Lewis County Sirens.com

Larry N. Bemrose waits in the jury box for a corrections officer to take him down to the Lewis County Jail following his sentencing.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A 66-year-old Toledo resident who thought he was protecting his neighborhood when he pointed a shotgun at an 8-year-old boy and then the boy’s mother was sentenced yesterday for two felonies.

Larry N. Bemrose was arrested after the Nov. 7 incident  in the area of North Fifth Street in the South Lewis County town and charged with two counts of first-degree assault.

The woman, Finola Erickson, told police she’d just left a relative’s house in the area of Middle Crest Road and when she came to the stop sign, a pickup truck pulled a U-turn in front of her and blocked her, according to charging documents. She said a man she’d never seen before got out, approached with a rifle and pointed it at her son who was sitting in the passenger seat, and then walked around her side of the car and pointed it at her, charging documents relate.

Erickson took off in her yellow Neon and parked near Toledo High School, where she turned off her headlights to hide from the man and called 911.

It was an unfortunate incident of mistaken identity, Lewis County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Will Halstead told a judge yesterday.

Halstead, the defendant and the defendant’s lawyer were in Lewis County Superior Court after striking a plea deal.

Prosecutors reduced the charged to two counts of second-degree assault, to which Bemrose pleaded guilty earlier this past spring.

“Unfortunately for him, it was a mother with her child in the vehicle,” Halstead said.

Centralia defense attorney Don Blair said his client was witness to what he thought was a burglary to a neighbor’s home and when he approached what he thought was the suspect vehicle, they “threw it in reverse” so he went and retrieved his gun.

“Unfortunately for the woman and her son, the vehicles looked similar,” Blair said.

According to charging documents, Bemrose admitted to police at the time to confronting a sport utility vehicle and a Lincoln, but denied contacting the yellow Neon.

Blair told Judge Richard Brosey that when Bemrose first learned it was a different party, he broke down and cried in Blair’s office, realizing what the woman and her child must have gone through.

The standard sentencing range for the offense is 12 to 14 months in prison. The two lawyers agreed to recommend Bemrose be sentenced to 12 months and one day.

Judge Brosey agreed, and gave Bemrose 11 days credit for time spent in the Lewis County Jail.

As Lewis County Superior Court judges customarily tell defendants when they are convicted of felonies, he explained to Bemrose he’d lost his right to possess firearms, and lost his right to vote.

When he is released, he will be under the supervision of the state Department of Corrections for 18 months.
•••

For background, read “Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup – FROM THE COURTHOUSE” from Monday November 10, 2014, here

Hennessy R. Turner-White, 22, from Portland, was represented by temporary defense attorney Joely O’Rourke at his bail hearing in Lewis County Superior Court.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The second of the three males believed to have barged in and shot up a Centralia residence demanding cash and weed earlier this year has been arrested.

Hennessy R. Turner-White was picked up in Clark County on a $500,000 arrest warrant.

The 22-year-old Portland resident will get his chance to make his plea tomorrow morning in Lewis County Superior Court.

Centralia police found nine shell casings and two bullet jacket fragments at the small home on Marion Street when they investigated the Feb. 19 incident. They also found one of the resident’s two dogs shot dead on the sidewalk.

Marion Street, Feb. 19, 2015

Dustin Palermo and his girlfriend initially wondered if it could have been related to winning money at the casino the night before, but the police investigation pointed to a local teen who once helped trim Palermo’s pot plants.

Palermo had medical marijuana growing inside.

Brian A. Carreon, 17, of Centralia, was arrested last week, charged as an adult and is being held on $75,000 bail.

Turner-White was brought before a judge earlier this week, who left his bail at $500,000.

Lewis County Superior Court Judge Richard Brosey noted police are still looking for the third suspect in Nevada.

The two currently housed in the Lewis County Jail are both charged with first-degree robbery. Turner-White is additionally charged with first-degree assault.

One of Carreon’s two sisters who live in Portland has been charged with rendering criminal assistance. Taina Duncan is accused of driving with the others to the house, but staying inside her car with her daughter.

According to charging documents, when Carreon was interviewed by police a second time told them he’d taken a video of himself once when he trimmed Palermo’s’ plants for him, and he’d shown it to Turner-White.

He said he was phoned by Turner-White who said he knew he had a connection to get weed, and was headed up.

“(When) they arrived at the Palermo’s residence, Hennessy pulled out a gun and said they weren’t going to buy the weed,” Carreon told police according to the charging documents.

Carreon told police they went to the door and he was behind them telling them to stop; that the third male kicked in the door, and that Turner-White shot the dog.

Charging documents in the case don’t relate what was actually stolen, but state they were only inside about 45 seconds based on Palermo’s security video.

