Lewis County Sirens.com

Joel L. Kaech looks toward lawyers during his hearing in Lewis County Superior Court this afternoon.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Lewis County prosecutors held off on filing any criminal charges today against the Salkum man arrested yesterday for the alleged kidnapping and rape of a 32-year-old Longview woman.

Joel L. Kaech, 25, will be held with no bail at the Lewis County Jail at least until tomorrow when the state should be in a better position to make an informed decision, according to authorities.

The alleged incident came to the attention of police, who made contact with the alleged victim around 8:25 p.m. on Saturday at the Goodwill store in Centralia after she reportedly ran away from Kaech at the skate park across Harrison Avenue.

She told law enforcement officers Kaech earlier had picked up her and a mutual friend in Longview, but kicked the friend out of the car and said, “Now you are my hostage,” according to court papers filed today.

The alleged victim told of being driven to the Spiffy’s parking lot on U.S. Highway 12 and raped and then to Kaech’s home in Salkum where he would take a shower and pick up some clothing, telling his mother not to let her leave, according to the declaration of probable cause.

The document offers other details including the following:

The alleged victim told a sheriff’s deputy Kaech drove them to a state park where he wanted to pick up some hidden stolen items – which he allegedly wanted to sell to get money to buy drugs, but they were not found – and to a church parking lot to sleep. She reported she awoke to Kaech  breaking in to the building and he threatened he would kill her if she didn’t help.

She told the deputy he then drove to a secluded place off U.S. Highway 12 where he allegedly pulled her by the hair into the back seat and once again raped her. Then they traveled to the skate park in Centralia. She also said she was threatened with a metal pipe.

When found sleeping in his car on Stowell Road in Salkum yesterday and questioned, Kaech denied knowing the alleged victim.

In Lewis County Superior Court today, Kaech talked back to the judge, and was told he would be held in contempt for 30 days, and then 30 more days when he did it again.

Lewis County Prosecutor Sheila Weirth had asked for bail to be set at $500,000, but Judge James Lawler made it a no-bail hold after the first outburst.

His temporary defense attorney Joely O’Rourke said afterwards, Kaech hadn’t known the details of the accusations being leveled against him until he got into the courtroom this afternoon.

“He was frustrated, as you can imagine,” O’Rourke said. “He didn’t have an opportunity to read though the probable cause statement until he got to court.”

Deputies saw a metal pipe in his car and applied for a search warrant to look for evidence in the vehicle, according to the court papers. The documents also relate that the alleged victim was taken to Providence St. Peter Hospital in Olympia for evidence collection.

Prosecutors asked for and were granted the opportunity to keep Kaech in jail and bring him before a judge again tomorrow afternoon.
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For background, read “News brief: Kidnapping investigation leads to Salkum resident” from Monday February 1, 2016, here

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Updated at 5:48 p.m.

INDECENT EXPOSURE NEAR HIGH SCHOOL

• A 79-year-old Chehalis man was arrested for allegedly exposing himself from the doorway of a home near W.F. West High School to girls who drove by on Friday. Police were called about 11:45 a.m. after the high school students reported what they saw at the 500 block of Southwest 16th Street, according to the Chehalis Police Department. When they went by the first time he allegedly waved them over and when they passed again, they observed him through a glass door, according to police. Harold W. White was arrested for indecent exposure, department spokesperson Linda Bailey said.

BREAK-IN

• A deputy took a report of a residential burglary at the 200 block of Guerrier Road yesterday in which Xboxes and CDs were stolen, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

CAR PROWL

• Chehalis police were called yesterday to Southeast Third Street off Market Boulevard in Chehalis regarding a vehicle prowl in which someone broke a window and took a lunch box. The thief may have mistaken it for a purse because of its size and where it was located, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

• Police were called yesterday morning about a car prowl at on Southwest Fifth Street in Chehalis in which two CDs were stolen from an unlocked vehicle.

• Chehalis police were called to a vehicle prowl on Southwest 11th Street near Market Boulevard on Friday morning in which someone rummaged through a glove compartment during the night and stole an mp3 player. The vehicle had been left unlocked, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

DRUGS

• A 46-year-old woman arrested yesterday for driving under the influence following a single car rollover accident on U.S. Highway 12 in Glenoma was also arrested and subsequently charged with possession of a controlled substance, one and half pills of something called Alprazolam. Prosecutors alleged Candy A. Core had the drug without a prescription. According to charging documents, the Randle resident said her friend gave her the pills but she did not take them. She also told a trooper who asked about a pink straw with white residue from her pocket that she had used methamphetamine two days earlier, according to the allegations. Core and her passenger were reportedly uninjured. She was booked into the Lewis County Jail and after appearing before a judge this afternoon, allowed release on a $5,000 signature bond. Core has no prior criminal convictions, lawyers said today.

• A 25-year-old woman was arrested on Saturday for possession of a controlled substance after a deputy responded to Gee Cees truck stop near Vader to check on her because she was reportedly acting odd. A baggie of suspected heroin was found on the floor where she had been sitting and Samantha D. Weekly, from Eugene, Oregon, was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

• A 35-year-old inmate who allegedly had tucked baggies of marijuana in his undershorts, found during a strip search, was arrested on Friday for possession of drugs by a prisoner. A deputy responded on Friday afternoon to the Lewis County Jail and arrested Aaron G. Stubbs, from Seattle, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. It appears from the jail roster he was brought to the Chehalis facility the day before for an outstanding warrant.

STEALING GASOLINE

• The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reported this morning that approximately 25 gallons of fuel was stolen from two trucks parked at Cardinal Glass on the 500 block of Avery Road outside of Winlock a week ago Sunday.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, shoplifting; responses for alarm, dispute, suspicious circumstances, misdemeanor theft … and more.