Posts Tagged ‘By Sharyn L. Decker’

News brief: Crime Stoppers now accepts texted tips

Tuesday, October 27th, 2015

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Lewis County Crime Stoppers is now offering text a tip as an option to anonymously report a crime tip and possibly pick up a reward.

The new way to pass along information to law enforcement is easy, according to Lewis County Crime Stoppers.

Text LEWIS to number 274637 (CRIMES).

You will receive a reply with your anonymous code generated by Crime Stoppers’ computer software.

Reply by texting details of your crime tip that will help lead officers to the criminal.

If your tip leads to an arrest crime stoppers will use your anonymous code to communicate with you where information will be sent directly to your phone on how to collect your reward.

People should not use the system to report crimes in progress; for that, people should call 911.

Members of the public can still submit anonymous tips to Crime Stoppers by phoning 1-800-748-6422 or online at http://www.lewiscountycrimestoppers.org

Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Monday, October 26th, 2015
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•••

BURGLARY FOOD

• Centralia police were called about 11:30 p.m. on Saturday to the 300 block of Centralia College Boulevard where someone had stolen food from a freezer on a porch.

BURGLARY TOOLS

• Sometime between noon on Friday and 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, someone broke into an outbuilding at the 500 block of Oyler Road near Ethel and stole numerous items including a chainsaw, two weed eaters, a skill saw, a contractor’s level and three claw hammers, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

BURGLARY FIREARMS

• A Remington 700 rife and a Remington 12-gauge shotgun were among the valuables stolen in a burglary at the 300 block of Pleasant Avenue in Pe Ell, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. It happened between 2 p.m. and 9 p.m. on Friday, according to the sheriff’s office. Also missing were binoculars, a spotting scope and a camel backpack containing knives, Chief Deputy Stacy Brown said.

SUPER SHOPLIFTING

• Centralia police arrested two people from Yelm yesterday evening at the Centralia Outlets at the 1500 block of Lum Road for organized retail theft. Booked into the Lewis County Jail were Aaron H. Rochester, 28, and Audrey J. Bengtson, according to the Centralia Police Department.

CRIMES AGAINST PEOPLE

• Centralia police report they arrested a 31-year-old Centralia resident for fighting in public shortly after 1 a.m. on Sunday associated with an address at the 100 block of South Tower Avenue and then released him. However, an individual by the same name – Jorge Quiroz-Moreno  – was booked into the Lewis County Jail a few hours later for second-degree assault.

• The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reported this morning that one person with a felony warrant and 11 individuals with misdemeanor warrants were picked up locally on Thursday as part of a nationwide domestic violence warrant sweep. Members of sheriff’s office, the Centralia Police Department, the Washington State Patrol and the state Department of Corrections worked collaboratively that day, making 73 attempted warrant arrests, according to the sheriff’s office.

AUTO THEFT

• A 1997 Honda Accord found wrecked in a ditch near state Route 6 and Twin Oaks Road at about 5:30 a.m. on Friday turned out to have been stolen from a 29-year-old Chehalis resident, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The car’s ignition had been punched, according to the sheriff’s office.

CAR PROWL

• Police were called about 11:10 .m. yesterday about a vehicle prowl at the 400 block of Centralia College Boulevard in Centralia. Paperwork was missing, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• Shoes were among the items stolen from an unlocked car parked at the 400 block of Jefferson Street in Centralia, according to a report made to police about 8:30 a.m. yesterday.

• A wallet was taken from an unlocked vehicle parked outside K-Mart on the 1200 block of Northwest Louisiana Avenue in Chehalis on Saturday afternoon.

• A pack of cigarettes, an mp3 player an a cell phone were among the items missing from a truck prowled during the night at the 400 block of Northeast Adams Avenue in Chehalis, according to a report made to police on Saturday.

• Chehalis police were called just before 11 a.m. on Saturday about a vehicle prowl at the 1300 block of Northwest Louisiana Avenue in Chehalis.

• Centralia police were called to the 100 block of North Tower Avenue about 9:40 a.m. on Saturday where they were told that sometime during the night an unknown person cut the lock from the bike rack on a vehicle and made off with two mountain style bikes, one black Cannondale and one silver Diamondback.

