Lewis County Sirens.com

POLICE: INSIDER THEFT FROM SMALL BUSINESS

• A former bookkeeper was arrested yesterday for first-degree theft following an investigation that began this summer after a report from a concrete business with locations in Chehalis and Napavine. Chehalis police detective Sgt. Gary Wilson said police were contacted by the owner of Apex Mobile Mix on July 27. After various financial records were gathered, Wilson asked Angela D. Sawyer to come in the police department to talk with him. She showed up yesterday, but declined to be interviewed, he said. “She was working for the company and over the last two years is alleged to have taken thousands of dollars,” Wilson said. More than $50,000 is missing, he said. Sawyer, 39, was booked into the Lewis County Jail.

BURGLARY UNCOVERED

• Centralia police are investigating a burglary to a home on the 300 block of L Street. it came to the attention of police during another investigation and a person of interest has been identified, according to the Centralia Police Department.

AUTO THEFT

• Centralia police were called about 11:30 a.m. yesterday regarding a 1991 Honda stolen from an apartment complex on the 1000 block of North Schueber Road. It has a license plate reading AND 1194, according to the Centralia Police Department.

RESISTING ARREST

• A 27-year-old Olympia man was arrested yesterday evening for allegedly being uncooperative, trying to leave and trying to fight off officers’ attempts to detain him following a call to the Centralia Outlets at the 1300 block of Lum Road regarding a suspicious person trying to get into a vehicle. Kenneth J. Zawadzinski was booked into the Lewis County Jail  for obstructing and resisting arrest, according to the Centralia Police Department.

PERILS OF GUTTER CLEANING

• A 58-year-old Chehalis area man called 911 yesterday evening after he looked out his second story window and saw a stranger looking back at him. The stranger, a 38-year-old from Carter Lake, Iowa passing through on his way to Portland had spotted a ladder and rope against the side of the home on the 2300 block of Jackson Highway and thought it looked inviting, like a “hippie trail, so he climbed up it, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. They talked, the stranger asked if he could exit through the home instead of going back down the ladder and was escorted out by the resident, the sheriff’s office reports. On the way out, he asked for a beer, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said. The owner had been using the ladder earlier to clean out his gutters, according to Brown. Deputies arriving after the approximately 7 p.m. incident arrested Anthony E. Kies for burglary and booked him into the Lewis County Jail, according to the sheriff’s office. Prosecutors declined to charge Kies with burglary and he is expected to be seen in Lewis County District Court for a lesser charge.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, driving with suspended license; responses for dispute, disorderly person, runaway child, suspicious circumstances, report of attempted fraud by phone, collision on city street, car versus deer on county road … and more.

Updated at 6:15 p.m.

COLLISION

• A 63-year-old man was taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle after he wrecked his scooter-type motorcycle late yesterday afternoon along the 3500 block of Cooks Hill Road in Centralia. Responders called just after 5 p.m. found the man from Lake Tapps was wearing a half-helmet which may have come off and he had serious facial injuries and a possible head injury. It happened when he attempted a left-hand turn, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. His 2007 Yamaha XC50 had only minor damage, the sheriff’s office reports.

VEHICLE VERSUS PEDESTRIAN

• A woman was hospitalized after she was struck at a crosswalk in downtown Centralia by a small pickup truck today. Firefighters called at noon to South Tower Avenue at Cherry Street found her conscious but with suspected internal injuries, according to Riverside Fire Authority. She was transported to Providence Centralia Hospital, according to Capt. Scott Weinert.

FROM THE COURTHOUSE

• The former Onalaska volunteer firefighter and part time substitute school bus driver was sentenced today to life in prison with a minimum of just over three years in connection with allegations of sexual abuse of a teenage relative. Richard L. Crumbliss, 44, was arrested in April and has remained held in the Lewis County Jail. Crumbliss in August admitted no wrong doing when he made a so-called Alford plea of guilt to second-degree assault with sexual motivation and second-degree child molestation. His lawyer David Arcuri said the “indeterminate” sentence means Crumbliss could be released after 37 months, or even sooner with good time. But if or when he does get out, he will be under the supervision of the state Department of Corrections for the rest of his life, so if he ever fails to abide by DOC conditions, he could be sent back to prison, Lewis County Superior Court Judge Richard Brosey said during this morning’s hearing. Crumbliss would be required to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life and would not be allowed to ever go where children congregate, according to Arcuri. Nothing under criminal law would prevent him from working again as firefighter-EMT, although since Crumbliss didn’t respond to the July temporary suspension of his EMT license by the state – stemming from the criminal allegations – the state Emergency Medical Services and Trauma System Program earlier this month imposed a 15-year suspension of his license.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, driving with suspended license, drunk teenager; responses for dispute, suspicious circumstances, suspected protection order violation, collisions on city streets, possibly suicidal individuals, misdemeanor theft such as a stolen shopping cart, request for assistance dealing with an elderly family member who insisted on going to Walgreens to deal with collecting money she’d been told she won  … and more.

BREAK-INS AROUND CHEHALIS

• Chehalis police were called about 11 a.m. yesterday to another shed burglary, this one on the 700 block of Southwest Cascade Avenue. Sometime during the night someone got inside the unlocked structure and left with drills, speaker, an amplifier and other items, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

• Someone shattered the glass front doors to a vacant convenience store on the 3300 block of Jackson Highway outside Chehalis, according to a report made yesterday to the Lewis County Sheriff’s office. The damage is estimated at $1,000.

• A deputy was called yesterday to the 100 block of Carter Lane outside Chehalis where someone had kicked in the entry door to a shop building. Nothing was missing, but the damage is about $200, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

VEHICLE THEFT

• The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reported this morning that a 1997 Nissan pickup was stolen from the 200 block of Mandy Road near Toledo sometime on Saturday or Sunday. The 54-year-old owner described the vehicle as white with blue stripes and worth about $2,500, according to the sheriff’s office.

• A pickup truck belonging to the county and stolen from the the Southwest Washington Fairgrounds last month turned up yesterday abandoned on the 100 block of August Road in Cinebar. The Chevrolet S10 with a broken out back window was valued at $500, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

MARIJUANA PIPE SEIZED FROM GRADE SCHOOLER

• Police were called to Olympic Elementary School in Chehalis yesterday after a teacher was notified a fourth grader had been showing around a possible marijuana pipe. That’s what it turned out to be and the item was confiscated, according to the Chehalis Police Department. There was nothing to indicate the child had used it; he said a ninth grader gave it to him, detective Sgt. Gary Wilson said. It’s unlikely any criminal offense would be pursued, because of the boy’s young age, according to Wilson.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, driving with suspended license; responses for dispute, protection order violation, suspicious circumstances, collisions on city streets, misdemeanor theft such as mountain bikes stolen from a front porch  … and more.

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CORRECTION: This post has been updated to reflect the correct grade school where Chehalis police were called about a student with a pipe.