Lewis County Sirens.com

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

A man who fell some 20 feet off an old bridge onto large rocks in a remote area along the south shore of Riffe Lake last night was rescued and taken to Morton General Hospital.

Firefighters were called about 9 p.m. by an individual who boated across the lake, and got into a car to drive to get cell phone service, according to Lewis County Fire District 18.

“When we got to him, him and his wife were against the bank, but in the water,” Chief Ed Lowe said. “She wasn’t strong enough to get him out.”

The injured man, who Lowe said was in his 60s, was conscious, but he’d landed on rocks, hit his head, injured his shoulder and had a lot of cuts and bruises, Lowe said.

It happened at what’s called the old Landers Creek Bridge, at about the midpoint of the 13-mile long lake, actually a reservoir created by the Mossyrock Dam.

Morton resident Shaun Olinger said he, his wife and their 3-year-old daughter were camping in the area.

Olinger didn’t see it happen, but heard a “smack” like somebody bellyflopped, he said. Then he saw the man’s teenage son coming over the rocks in a panic, so distraught he was speechless.

“He dove in and swam the last 25 feet, and got his shoulder rolled to get his face out of the water, but that’s the best he could do,” Olinger said.

Olinger described the father as “big guy” who’d come to rest with his head down a slope, submerged to his hips.

“None of us was strong enough to get him out,” he said.

They managed to turn him around and get his head and shoulders upslope, he said.

The landscape there is a nightmare he said, with no real beach, very deep water and large pointed rocks covered in slime.

Olinger and the 17-year-old motored back to the Kosmos Boat Launch to call for help. Meanwhile, the victim’s wife, and Olinger’s wife Billie did what they could with a rope and a cushion to move him toward shallower water.

Seven firefighters from the Glenoma department responded, as well as three from Randle, according to Lowe.

“District 14 brought their boat, they have a marine boat now we can call on,” Lowe said.

The patient, who Olinger knows as a Mossyrock resident through mutual friends, was transported to Morton General Hospital.

•••

Updated at 7:45 p.m.

DRIVING ARGUMENT TURNS ASSAULTIVE

• A 43-year-old Centralia man was hospitalized after a dispute in a parking lot at the 2600 block of Kresky Avenue just before 11 p.m. on Saturday, and a suspect is being sought, according to the Chehalis Police Department. Arriving officers found the victim bleeding from the head with cuts to his face, according to police. The disagreement was over the way someone was driving in the parking lot, police said.

DOMESTIC INCIDENT

• A 39-year-old Centralia man was arrested for second-degree robbery after he reportedly tried to take a purse from a family member while an officer was present. Police who had had responded to a dispute at the 1400 block of Johnson Road about 2:15 p.m. on Sunday booked Willard Scott into the Lewis County Jail. He was not charged and he was released.

BURGLARY AND THEFT

• A 57-year-old Chehalis man reported yesterday the theft of a Zippo lighter collection valued at more than $1,000. An officer responding to the incident associated with the 900 block of Southwest 20th Street was told the man had an idea of who may have taken the items, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

• Someone reached through an unlocked window at a home on the 1700 block of Cooks Hill Road in Centralia and stole a metal lockbox-style safe and a purse, according to a report made to police about 8:30 a.m. on Friday

• The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reported yesterday that someone burglarized a home on the 100 block of Linda Vista Drive south of Chehalis, taking a 40-inch flat screen television, an HP laptop computer and a paper mache piggy bank containing approximately $100. It happened between last Wednesday and Thursday, according to the sheriff’s office. The loss is estimated at $600, Chief Deputy Stacy Brown said.

• The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reported yesterday they are investigating a residential burglary from the 500 block of River Road outside Centralia in which 10 $100 bills were stolen as well as a metal box containing important documents. It happened on June 25 between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. and was reported last Thursday, according to the sheriff’s office.

• Centralia police were called about 10:30 a.m. yesterday about a ladder missing from a yard on the 1900 block of Van Wormer Street.

FRAUD

• An officer was called to the 2600 block of Eureka Avenue on Friday regarding a caregiver allegedly taking an individual’s access device to withdraw money from a bank account, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• An individual contacted Chehalis police to report $437 worth of fraudulent activity on his bank account on Friday, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

CAR PROWL

• Centralia police were called about 3:45 a.m. today to the 800 block of Rainier Avenue where someone prowled through a log truck. Documents were taken, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• A check was stolen from a vehicle parked at the 1100 block of Harrison Avenue in Centralia, according to a report made to police about noon yesterday.

• Chehalis police responded about 6:15 a.m. on Sunday to the 1700 block of South Market Boulevard for a possible vehicle prowl. The door was found open but cash was observed on the dashboard, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

• A wallet and a subwoofer were among the valuables stolen when someone prowled four vehicles in the 100 block of Sandy Boulevard in Centralia at about 2 o’clock in the morning on Friday, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

• Centralia police took reports of six vehicle prowls on Friday morning in which someone rummaged around but took nothing, according to the Centralia Police Department. The incidents occurred at the 600 block of Nick Road, the 1600 block of West Mellen Street, and the 800 block of Wayne Drive, according to police.

• Someone entered an open detached garage at the 3000 block of Ives Road outside Centralia and rummaged through an unlocked vehicle but nothing appeared to be missing, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Four other vehicles were prowled at the same location on the same night, – last Wednesday – and taken were a Clarion stereo, an amplifier, two DVD players and a driver’s license, according to the sheriff’s office.

