Lewis County Sirens.com

Updated at 8:08 p.m.

SHERIFF: FRAUD OPERATION UNCOVERED IN ONALASKA

• An Onalaska woman was arrested yesterday at her home where deputies found a suspected check-printing operation. Two others wanted on warrants were arrested at the same time, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. An investigation began about two weeks ago with a 67-year-old who was victimized when someone wrote a fraudulent check at the Chehalis Safeway for $352 worth of groceries, according to the sheriff’s office. Yesterday, when surveillance video that was obtained revealed the woman at the grocery store, whose name was on the check, deputies and members of the Centralia Police Department went together to contact her at the 400 block of View Ridge Road, as well as several people with warrants believed to be hanging out with her, Chief Deputy Stacy Brown said. Shauna Ridgley was detained and gave law enforcement permission to go inside her home to find wanted persons, Brown said. A 30-year-old Tumwater woman came out with a knife in her hand, wouldn’t obey commands and made comments about “suicide by cop”, Brown said. Officers used a Taser to take her – Amy Moore – into custody, according to Brown. Inside, they found Francisco Lamas, 29, of Centralia. While inside, officers saw check printing materials in the kitchen and subsequently got a warrant to collect numerous identifications, documents and pieces of mail belonging to other people, according to Brown. Ridgley was arrested for theft, forgery and manufacturing fraudulent financial documents, according to the sheriff’s office. The other two were arrested for their warrants and all three booked into the Lewis County Jail. The 67-year-old is just one of the victims, according to Brown.

AUTO THEFT

• A 71-year-old woman reported yesterday her red 2000 Ford Mustang was stolen overnight from the 6000 block of state Route 508 near Morton. The car disappeared sometime after 10 p.m. Sunday and before 7 a.m. yesterday, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. It has a license plate of ANS 3279, according to the sheriff’s office. The loss is estimated at $10,000 Chief Deputy Stacy Brown said.

OTHER THEFT

• Centralia police were called about 12:15 p.m. yesterday regarding the theft of medications from the 2000 block of Cooks Hill Road.

• Chehalis police were called yesterday about mail stolen from mailboxes along Southwest 15th Street.

CAR PROWL

• Police were called about 9:25 p.m. yesterday to the parking lot at Providence Centralia Hospital after someone was caught breaking into a car. The owner caught him, but he ran away, however, officers found something the suspect accidentally left behind with his name on it, according to the Centralia Police Department. Charles A. Riggs must have dropped his discharge papers from the hospital and he was subsequently located and arrested for second-degree vehicle prowl, according to Sgt. Jim Shannon. He was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to police.

• Centralia police took a report yesterday afternoon about an overnight vehicle prowl at the 600 block of Warren Street.

DRUGS

• A 15-year-old girl was arrested for possession of marijuana yesterday in connection with an incident at the 800 block of Eshom Road in Centralia.

SHRUB ISSUES

• A 54-year-old Morton man made a vandalism complaint after someone pruned his junipers and threw the limbs in his yard last week. The suspect in the incident on the 100 block of Collar Avenue is an 81-year-old neighbor, according to the Morton Police Department. The damage is estimated at $5,000, police report.

FROM THE COURTHOUSE

• A public works employee in Somerville, Texas has been booked into the Lewis County Jail on a charge of child molestation following an investigation that began last year about incidents that allegedly took place in Centralia around 2009. Teddi B. Kendig, 54, yesterday was ordered held on $50,000 bail. Prosecutors state in charging documents that a girl told police last April that when she was 6 or 7 years old, the man her mother was dating pulled down his pants and asked her to touch him, when they were alone together. First-degree child molestation has a maximum penalty of life in prison. Kendig’s arraignment is scheduled for Thursday in Lewis County Superior Court.