STOLEN BREAKFAST

• A woman wearing blue pajamas and her dining companion in a blue sweatshirt reportedly paid for their meal with a counterfeit $100 bill on Saturday morning at the 800 block of Harrison Avenue in Centralia.

ALCOHOL AND DRUGS

• A 15-year-old boy who was allegedly intoxicated on school property at W.F. West High School on Friday night was arrested for minor in possession and/or consumption and then released to his mother.

• Police and aid were called to Valley View Medical Center on Kresky Avenue just before noon on Friday because a 31-year-old Chehalis woman had been huffing in the restroom. She was issued a citation for inhaling toxic fumes, and taken to the hospital, according to the Chehalis Police Department. Maria E. Hazzard was arrested for the same thing three times since the previous Saturday.

NAKED PEDESTRIAN

• Chehalis police were called about 1:15 p.m. yesterday regarding a man wearing no clothing in public near the roundabout by Applebees on Northwest Louisiana Avenue. An officer contacted him and he was taken away by ambulance, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

ON THE ROAD

• A Centralia police officer found a car stuck on the railroad tracks at Locust Street about 2:20 a.m. on Sunday. Joseph M. St Ours, 27, of Chehalis, was arrested for  driving under the influence, according to the Centralia Police Department. He was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to police.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, shoplifting, obstructing, misdemeanor assault, ignition interlock violation, protection order violation, no contact order violation, driving under the influence, driving with suspended license, failure to transfer the title; responses for alarm, dispute, suicidal person, misdemeanor theft, suspicious circumstances, collision on city street, collision on county road, receipt of counterfeit money, individuals trying to make purchases with what turned out out be stolen credit cards … and more.

Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Friday, October 23rd, 2015
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•••

Updated

CALLER TRICKS WOMAN INTO GIVING HIM $2,000

• A 77-year-old Centralia area woman who answered a phone call yesterday morning from a man who said he was an officer with the U.S. Treasury Prepaid Department and she would be arrested if she did not immediately pay more than $6,400 she owed, stayed on the phone with him while she drove to her bank and got him the money. The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office said the victim purchased four $500 card from Rite Aid and gave the foreign-accented caller the activation numbers. However, the clerk warned the woman it could be a scam and the women drove to the sheriff’s office to report what happened, Chief Deputy Stacy Brown said. A deputy tried to call the man back, but the person just kept hanging up, Brown said. The victim is out $2011.80. The sheriff’s office recommends if anyone is ever skeptical about such a call, they can contact the sheriff’s office for assistance. Also, Brown said, anyone who gets a call from someone demanding payment ought to hang up, independently verify the number of the supposed agency and phone them to check.

RESIDENTIAL THEFTS

• Police were called on Thursday to a home on the 200 block of East Chestnut Street where an individual reported the theft of prescription medications sometime during the night, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• An officer was called to the 2400 block of Borst Avenue in Centralia about 6:40 p.m. on Wednesday regarding the theft of prescription medication, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• Centralia police were called at about 4:55 p.m. on Wednesday about a burglary to a home on the 1500 block of Delaware Avenue. Taken were electronics, vehicle keys, a wallet and numerous other items, according to the Centralia Police Department. The case is under investigation.

• Chehalis police were called about 1 p.m. on Tuesday to the 1900 block of South Market Boulevard after the discovery someone went inside an unlocked apartment and stole a television.

• Somebody stole a flag from a front porch at the 200 block of West Chestnut Street in Centralia, according to a report made to police about 5:45 p.m. on Wednesday.

AUTO THEFT

• Centralia police arrested a 32-year-old man for possession of a stolen vehicle after responding to a dispute on the 1200 block of Ward Street about 3:45 p.m. on Thursday and concluding he was not supposed to have the vehicle. Lucas J. Davis was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department. He was released from jail today as prosecutors declined to file the criminal charge.