Palermo described to police that one of the intruders was very tall, wearing a maroon hoodie and seemed to be in charge, doing a lot of the yelling. It appeared he had a black 9 mm or 45 semi-automatic handgun, according to Palermo.

Turner-White is Carreon’s other sister’s ex-boyfriend.

He grew up in Portland, according to his temporary defense attorney earlier this week. His mother was in the courtroom for his short hearing.

Judge Brosey appointed Centralia lawyer Don Blair to represent Turner-White.
•••

For background, read “Two arrested, two sought in February Centralia home invasion” from Thursday July 9, 2015, here

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – More than $1 million worth of checks left in an unlocked desk in an unlocked office at a Winlock business last summer disappeared. But they were returned a couple of days later.

However, according to prosecutors, one of them in which the payee line had been left blank was written out and cashed for more than $16,000 by an individual who worked for Jake’s Fireworks for a day and a half.

Jake’s is a distributor of wholesale fireworks and a fireworks retailer on Nevil Road in Winlock.

Carlos D. Linares, now 21, reportedly sent an email to the company within weeks, and admitted he took the check and used the money, according to the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office.

When law enforcement spoke with Linares this spring, he allegedly said he chose the one check because it was the only one not made out to someone, that he put his name on it and had a relative cash it for him.

Linares was summonsed into Lewis County Superior Court yesterday, where he is charged with first-degree theft and forgery.

He’s unemployed and lives in Chehalis, the judge was told. Lewis County Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher said Linares has no criminal history,.

Judge Richard Brosey allowed him to remain out of jail pending trial on a $5,000 unsecured signature bond.

Charging documents in the case state the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office was contacted on July 9 of last year by the fireworks company.

An employee said she’d been contacted by a girl who returned several two-party checks made out to Jake’s.

The girl said she found the stack of checks in an envelope inside a backpack in a park, charging documents say.

She was engaged to Linares, and said she found them on July 7 and that he would have had access to them before she returned them on July 9, according to the allegations.

The stack of checks totaling more than $1 million were believed to have disappeared on July 8, the same day Linares is believed to have come into the office to be paid, according to charging documents.

It wasn’t until August 11, that the discovery was made that one of them had not been returned, and had been cashed for $16,040.51, according to the documents.

Linares’s arraignment is scheduled for July 30.

•••

INJURY COLLISIONS

• A 28-year-old Packwood resident riding a dirt bike without a helmet was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle after crashing yesterday. Deputies responding about 5:45 p.m. learned from witnesses the man was traveling along Elkhorn Drive in Packwood when he lost control and wrecked near Cannon Road and Holiday Lane, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Chief Deputy Stacy Brown described his injuries as serious and the damage to the 2000 Kawasaki as minor. The sheriff’s office suspects alcohol was involved, according to Brown.

• A 51-year-old driver ended up with a possible broken hand or wrist when she wrecked yesterday afternoon, her Jeep Cherokee rolling end over end along the 400 block of Chilvers Road west of Chehalis. Deputies responding to the approximately 5 p.m. incident were told she was traveling westbound when her vehicle left the roadway and struck a raised driveway entrance, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The Bellevue woman had been wearing her seat belt; the vehicle was totaled, according to the sheriff’s office. She was taken by ambulance to the hospital, Chief Deputy Stacy Brown said.

VEHICLE THEFT

• A white 2007 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 pickup truck with Illinois plates was stolen sometime during the night from the 100 block of South Cedar Street in Centralia, according to a report made to police about 7:30 a.m. today.

CAR PROWL

• Centralia police were called about 8 p.m. yesterday about a vehicle prowl at the 700 block of Pioneer Way.

• Someone stole a tent from the back of a truck parked at the 800 block of South Silver Street. An officer called about 3:50 p.m. yesterday learned it must have occurred during the night.

• A vehicle was broken into and its stereo stolen on the 700 block of Bengal Court in Centralia, according to a report made to police yesterday.

VANDALISM

• Centralia police were called at 10 a.m. yesterday to the 900 block of West Main Street to take a report an individual’s vehicle got spray painted.

BURNING BUSHES

• Firefighters were called about 6 o’clock yesterday evening when hedge trees caught fire in a planting bed at Applebee’s restaurant on Northwest Louisiana Avenue in Chehalis. It was near the road and likely was ignited from a cigarette butt, according to the Chehalis Fire Department.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, misdemeanor assault; responses for alarm, dispute, suspicious circumstances, vandalism, collision on city street … and more.

