Posts Tagged ‘By Sharyn L. Decker’

Defendants in large-scale fuel theft out on bail

Friday, August 22nd, 2014

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Three of the individuals implicated in trafficking stolen fuel from a residence in Doty have pleaded not guilty and are out of custody awaiting trials, but law enforcement is still looking for the man they say owned a canopied pickup truck with darkened windows which held two large fuel tanks, a portable pump and a nozzle.

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John Lewis, aka Jason A. Lewis

The man identified as Jason A. Lewis, 47, was arrested when deputies searched the property on Elk Creek Road late last month, but after he made bail, the sheriff’s office concluded he really was John Lewis. They haven’t seen him since.

Detectives were led to their suspects from nighttime surveillance video at a Texaco station on U.S. Highway 12 in Silver Creek from July 28 that showed three vehicles arrive and somehow pump about $6,000 worth of fuel without paying.

They subsequently found numerous containers of gasoline including a 55-gallon drum of it and other items such as a half dozen plug-in access keypads for gas pumps at the Doty property.

Charges were filed Aug. 1 against Lewis, 28-year-old Harold E. Lusk who resides on the Elk Creek property, and Raymond T. Hankins, 48, from Yelm. Prosecutors subsequently charged Lusk’s girlfriend, 20-year-old Alyssa J. Hanson with trafficking in stolen property and possession of methamphetamine.

Lusk and Hanson both appeared in Lewis County Superior Court early last week and again yesterday, when they got dates set for their trials.

Taken from the Silver Creek business was about 1,600 gallons of regular unleaded gasoline, highway diesel and off-road diesel, according to charging documents.

The trials are all on the court calendar for this autumn.
•••

For background, read “On the run: Lewis County deputies seeking three in connection with large-scale fuel theft” from Sunday August 10, 2014, here

Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Friday, August 22nd, 2014

Updated at 6:42 p.m.

DRUGS

• A 30-year-old woman from Texas arrested at Wal-Mart yesterday afternoon for reportedly taking food from the deli and eating it in the McDonald’s seating area with her companion was booked into the Lewis County Jail when a search of her purse turned up a variety of pills without proper prescription documentation, according to the Chehalis Police Department. Department spokesperson Linda Bailey said Kimberly R. Lawson and John C. Vaughn were being watched by security staff and threw away the packaging of the product, valued at just over $20. Both were arrested for third-degree theft and jailed, Bailey said.

MISSING HONDA CAR

• Centralia police were called about 11:20 a.m. yesterday regarding the theft of a white 1993 Honda Accord from a parking lot at the 200 block of North Pearl Street.

POLICE: HAM HILL BURGLARY SOLVED

• A 35-year-old Bucoda man was arrested yesterday for allegedly driving another male to a home on the 1100 block of Ham Hill Road last month for a burglary. On July 18, the resident returned home to find a window pried open, some of his belongings outside in the grass and tire tracks in the yard, according to police. A laptop computer for which he had a serial number for was missing and its information entered into a law enforcement database, charging documents state. A Centralia police detective yesterday was summoned to a Bucoda home by a Thurston County Sheriff’s Office detective who was there on another matter and found the stolen computer, according to the court documents. Curtis W. Hoffman who resides there with his mother and her caregiver, told Centralia detective Pat Beall what he had done, according to charging documents. Hoffman was booked into the Lewis County Jail and charged today in Lewis County Superior Court with residential burglary. His bail was set at $25,000.

COLLISION

• A bicyclist suffered minor injuries in a collision with a vehicle late yesterday afternoon at the 1200 block of North Pearl Street, according to the Centralia Police Department.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, burglary, driving under the influence, driving with suspended license; responses for alarm, disputes, misdemeanor theft, collision on city street, telephone harassment via texting, suspicious circumstances … and more.

 

News brief: Local oxycodone dealer goes back to prison

Thursday, August 21st, 2014

Updated

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The accused prolific local trafficker of pain medications was sentenced yesterday to 12 years behind bars, following a plea deal that helped him avoid a third strike and a life sentence.

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Forrest E. Amos,

Forrest E. Amos, 31, has been held in the Lewis County Jail since late last year when he was released from prison and charged with a multitude of offenses based on a lengthy investigation by Centralia police.

He originally faced 26 varied charges including leading organized crime, but on July 31 pleaded guilty to 14 offenses. Lewis County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Will Halstead dropped the charge of organized crime.