• A 31-year-old man was arrested at Scheuber and Fords Prairie roads just before 5 p.m. on Wednesday for allegedly being in possession of a stolen vehicle. Michael E. Thomas, a homeless person, was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department. According to charging documents, an officer noticed the vehicle was parked at an odd angle, conducted a check and learned it was stolen. Thomas, who was standing at the open driver’s door told the officer someone else had been driving the car, but the officer found two keys in Thomas’s pocket that had been shaved, or ground down, charging documents relate. Neither Centralia police’s summary nor charging documents mention the make or model of the vehicle in question. At his court appearance on Thursday, a defense attorney told the judge Thomas resides in Olympia with his girlfriend. He was released on a $5,000 unsecured bond.

THEFTS AT BUSINESSES

• Centralia police called to a fight in a grocery store parking on the 500 block of South Tower Avenue lot at about 2:15 p.m. on Thursday discovered two security officers struggling to detain a suspected shoplifter. Twenty-three-year-old John R. Cabell had allegedly fled the business with candy hidden in his clothing, according to the Centralia Police Department. Cabell suffered small cuts to his forehead and the other two sustained minor scrapes, according to police. Cabell was arrested and booked into the Lewis County Jail for second-degree robbery, according to police.

• Chehalis police were called Thursday to the 700 block of South Market Boulevard after the discovery of images on security video from around 6 a.m. of someone wearing a Halloween mask cutting a lock from an outdoor storage container. Nothing appeared to be missing, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

• Chehalis police were called to Wal-Mart about 10:45 p.m. on Thursday where a woman said she’d accidentally set down her purse and then it vanished.

• Chehalis police were called to Bartel’s clothing store on the 400 block of North Market Boulevard on Wednesday morning following the discovery that during the night somebody cut a lock to their glass front display case and stole shoes and backpacks.

VEHICLE PROWL

• A suspected car prowler wasn’t too difficult to apprehend in Chehalis early on Wednesday morning as he dozed off in the front passenger seat of the car he’d allegedly been rifling through. Detective Sgt. Gary Wilson said the car’s owner called police just after 5 a.m. to say there was someone sleeping in his vehicle on the 500 block of Northwest St. Helens Avenue. The suspect was still napping when the officer arrived and had to be physically removed from the car, according to police. When Joshua G. Dagris was searched, an iPhone that belonged in the car was found, as were credit cards from a Centralia car prowl a few days earlier, according to authorities. At the jail, a disassembled plastic pen on Dagris was found to have suspected heroin residue inside it, charging documents relate. The 27-year-old was booked and subsequently charged in Lewis County Superior Court with second-degree vehicle prowl, second-degree possession of stolen property and possession of a controlled substance. An attorney arguing for his bail on Thursday in Lewis County Superior Court noted although the W.F. West High School graduate had just been sentenced a week earlier for a drug violation, he’s been working really hard to get back on his feet. Dagris, homeless during his last case, is now paying rent for a place to live, had just landed a job three days earlier and is undergoing outpatient treatment, defense attorney Joely O’Rourke told the judge. His bail was set at $5,000.

• Someone broke into a vehicle at the 400 block of Northwest North Street in Chehalis and stole speakers and jumper cables, according to a report made to police on Wednesday.

• Officers took a report on Wednesday from the 1500 block of Delaware Avenue in Centralia that someone entered the victim’s unlocked vehicle and removed his wallet, according to the Centralia Police Department.

DRUGS

• A 43-year-old inmate at the Lewis County Jail was arrested for a violation of the Uniform Controlled Substances Act last night after suspected methamphetamine was found under her mattress. The sheriff’s office reports Felicia F. Harris was brought in on the relay from another jail earlier in the day and a corrections officer suspecting drug activity in her cell found the white crystal substance, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

VANDALISM

• Chehalis police on Thursday took reports of buildings tagged with graffiti on Northwest Pacific Avenue and North Market Boulevard.