• A 28-year-old homeless man was arrested after his 9-year-old daughter was found alone and wandering the streets on the 100 block of Ribelin Road outside Chehalis about 6 a.m. on Saturday, and deputies learned the two had broken into her grandmother’s house nearby to watch television and then slept in the loft of a shack. Charging documents state the girl was hysterical, shivering and shoeless and had been looking for her dad after awakening about an hour earlier and finding him gone. About two hours after responding to the call, a deputy found Derrick W. Burke hiding on the property, and he said he’d gone in the house to take a shower, but then found the door wide open and feared there were burglars, so he hid in the bushes, according to charging documents. Burke had an outstanding warrant for his arrest, the documents state, that he said he was unaware of. Charging documents state the child’s mother gave conflicting statements to police about the situation. Burke was charged yesterday in Lewis County Superior Court with reckless endangerment, first-degree criminal trespass and also for escape from community custody for failing to maintain contact with his community corrections officer – in connection with a 2013 conviction for possession of methamphetamine. Defense attorney Joely O’Rourke told a judge yesterday her client was currently working at a Chehalis vehicle repair business, but hadn’t yet gotten his first paycheck. His bail was set at $10,000 and his arraignment is Thursday in Lewis County Superior Court.

WRECK

• Car parts were left behind in a hit and run that damaged a large section of chain link fence at Winlock High School,  according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. A deputy responding yesterday to North Military and Nevil roads believes it was a small car and reports the cost is $500 to $1,000, according to the sheriff’s office.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, driving under the influence; responses for alarms, disputes, report of rape, collision on city street … and more.

ATTEMPTED APPLIANCE THEFT

• Someone kicked in a door and tried to steal a dishwasher from a residence on the 300 block of Winston Creek Road near Lake Mayfield, the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reported this morning. The discovery was made yesterday by an individual who went to clean the place for new tenants, according to the sheriff’s office. Nothing else was missing or disturbed, Chief Deputy Stacy Brown said.

BURGLARY TO SHOP

• The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reported this morning nearly $2,000 worth of items were stolen on Feb. 19 from the 3000 block of Lowery Lane outside Centralia. Among the missing property were a Stihl chainsaw, various tools and two motorcycles – a Honda and a Suzuki , according to the sheriff’s office.

SCRAP METAL TAKEN

• Sometime during the week that ended on Saturday, someone stole scrap copper from a barn, workshop and garage at the 1800 block of Bunker Creek Road west of Chehalis. The loss is estimated at $100, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

VEHICLE PROWL

• An officer called to the 500 block of Harrison Avenue in Centralia about 1:10 p.m. yesterday was told someone stole items from a pickup truck while its owner was shopping.

VANDALISM

• Police were called about 3:30 a.m. today when a taxi driver reported an individual kicked out the taxi’s tail light following an argument at the 1200 block of Mellen Street, according to the Centralia Police Department.

COLLISION

• An 18-year-old passenger was hospitalized yesterday evening after a 21-year-old driver lost control of his 2001 Pontiac at a corner at the 100 block of the Toledo-Vader Road and struck a guard rail. A deputy responding after the approximately 5:15 p.m. wreck outside Toledo reports the driver was uninjured but the passenger sustained an arm laceration as well as neck and back pain, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Both are from Castle Rock, according to the sheriff’s office. The car was described as totaled.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, assault, shoplifting, driving under the influence; responses for alarms, gas drive off, hit and run, hit and run, hit and run  … and more.

CHILDRENS’ CLINIC CATCHES FIRE IN CENTRALIA

• Riverside Fire Authority reports heavy damage from a fire last night at a childrens’ medical clinic across from Providence Centralia Hospital. Crews called about 8:10 p.m. to Northwest Pediatric Center on the 1900 block of Cooks Hill Road in Centralia found fire at the rear of the building with extension into the attic, according to Capt. Casey McCarthy. The fire was brought under control quickly with assistance from fire departments in Chehalis and Rochester, according to McCarthy. Nobody was injured. Riverside tweeted just before 9:30 p.m. the fire was out and personnel were helping representatives of the business to salvage high priority supplies and property. The cause was under investigation.