Halstead also dismissed four counts of intimidating a witness, in a case from this summer in which Amos was suspected of planning from inside the jail to have associates hurt or pressure witnesses against him.

Law enforcement estimated that in 2011 when Amos was aggressively dealing Oxycodone, that he was the main supplier of the synthetic opiate within Lewis County, possessing and dealing thousands of pills a month. Charging documents outlined how Amos reportedly continued to traffic drugs to the outside through others from behind prison walls.

Amos’s second strike came for shanking a fellow inmate while he was in prison for his first strike, taking part in the beating of a man to steal his marijuana  and pistol in the year 2000 when he was 16 years old, according to court documents.

The former resident of Napavine and Chehalis agreed not to appeal his convictions or sentence in any way, according to court documents.

Among the crimes to which he was sentenced were delivery of  Oxycodone while incarcerated during 2013 as well as during 2012 before he was locked up.

Lewis County Superior Court Judge Richard Brosey signed an order that included one year of supervision following his release, as well as numerous financial legal obligations including repaying $13,800 for his court-appointed attorney Don Blair.

•••

For background, read, “Police: Organized crime defendant created ‘hit list’ of key witnesses” Thursday June 19, 2014, here

Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Thursday, August 21st, 2014

Updated at 7:46 p.m.

POLICE: SHOPLIFT GOES PHYSICAL

• Centralia police were called about 4:15 p.m. yesterday to a grocery store on the 500 block of South Tower Avenue where they were told a 45-year-old man fought with loss prevention officers after stealing a raspberry beer. James C. Weatherford was arrested for second-degree robbery and booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department. Lewis County prosecutors declined to file that charge.

COLLISIONS

• Police responded to the 1200 block of Kresky Avenue in Centralia about 5:10 p.m. yesterday where they found a vehicle had driven off the roadway into a field, and the driver left. Phillip A. Pinotti, 22, of Centralia, was subsequently arrested for driving under the influence and booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• One of four possible patients was taken to the hospital after a two-vehicle collision on the 2100 block of North Pearl Street yesterday evening involving a car and a pickup truck. Police  called about 7:30 p.m. said one pulled out in front of the other. A girl was transported with non-life-threatening injuries, according to Riverside Fire Authority.

FIFE POLICE SEARCH MORTON RESIDENCE FOR WANTED PERSONS

• Officers from the Fife Police Department yesterday were joined by local sheriff’s deputies in looking for a pair of wanted subjects suspected to be hiding at a home in the Morton area. Lewis County Sheriff’s Office Cmdr. Steve Aust said they were searching for a man and a woman from a shooting incident in the north Pierce County town back on Aug. 11. About a half dozen officers went to the residence on the 800 block of Davis Lake Road yesterday afternoon but did not find them, Aust said. Fife police have been looking for the pair following a contact with an officer about 1:05 a.m. a week ago Monday in which an officer responding to a call about a near robbery encountered a dark blue Ford Explorer driven by a female and engaged in a struggle with her but got trapped in the vehicle’s open door as she put it in reverse, reportedly dragging the officer briefly, according to the Fife Police Department. The officer fired into the vehicle, which fled south toward Tacoma, and at one point on Interstate 5, someone from the vehicle may have fired through the back window at a pursuing patrol car, according to police. Fife police reported the suspect vehicle was later located unoccupied in Spanaway; it had been struck by gunfire and appeared the occupants may have sustained injuries. Aust said he didn’t know why the couple would have been in Lewis County.

FROM THE COURTHOUSE

• A former Adna area resident extradited from Virginia where he was serving in the U.S. Navy was sentenced yesterday for molesting a young relative when they lived together following the December 2007 flood. The girl told a detective it began when he was 17 and she was 9 and occurred over a two-year period, according to charging documents. Edward J. Guenther, 23, pleaded guilty as charged in Lewis County Superior Court to one count of first-degree child molestation and one count of first-degree child rape. Judge James Lawler yesterday morning agreed with the recommendations of of both attorneys that Guenther be given what is called a Special Sex Offender Sentencing Alternative. “I’m satisfied this is appropriate, I think both Mr. Guenther and society will benefit from this,” Lawler said. “Given the evaluation, I find he is amenable to treatment.” Under the agreement, Guenther must spend one year in jail and successfully complete a five-year long psychosexual treatment program. If he fails, he has an 11-year prison sentence waiting for him, defense attorney David Arcuri said. He will be monitored by the state Department of Corrections during that time and for the rest of his life, and must register as a sex offender, Arcuri said. Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer told the judge the victim was not opposed to the deal. One of the requirements for a defendant is they must be willing to admit what they did, Arcuri said. “This is not a guy who hangs out in parks, snatches girls and throws them in the bushes,” Arcuri said. “Those guys can’t do SSOSAs.” Guenther was charged last December, and has been held in the Lewis County Jail since mid-January.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, driving under the influence, misdemeanor assault; responses for alarm, disputes, misdemeanor theft, suspicious circumstances … and more.

