 a.m. yesterday to the 900 block of K Street where someone had broken a a window out of a parked vehicle during the night.

• Chehalis police were called about 9:15 a.m. yesterday regarding an overnight vehicle prowl at the 1500 block of Southwest Kelly Avenue.

• Centralia police were called to the 1800 block of Hillview Road at 7:30 a.m. yesterday to a vehicle prowl. Someone broke out a window and stole a backpack, a GPS device and money, according to the Centralia Police Department. The pack was found several blocks away, according to police.

ON THE ROAD, OFF THE ROAD

• Chehalis police responded to an approximately 9:20 p.m. call yesterday to assist the Washington State Patrol regarding a motorist who said another motorist pointed a gun at them while traveling southbound on Interstate 5. Further details were not readily available.

AND MORE

• And, as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, misdemeanor domestic assault, driving with suspended license, driving under the influence; responses for alarm, dispute, shoplifting, civil issue, third-degree theft, suspicious circumstances, parking lot fender bender, gang graffiti on garages   … and more, among 143 calls for local law enforcement and / or fire-emergency medical services in the 24-hour period ending about 7 a.m. today.