MILKING PARLOR CATCHES FIRE IN ADNA

• Fire struck at an Adna dairy during the night, damaging its milking parlor but firefighters were able to keep it from spreading to a barn containing some 200 cows. Lewis County Fire District 6 called just before 3:30 a.m. to the 400 block of Bunker Creek Road found the long, narrow parlor building roughly 75 percent involved in flames, Firefighter Matt McCoy said. The building was connected in a T-fashion to the large barn, he said. “I thought we were going to lose the barn with the cows, but the guys did a really good job of knocking it down,” McCoy said. They were assisted by crews from the Chehalis Fire Department, Lewis County Fire District 13 and Riverside Fire Authority, he said. McCoy said it appeared some of the equipment may be salvageable, but the owner had to find a way with neighbors to get the cows milked this morning. It might not have ended so well if not for a deputy out on patrol who noticed the smoke, he said. “That right there was one of the saving graces,” he said. The cause is under investigation.

DUI COLLISION

• A 21-year-old driver was hospitalized early this morning after he wrecked a car on Jackson Highway at Plomondon Road outside Toledo. Troopers called at 4:55 a.m. report Ivan W. Case, of Chehalis, was traveling fast southbound, failed to negotiate a curve and left the roadway, coming to rest in the ditch. The 2009 Honda Accord he was driving is described as totaled. He was wearing a seatbelt, but was injured and transported to Providence Centralia Hospital, according to the Washington State Patrol. The crash is blamed on speed and Case is to be issued a citation for driving under the influence, according to the state patrol.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, trespass, obstructing, misdemeanor assault, driving under the influence; responses for vandalism, missing vehicle  … and more.

The end of the long milking parlor farthest from the cow barn after the fire is mostly extinguished. / Courtesy photo by Lewis County Fire District 6

HIT AND RUN ONE

• A 41-year-old Centralia man who reportedly “hit on” on woman at a Chehalis bank yesterday, then backed into her vehicle and drove away without stopping was arrested later for hit and run. Police were called about 12:40 p.m. to the 200 block of Northwest Chehalis Avenue where the 41-year-old woman said he had been harassing her, they got into a short disagreement and after he hit her car, he just said ‘it’s fine’ and left, according to the Chehalis Police Department. An officer tracked down the man’s sport utility vehicle during the night at a motel, and he admitted having been at the bank but didn’t recall hitting any vehicle, according to police. Deputy Chief Randy Kaut said it wasn’t clear if he intentionally backed into her vehicle. Douglas M. Martin was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to police.

HIT AND RUN TWO

• It was just before 10 o’clock in the morning when a 21-year-old motorist came around a corner fast and struck a parked vehicle as well as a rhododendron in a flower bed outside the Lewis County Coroner’s Office. It happened on Wednesday, at the 500 block of Northwest Center Street, and Curtis J. Ebner was arrested for driving under the influence, for hit and run, and booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

MISSING HELICOPTER

• A remote-controlled helicopter was among the items stolen in a break-in reported yesterday at the 1700 block of state Route 7 outside of Morton. Someone burglarized a shop building sometime since Monday and also made off with a toolbox and two chainsaws, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

ANOTHER MISSING CHAINSAW

• Sometime between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. yesterday, someone stole a Stihl chainsaw from a residence on the 500 block of Antrim Road outside Winlock, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

MORE THEFT

• The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reports this morning a 20-year-old homeless person was arrested for the alleged theft of a credit card when a deputy responded to a dispute on Wednesday at the 200 block of Joppish Road outside Centralia. While there, the deputy learned Jesse S. Shannon had taken the credit card from the other individual involved in the argument, according to the sheriff’s office. Shannon also allegedly made some $2,400 worth of charges on the card in Tumwater, an allegation being handled by the Tumwater Police Department, detective Sgt. Steve Aust said. Shannon was booked into the Lewis County Jail for second-degree theft, according to Aust.

CAR PROWL

• Police were called about 7:40 a.m. yesterday to the 400 block of South Gold Street in Centralia where a set of keys had been stolen from a vehicle.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, driving with suspended license; responses for alarm, dispute, suspicious circumstances, collisions on city streets … and more.