News brief: Truck, body recovered near Randle

Thursday, August 21st, 2014

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A body found with a pickup truck yesterday afternoon south of Randle has yet to be identified but an autopsy is scheduled for today.

The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office said the vehicle is registered to a man from Bonney Lake who was reported missing on May 27.

The discovery was made by brush or berry pickers at the end of the 161 road, which is off Forest Service Road 23, Cmdr. Steve Aust said.

Detectives aren’t suspecting foul play, Aust said.

One man dead from Centralia knife fight

Thursday, August 21st, 2014

Updated at 5:12 p.m.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office confirmed this morning the 38-year-old man involved in a fight at a Centralia home on Monday night has died.

He and the 35-year-old resident from the home at the 2700 block of Harrison Avenue were both taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle with stab wounds.

No names have yet been released.

The sheriff’s office related on Tuesday morning they learned the 38-year-old and a 33-year-old woman went to the residence shortly before midnight, and a fight ensued between the two men.

Initial information from the resident indicated the dispute was over the woman they both had dated. But she left before law enforcement arrived.

The 38-year-old was said to have stabbed the 35-year-old with an unknown object. The 35-year-old told deputies he grabbed a kitchen knife and used it.

The 35-year-old has been released from the hospital, according to Cmdr. Steve Aust.

Detectives are still investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident.

•••

For background, read “Two Centralia men injured in knife fight, one on life support” from Tuesday Aug. 19, 2014 at 10:23 a.m., here

Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Wednesday, August 20th, 2014

Updated at 4:21 p.m.

STOLEN FIREARM FOUND

• A 19-year-old Centralia resident was arrested yesterday at the 300 block of M Street in connection with a shotgun stolen from the 200 block of L Street. The gun was taken last Wednesday and reported missing Monday, according to the Centralia Police Department. Jonathan C. Siler was recognized by the victim, when surveillance images were viewed, according to police. The firearm was retrieved yesterday in Winlock, Officer Patty Finch said. Siler was booked into the Lewis County Jail for burglary and trafficking in stolen property, according to Finch.

MISSING TV RECOVERED

• Centralia police recovered a 60-inch plasma television yesterday for the Rent-A-Center which had been rented and then sold to someone else, according to the Centralia Police Department. The $1,560 item was found at the 1200 block of Centralia Avenue, according to police.

VEHICLE PROWL

• Chehalis police took a report yesterday from Southeast Winchester Hill Drive that someone had rummaged through a pickup truck in the previous few days. It didn’t appear anything was taken, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

FROM THE COURTHOUSE

• A plea deal was put together in which an Onalaska man admitted to no wrong doing, but pleaded guilty today to offenses which could result in a sentence of life in prison, with the potential to be released after about three and a half 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. Lewis County prosecutors changed the charges to the more serious counts of second-degree assault with sexual motivation related to an incident reported during spring break of this year and second-degree child molestation related to the girl’s other recent disclosure that when she was 12 and and she traveled with him in his semi truck, he gave her strawberry vodka and engaged in sexual activity with her, according to Deputy Prosecutor Mark McClain. Crumbliss made his so-called Alford plea to Lewis County Superior Court Judge James Lawler this morning. The former volunteer firefighter and part time substitute bus driver was represented by attorney David Arcuri. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 1, after an evaluation is conducted by the Department of Corrections so the state agency may offer its recommendation of how much time he should get.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, obstructing, resisting arrest, misdemeanor assault, violation of no contact order; responses for alarm, disputes, drunken teenager, misdemeanor theft, suspicious circumstances, failure to return rented home furnishings, collision on city street, jogger bit by golden lab; complaint of loud neighbor music … and more.