GUN SHOT

• Chehalis police were called at 7:23 p.m. on Tuesday after a gunshot was heard on Southwest Sylvenus Street. The officer was not able to locate its source, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

PERSON IN DISTRESS

• Centralia police responded about 7:35 p.m. on Thursday to an argument between family members in which one of the participants sliced their own throat with a knife, according to the Centralia Police Department. The victim was transported from the 1100 block of Scammon Creek Road to Providence Centralia Hospital. The case is under investigation, according to police.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, shoplifting, misdemeanor assault, protection order violation, driving under the influence, driving with suspended license; responses for alarm, dispute, suicidal person, misdemeanor theft, suspicious circumstances, collision on city street, possible identity theft, various unfounded reports … and more.

DNA on discarded cigarettes lead to burglary suspects

Friday, October 23rd, 2015
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One of two cigarette butts picked up by a deputy near the Padrick Road burglary scene. / Courtesy photo by Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A stolen credit card used at a 7-11 store with surveillance video, a pair of cigarette butts with DNA and nearly three months of interviews and investigating led to the recovery of four vehicles and more than $10,000 worth of stolen property, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

Two men from Burien have been implicated in burglaries in Lewis County, one of whom is being held in the Lewis County Jail and the other in the King County Jail, according to the sheriff’s office.

The sheriff’s office said one of them has relatives in Centralia and they targeted random homes.

On July 27, a house on the 2000 block of Padrick Road near Centralia was ransacked and the residents discovered more than $20,000 worth of valuables had been taken, including a handgun and bank cards, according to authorities. Less than a week later, a motor home and a Ford Mustang were stolen from a shop building where they were stored on Middle Fork Road.

According to court documents, in mid-August, sheriff’s detective Gene Seiber took the case over and began tracking the numerous purchases made with the victim’s credit card.

After some of the Padrick Road couple’s stolen property turned up in the vehicle of a man arrested in King County, Seiber put together a photo montage and showed it to the clerk at 7-11, according to the document.

Jared M. Bruce, 26, from Burien, denied involvement, and blamed his friend, 37-year-old Jack E. Grier, according to Chief Deputy Stacy Brown.

Detectives visited Grier’s apartment, found some of the missing property and arrested him on Wednesday, Brown indicated.

Two fairly fresh cigarette butts picked up by a deputy from near a gate at Padrick Road sent to the crime lab for testing show matches made with Bruce and Grier, according to Brown.

Grier was brought before a judge yesterday in Lewis County Superior Court

He has not been charged but was ordered held on $100,000 bail.

Deputy Prosecutor Sheila Weirth told the judge Grier has a criminal history that includes several burglaries, theft and drug possession; and that he was just released from prison last October. Defense attorney Joely O’Rourke said Grier has a stable address with his wife and two children.

According to the affidavit of probable cause, when Grier spoke with detective Seiber, he said he was sorry and that he had a drug problem.

He is scheduled to go before a judge again the afternoon. Criminal charges are pending against his friend Bruce, according to the sheriff’s office.

The documents offer information on only the two burglaries, but Brown stated in a news release this morning that six burglaries in the case have been solved.

The Winnebago and the Mustang were recovered in King County, according to court documents.

Lewis County Sheriff Rob Snaza said in a printed statement he is very proud of the deputies and detectives and their tenacity.

“This investigation took a lot of time to complete, but it is worth every minute when we are able to return property back to rightful owners, and hold criminals accountable for their behavior,” Snaza said.

News brief: Coroner rules Silver Creek death an accident

Friday, October 23rd, 2015

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The Lewis County coroner has concluded the Silver Creek man whose truck was found wrecked not far from his home on Monday night died from injuries caused by the accident.

Paul L. Halstead, 63, left home that morning and when he didn’t return as expected, family and friends began searching for him, according to authorities.

His family found him inside his Ford Ranger pickup on its top, down an embankment off of state Route 122, according to the Washington State Patrol.

The state patrol suspected inattention may have been to blame, but then changed the cause of the collision to the less specific “wheels off the roadway”.

Coroner Warren McLeod said today that Halstead died from blunt force trauma to his head and neck.

Troopers concluded the wreck probably occurred about 7:10 a.m. that day.

News brief: Suspect in break-in to Centralia police chief’s home arrested

Friday, October 23rd, 2015

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

A 42-year-old Olympia man was arrested last night for his alleged involvement in 11 burglaries last year in Lewis County including the home of then Centralia Police Chief Bob Berg.

