Lewis County Sirens.com

Updated

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A Chehalis automobile salesman was carjacked during a test drive this morning, with what turned out to be a toy gun.

A 21-year-old man is in custody, after a high-speed chase that ended in Cowlitz County.

The red 2011 Ford F150 pickup sustained some damage when the suspect drove it through a fence near a weigh station about five miles south of Castle Rock, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

Sheriff’s Cmdr. Dusty Breen said it began at I-5 Toyota on Northwest Louisiana Avenue where the supposed customer and the sales person departed for a test drive.

They were traveling on Hamilton Road south of Chehalis when the 21-year-old ordered the man out at gunpoint, Breen said, or, with what appeared to be a handgun.

“The salesman is able to flag somebody down for help,” he said. “Deputies were dispatched.”

That was around 11:20 a.m.

The sheriff’s office and the state patrol began a pursuit that took Interstate 5 as well as some backroads at speeds of 80 and 90 mph, and ended when the driver ran through the fence and bailed out, he said. They were joined by Cowlitz deputies as well.

They got a call from a woman who said there was a man inside her house, out of breath and asking for water, and he borrowed a pair of sunglasses from a person there, put them on and hid under a porch, according to the Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Office.

That was on Pleasant Hill Road, and that’s where law enforcement officers took him into custody.

Cmdr. Breen said Huber Juarez-Arellano, 21, is from Vancouver, Washington. Cowlitz County identifies him as Huber Juarez-Vasques, 22, of Kelso.

Breen said the suspect tossed the weapon out along Barnes Road, and when it was recovered, it turned out to be a painted Airsoft gun.

Nobody got hurt in the incident, he said. The sales associate is a 46-year-old Centralia resident, according to the sheriff’s office.

The suspect was transported back to Lewis County to be booked into the jail for first-degree robbery and felony eluding, Breen said.

The Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Office reports it will be considering charges of eluding and trespass.

The suspect had left his identification at the dealership before the test drive, according to Chief Deputy Stacy Brown.

•••

SHOPLIFTING

• Centralia officers “physically subdued” a 25-year-old homeless woman who was running from a store security person last night following an alleged shoplift. Police called to the 500 block of South Tower Avenue just before 10 p.m. arrested Shila K. Brennan, 25, for third-degree theft and booked her into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department.

CAR PROWLING

• Chehalis police were called a little after 2 o’clock this morning to the 400 block of Northeast Adams Avenue where a woman said she’d gone out to her car to get something and found a man inside it with a flashlight. He ran off and was not located, according to the Chehalis Police Department. It appeared a neighbor’s vehicle had also been prowled, police said. The suspect was described only as white and in his mid-20s, with short hair or bald and wearing “skater” shoes, according to police.

BAD CHECK

• Chehalis police were called about 2 p.m. yesterday regarding someone trying to fraudulently cash a check at a bank on the 1400 block of Northwest Louisiana Avenue. The case is under investigation, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

ASSAULT

• The Olympian reports a 37-year-old Centralia man accused of choking and beating another man at a mobile home near Rainier a week and a half ago pleaded not guilty yesterday to second-degree assault and felony harassment in Thurston County Superior Court. News reporter Amelia Dickson writes the victim’s girlfriend and children witnessed the altercation that began with Mike J. Poulton banging on the man’s door while he slept.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, misdemeanor assault, probation violation, driving with suspended license; responses for dispute, shoplifting, suspicious circumstances … and more.

•••

Updated at 3:19 p.m.

PARACHUTING ACCIDENT

• Medics and firefighters were called to the airport in Toledo today for an injured skydiver, who they were told passed out on his way down. The man landed on the tarmac and suffered non-life threatening injuries, according to Lewis County Fire District 2. Firefighter-EMT Tracy Summers said the patient was transported to Providence Centralia Hospital following the approximately 12:45 p.m. call to the airfield off Jackson Highway.

DEER BREAKS MAN’S LEG

• Deputies responded to the 600 block of West Reynolds Avenue in Centralia after an approximately 2:40 p.m. incident yesterday when a deer ran into the side of motorcyclist traveling down the road, breaking the driver’s leg. The 61-year-old Rochester man’s Harley Davidson was undamaged, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

PEDESTRIAN INJURED

• Police were called about 8:20 p.m. yesterday to Reynolds Avenue and Pearl Street for a pedestrian versus vehicle accident. A boy, whose age was not readily available, was transported to the hospital for minor injuries, according to the Centralia Police Department. The driver was issued a citation, according to police.

BICYCLIST HURT

• A bicycle rider was transported to the hospital with minor injuries after a collision with a vehicle at about 7:20 a.m. yesterday at Pearl and Maple streets in Centralia, according to the Centralia Police Department.

UNWANTED VISITOR

• Police were called yesterday by an individual at the 200 block of Southwest Lewis Street in Chehalis who said sometime during the night someone came onto their deck and knocked over planters, and stole one of them.

VEHICLE PROWL

• Police were called about 5:30 a.m. yesterday to the 1100 block of South Pearl Street in Centralia after the discovery someone got into a parked car and removed its stereo, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• Centralia police took a report yesterday from the 1000 block of South Pearl Street regarding a car prowl the evening before in which someone broke out the window and stole a purse. Among its contents were money and credit cards, according to the Centralia Police Department.

FRAUD

• Centralia police took a report yesterday from an individual who said his wallet, with credit card, had been stolen from his home on the 200 block of East Chestnut Street and he learned someone else made charges on his account.

DRUGS

• A deputy serving an arrest warrant at the 200 block of Panisco Road in Cinebar yesterday morning ended up arresting a woman for possession of methamphetamine. The deputy reports the woman attempted to walk away and after she was placed on the ground to be handcuffed, she tried to throw a glass tube, which contained a white crystal powder, that field tested positive for meth, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Bobbie H. Valentich, also known as Bobbie Hansen, age not readily available, was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the sheriff’s office.

LOST AND FOUND

• Centralia police were called yesterday morning by the owner of a 5-month-old Australian cattle dog who said the pup went missing from their yard on the 1200 block of Alexander Street. Police describe the pet as mostly white with a hint of gray. Officers took note a scraggly looking stranger had been seen in the area, but the man was not located, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• Police and deputies searched for a 4-year-old child reported missing about 10 a.m. yesterday by his father at the 2000 block of Johnson Road. The investigation revealed the child was not missing and in fact was safe with his mother in the Rochester, according to police.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, misdemeanor assault; responses for alarm, hit and run, suspicious circumstances, possibly suicidal person, dog left alone inside parked vehicle, keys found at Penny Playground, someone letting the air out of someone else’s tires, suspected stolen iPad that was found, suspected stolen purse that was found … and more.