FINDERS KEEPERS

• Chehalis police were contacted about 12:15 p.m. yesterday about a purse that disappeared after it was accidentally left in a shopping cart at Safeway on the 1100 block of South Market Boulevard in Chehalis. It contained a lot of cash, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

BROKEN GLASS

• A 29-year-old Chehalis man was arrested for third-degree malicious mischief yesterday after he allegedly threw a rock or brick through the window of a shed behind a building on West Main Street in Centralia. Derek J. Smith was then released pending a court date, according to the Centralia Police Department. He was reportedly unhappy about someone in the area, police said.

DRUGS

• Dylon L. Favro, a 22-year-old Chehalis man is arrested for possession with intent to deliver after roughly 350 grams of suspected hash oil were located by police in a residence on the 400 block of Northeast Washington Avenue in Chehalis, Chehalis police reported today. Favro was already booked into the jail on Wednesday on another matter.

• A 30-year-old Onalaska resident was arrested for a violation of the Uniform Controlled Substances Act after a glass smoking device came out of his pocket during a struggle with a security person following a possible theft at Wal-Mart on Saturday evening. Residue field-tested positive for heroin and a pill was found during a search, according to the Chehalis Police Department. Nicholas E. Novion was booked into the Lewis County Jail also for a warrant, according to police.

ON THE ROAD

• Troopers responded about 4:30 p.m. yesterday when a horse trailer disconnected from a pickup truck along U.S. Highway 12 in Salkum. The trailer containing four horses slid into a ditch near Salkum Heights Road, according to responders. No people were injured and the animals were fine, Washington State Patrol Sgt. Mike Cournyer said.

• A 21-year-old Randle resident was injured when his Honda Civic rear-ended a Ford Mustang that slowed to make a right turn off U.S. Highway 12 about five miles west of Morton yesterday afternoon. Dustin H. Gardner was transported to Morton General Hospital, according to the  Washington State Patrol. Jack L. Dimmit, 48, of Morton, was reportedly uninjured but his car was totaled, as was Gardner’s, the state patrol reports. Troopers called just after 4 p.m. blamed the crash on inattention and speed. Gardner was to be issued a citation for reckless driving, according to the state patrol.

• Chehalis police responded to the 1500 block of North National Avenue about 4 p.m. on Sunday after a juvenile female jumped from a moving vehicle. The girl was upset she didn’t get to do something she wanted to, according to police. She was taken for a medical exam, police said.

• Inattention and following too closely on the part of a 17-year-old driver were blamed for a three-vehicle freeway collision that sent a 28-year-old Seattle woman to Providence Centralia Hospital on Sunday morning. Troopers called about 10:45 a.m. to the northbound lanes of Interstate 5 near Mellen Street determined the teen ran into a sport utility vehicle which was slowing for traffic, then swerved and hit a semi truck, according to the Washington State Patrol. Less than two hours later, a 20-year-old Edmonds man was hurt when another sport utility vehicle was shoved into the rear of the Honda Accord in which he was a passenger, after getting struck from behind by another driver following too closely near the exit 76 interchange in Chehalis, according to the state patrol. The vehicles were slowing for traffic in the northbound lanes when a 46-year-old motorist in a Chevrolet Suburban caused the collision, according to the state patrol.

• A 22-year-old Mineral resident was transported to Morton General Hospital with a knee injury after he took a corner too fast and slid sideways off Mineral Hill Road striking a gate at about 6:20 p.m. on Saturday, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. His 1989 Honda Prelude sustained major damage, according to the sheriff’s office. Corey D. Baca was cited for wheels off the roadway, third-degree driving with a suspended licensee, no insurance and an expired registration, according to the sheriff’s office.

• A Rochester family was among those involved in a four-vehicle serious collision on Saturday morning on Interstate 5 near Tumwater, in which an 8-year-old boy from Reno, Nevada subsequently died, according to the Washington State Patrol. Troopers had stopped northbound traffic to take roadway measurements from an earlier fatality wreck when the driver of a Chevrolet Tahoe who was unable to stop in time collided with the rear of a Toyota van from Reno occupied by six people, including the child who passed away Sunday night at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, according to the state patrol. The van was pushed into a car which was shoved into another car, according to Trooper Guy Gill. The driver of the Tahoe, Matthew L. Wiss, 39, of Rochester, was reportedly unhurt, and neither was 10-year-old Emma Wiss. But his other passenger Lisa R. Wiss, 35, was injured and transported to Providence St. Peter Hospital in Olympia, the state patrol reports. An 18-year-old in the Toyota van was also taken to Providence. The pileup closed all lanes for about six hours. Patrol spokesperson Gill yesterday indicated yesterday detectives are examining all aspects that led to the collision and seeking additional witnesses to the actual event or anything leading up to or after the crash. The initial information released by the state patrol on Saturday stated Wiss was slowing to a stop when his Tahoe was hit from behind by the Toyota van. The state patrol asks anyone with information to please call detective Ed Collins or detective Ben McBride at 360-805-1153.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, shoplifting, reckless driving, misdemeanor assault, drugs, driving under the influence, driving with suspended license, being in physical control of a vehicle while intoxicated; responses for alarm, dispute, vandalism, hit and run, misdemeanor theft, numerous fireworks complaints, suspicious circumstances, getting shoved by a roommate, loud neighbor music, out-of-control teenager, whining dog alone in parked vehicle, infant alone in  car in a parking lot, collisions on city streets … and more.