Burning bushes along Northwest Louisiana Avenue. / Courtesy photo by Lori Cusson

Joseph M. Lowery is charged with attempted first-degree murder in Lewis County Superior Court, an offense with a maximum penalty of life in prison.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The 20-year-old who grew up in Winlock is being held on $500,000 bail, accused of leaning into the bushes and taking aim with a pistol – from some 50 feet away – at his former girlfriend as she sat alone next to a stream in the woods.

Shyann Gallimore, also 20, was struck in the back with what authorities believe was a 22 caliber bullet.

But it could be as long as two weeks before the round is removed, and examined.

“It ricocheted off something, and lodged in my shoulder,” Gallimore said yesterday.

The young woman was taken by a friend to Providence Centralia Hospital where she was treated and sent home the same night. Gallimore is home in Winlock, where she lives with friends she said are taking care of her.

Courtesy photo from Gallimore.

The incident took place on the outskirts of Winolequa Park in the South Lewis County community. The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office said it happened about 6:30 p.m. on Saturday.

“This is a safety issue,” Lewis County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Sara Beigh said as she addressed bail for the suspect yesterday afternoon.

Lewis County Superior Court Judge Richard Brosey agreed the amount was appropriate.

The sheriff’s office reported the suspect had threatened violence before against the victim and made reference to an ongoing dispute.

Prosecutors in charging documents allege the suspect told deputies he had become tired of Gallimore disrespecting the “Juggalo family.”

Joseph M. Lowery is charged with attempted first-degree murder.

Prosecutors say he and a 16-year-old boy who was with him that evening admitted they are members of the Juggalo gang. And that on a previous occasion, Lowery had allegedly told the teen if he ever saw Gallimore in “his” woods, he would shoot her.

And that he would “put it on the hatchet,” a Juggalo term meaning promise, according to prosecutors.

Juggalo is a name used by fans of performance artists called the Insane Clown Posse. Federal law enforcement agencies identified Juggalos as a non-traditional type gang in 2011.

Whatever exactly the reason for the weekend shooting, temporary defense attorney Joely O’Rourke alluded to another possibility yesterday afternoon when the suspect was given a court appointed attorney.

“I suspect Mr. Arcuri will be asking for a mental health evaluation,” O’Rourke told the judge.

His mother was among those in the courtroom, to support him, O’Rourke said. And he has absolutely no criminal history, she said.

The sheriff’s office and charging documents give the following account of what took place:

Gallimore was at a mutual friend’s home on Limmer Road earlier on Saturday, and when she learned Lowery was headed there, she called a friend to pick her up near Winolequa Park to make sure she didn’t walk home alone. Gallimore was afraid of Lowery.

She walked to a trail leading to the park and was sitting down and on the phone with the friend when she heard a pop, felt pain in her back, reached around to touch and then found blood on her hand.

The friend, who Gallimore said is a roommate and like a little brother to her, took her to the hospital. That’s where deputies responded to learn what happened.

An X-ray revealed an object in her back consistent with a .22 caliber round. An injury near the middle of her back is consistent with a bullet wound.

When deputies located the 16-year-old later that night at a residence on Sears Road, he told them he and Lowery knew Gallimore was at Limmer Road and were on their way there, but as they got to the park, Lowery asked him for the .22 revolver in his backpack.

They went into the woods and as they walked up the trail they saw her, sitting next to the stream. The teen said Lowery told him to keep walking, and then Lowery leaned into the bushes and aimed the gun.

The teen said he heard a pop, he heard Gallimore yelling, and they ran away up a trail.

The 16-year-old, who also lives in Winlock, was booked into the Lewis County Juvenile Detention Center and yesterday, Judge Brosey found probable cause to hold him, as prosecutors requested, as an accomplice in the crime of attempted first-degree murder.

His bail was also was set at $500,000.

Prosecutors wanted more time to make a final decision, but the nature of the proposed potential charge, a class A felony, made it automatic the 16-year-old be handled in adult court, according to Lewis County Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher.

However, today, Meagher said further review of the case indicated the more appropriate charges for the teen were only second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm and tampering with evidence. And prosecutors decided not to charge him as an adult.

The charges were filed today.

The 16-year-old, who had been moved to the Lewis County Jail, went before Judge Brosey once again this afternoon, for a juvenile detention hearing.

Deputy Prosecutor Joel DeFazio and a juvenile probation officer urged the judge to continue to hold the teen until his arraignment.

A major concern is the gun has not been recovered, Judge Brosey was told.

The teen was to be sent back to the juvenile detention following the hearing. Court appointed attorney Shane O’Rourke is representing him

The teen’s arraignment is Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. Lowery’s arraignment is Thursday at 10:40 a.m.
•••

For background, read “Sheriff’s Office: Winlock woman shot in back in park by ex, survives” from Monday July 20, 2015, here