Lewis County Sirens.com

Updated at 2:32 p.m.

SCHOOL BUS FIRE

• As many as a half dozen elementary school children were evacuated from a bus this morning when its heater caught fire in Winlock. Nobody was injured. Firefighters and deputies responded to the 500 block of North Military Road about 7:40 a.m. and discovered the fire had essentially burned itself out, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said it is believed dust, dirt particles or some other debris ignited in the heater.

NEAR MISS BETWEEN SCHOOL BUS, DUMP TRUCK

• A 1975 Kenworth dump truck went sideways in the road and came to rest in a ditch when it came around a curve upon a school bus dropping off a child yesterday in the Boistfort Valley. The truck missed the bus which was carrying children just before 3 p.m., according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said the 35-year-old Centralia man was traveling too fast along the 500 block of Boistfort Road as he approached a sign that stated, “School Bus Stop Ahead.” Nobody was injured and the driver was cited for wheels off the roadway Brown said. The truck – one of the brakes of which was found out of adjustment – was taken out of service, according to Brown.

RESIDENTIAL FIRE IN ONALASKA

• Fire broke out in a manufactured home in Onalaska yesterday at about 3:30 p.m. on the 200 block of Leonard Road. Fire Investigator Ted McCarty said the damage was limited to the electric furnace and its closet. McCarty said he’s uncertain of the cause. The resident’s power had been off the day before and they said they noticed a real odd sound when it came back on, he said. But also, it’s possible mice had chewed into wiring causing the issue, he said.

COMMERCIAL STRUCTURE FIRE IN CENTRALIA

• Firefighters were called about 3:45 a.m. today when fire broke out at a wood mill at the end of Central Boulevard in Centralia. Riverside Fire Authority Capt. Casey McCarthy said workers said they saw flames showing about four-feet high. Sawdust ignited in one of the bag houses, McCarthy said. “We ended up being able to contain it to the one hopper,” McCarthy said. Crews were on the scene for about two hours, he said.

DUMPSTER FIRE IN ALLEY

• Police and firefighters both responded about 8:15 p.m. yesterday when a passerby discovered the contents of a dumpster burning in an alley behind a Centralia tavern. Part of the fence belonging to Bub’s Pub on the 500 block of North Tower Avenue burned, according to Riverside Fire Authority. The incident is being labeled suspicious.

RECREATIONAL VEHICLE BURNS IN MOSSYROCK

• A 35- 40-foot long motorhome was destroyed by fire on Tuesday evening north of Mossyrock, likely related to the power outage, according to Lewis County Fire District 3. Fire Chief Doug Fosburg said the responded about 6:30 p.m. to the blaze on Skyview Drive off Birley Road and found the recreational vehicle fully engulfed in flames. Nobody was hurt and they managed to prevent a nearby pump house and a 100-gallon propane tank less than 10 feet away from igniting, Fosburg said. The RV was designed so when the electricity is shut off, it automatically switches over the propane to keep its refrigerator running, he said, and they suspect something went wrong during that process.

SCAMMED

• A 71-year-old Chehalis resident called police yesterday after discovering the more than $1,100 she’d wired to a missionary friend in Istanbul, Turkey actually went to an impostor. The victim of the scam told police she’d received an email from a friend, a real person that she knows, who said they needed cash, so she sent the money via Western Union, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

AUTO THEFT

• Someone stole a 1991 Dodge Dakota pickup truck from Southwest Seventh Street near Market Boulevard in Chehalis sometime between Monday and yesterday. The vehicle was primer black in color, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

VEHICLE PROWL

• Two guns were stolen from an unlocked vehicle parked at the Motel 6 in Centralia yesterday. An officer called about 9:30 p.m. to the 1300 block of Belmont Avenue learned the two men in their 20s from Centralia and Winlock had been visiting a guest and discovered the firearms were taken from their pickup truck, according to the Centralia Police Department. Missing is a Mossberg 20-gauge shotgun and a Mossberg 22 caliber rifle, according to police.

• Centralia police were called about 8 o’clock yesterday morning to the 1000 block of South Pearl Street where someone had stolen a backpack from an unlocked car.