Christopher G. Oberst was contacted at his residence yesterday evening and then booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

Chief Deputy Stacy Brown said a 38-year-old man who is currently an inmate at the Thurston County Jail confessed to the burglaries and named Oberst as someone who committed the crimes with him. He gave information including the various locations, the property taken and the method of entry, Brown said.

Oberst was booked for 11 counts of residential burglary, according to Brown. The investigation regarding the inmate is ongoing, she said.

The sheriff’s office is looking into three additional suspects related to the cases and their involvement with nine other local burglaries, Brown said.

Local drug team catches firearms trafficking case in Pierce County

Thursday, October 22nd, 2015
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Tacoma resident Rebecca J. Coleman consults with a defense attorney in Lewis County Superior Court.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A 53-year-old mother and grandmother was brought before a judge today in Chehalis in a case that began with a local detective’s undercover operation purchase of a stolen handgun and led to the seizure of 38 firearms, thousands of rounds of assorted ammunition and drugs in Tacoma.

Four improvised explosive devices also located at the residence drew ordinance disposal technicians consisting of members of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Pierce County Sheriff’s Department and the Washington State Patrol, according to authorities.

Rebecca J. Coleman, 53, of Tacoma, was charged today in Lewis County Superior Court with numerous offenses related to the case.

Coleman was arrested on Tuesday, the day the search warrant was served at her home, and a judge yesterday allowed local prosecutors to hold her uncharged while the investigation continued.

According to charging documents, Lewis County sheriff’s detective Duke Adkisson learned last month from an unnamed individual that he or she could purchase guns and methamphetamine from Coleman, and he began investigating Coleman for trafficking in stolen firearms.

The relatively new local Joint Narcotics Enforcement Team issued a news release today describing how its members followed up on a tip from a Lewis County resident, and how some of the firearms Coleman allegedly sold were being transported back to Lewis County.

Lewis County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Stacy Brown distributed the press release on behalf of JNET’s leaders.

Sheriff Rob Snaza in a printed statement explained why local detectives made an arrest in another jurisdiction.

“Criminals don’t have physical boundaries, they travel in and out of our county,” Snaza stated. “Even though the arrest and seizure occurred in Pierce County, we stopped the flow of criminal activity from coming into our county.”

Snaza shares overseeing JNET with Centralia Police Chief Carl Nielsen and Chehalis Police Chief Glenn Schaffer as each agency has law enforcement officers on the team. Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer’s name is also on JNET”s letterhead.

Charging documents state that sometime between Sept. 30 and this past Monday, detective Adkisson gave money to an informant to go buy one of Coleman’s guns and to tell Coleman that he or she was a convicted felon and not allowed to possess a firearm.

During the transaction, Coleman allegedly implied some of her firearms could be stolen firearms, the documents state.

The gun brought back to Adkisson did turn out to have been stolen last December.

According to JNET and the court documents, also seized from Coleman’s residence was $1,258 cash, two baggies of suspected methamphetamine, drug paraphernalia, mortars, tank simulators and other items consistent with explosives.

The home is located in the south end of Tacoma at the 2400 block of 155th Street Court East.

The explosives were taken off site by the technicians to be detonated, according to Chief Brown’s summary.

Coleman’s bail was set yesterday at $150,000.

Defense attorney Joely O’Rourke told the judge Coleman has only one felony conviction – possession of a controlled substance from last year – and it was a deferred prosecution with a plan for her to withdraw her plea shortly.

Coleman was charged today with four felonies in Lewis County Superior Court.

They are: first-degree trafficking in stolen property, delivery of a firearm to an ineligible person, possession of a stolen firearm, unlawful possession of a firearm in the second-degree and possession of methamphetamine.

She qualified for a court-appointed attorney as she is currently unemployed and receives social security disability payments, according to O’Rourke.

Her arraignment is scheduled for next Thursday.

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Property seized from Tacoma residence is displayed. / Courtesy photo by Lewis County Sheriff’s Office