OTHER THEFT

• Police and aid were called about 7:45 p.m. yesterday to Wal-Mart in Chehalis where a 38-year-old woman was found passed out in the restroom after reportedly huffing on an aerosol container from the store shelves. The woman faces a possible charge of misdemeanor theft, but wasn’t arrested because she was transported to Providence Centralia Hospital, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

SOLICITING PROSTITUTION

• Chehalis police followed up on a report from Monday night in which a pizza delivery person said when he brought pizza to a motel on the 200 block of Interstate Avenue, the customer offered money in exchange for sex. When an officer went to speak to the customer, he had already checked out, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

AND MORE

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

Updated at 5:28 p.m.

POLICE: REBUFFED CELL PHONE SELLER ATTACKS WOMEN

• A meet-up in a Chehalis parking lot following an internet offer of the sale of two cell phones got violent yesterday when the buyers decided the merchandise was substandard. Police were called about 4:40 p.m. to Rite Aid on the 500 block of South Market Boulevard. Detective Sgt. Gary Wilson said the 23-year-old Chehalis woman and 28-year-old Centralia woman told the seller they changed their mind because a screen was cracked or something. Then an argument ensued about the man traveling all the way to meet them and he reportedly pulled out a collapsible baton and struck one of them, and threatened to stab them with a pocket knife, Wilson said. The women left and called police from home, according to Wilson. One of them ended up with a minor cut on her hand, he said. The suspect was picked up a few hours later by a Thurston County deputy and booked into the Lewis County Jail  for second-degree assault, according to WIlson. The suspect, Anthony A. Caldwell, 57, is from Olympia and described as transient, he said.

SHOPLIFTING INCIDENT TURNS SCAREY

• A Centralia convenience store clerk who tried to retrieve a stolen six-pack of beer from a shoplifter yesterday found herself threatened with a knife, according to police. Officers called about 6:25 p.m. to Apex on the 400 block of West Main Street learned the 50-year-old woman followed the man out of the business and confronted him several blocks away, pleading with him to give the beer back, according to the Centralia Police Department. He pulled a knife and began walking towards the clerk, and then she fled, according to police. The man left. A 26-year-old man described as transient from California was subsequently arrested for first-degree robbery, Sgt. Kurt Reichert said. Officer called around 4:30 a.m. to a disturbance at or near Dennys on the 1000 block of Harrison Avenue contacted that subject and concluded he resembled the surveillance image from Apex, Reichert said. Mathew T. Gonzalez was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to Reichert.

UNRULY HOSPITAL VISITOR JAILED

• A 27-year-old Centralia woman was arrested for third-degree assault after allegedly trying to slap and strike security guards who were escorting her out of Providence Centralia Hospital yesterday evening. Officers called to the 900 block of South Schueber Road about 7:45 p.m. learned she was visiting a patient and asked to leave because she was being disruptive. Sherene R. Cluzel, was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department.

AUTO THEFT

• A 1991 Honda station wagon was stolen from Shaeffer Park north of Centralia after its owner had mechanical trouble and left it there, locked but with the keys in the ignition. A deputy called about 1 a.m. yesterday to the 800 block of state Route 507 was told the car was worth $1,000, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

TOO MUCH SKIN

• A 37-year-old Centralia man was arrested last night for allegedly exposing himself in the parking lot of the train station in Centralia. Officers responding about 9:25 p.m. to the 200 block of North Railroad Avenue booked Charles R. Simpson into the Lewis County Jail for indecent exposure and also possession of methamphetamine, according to the Centralia Police Department.

TRUCK VERSUS DEER

• A 37-year-old Chehalis man escaped serious injury but totaled his pickup truck when he swerved to miss a deer yesterday on Centralia-Alpha Road west of Chehalis. A deputy called about 5:40 p.m. to milepost 15 found the 1992 Ford F250 in the ditch and the deer underneath it, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The driver complained a headache, according to the sheriff’s office.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, trespassing, misdemeanor assault, underage possession of marijuana; responses for alarm, dispute, shoplifting, collisions on city streets and county roads; complaint of smell of marijuana from neighboring apartment … and more.

DRUGS

• Centralia police took a report about 1 p.m. yesterday from the 1000 block of South Tower Avenue regarding the theft of medications.

• A 44-year-old Centralia man was arrested for possession of methamphetamine after contact with police on the 1200 block of Alder Street at about 5:15 p.m. yesterday. Timothy P. McCann was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, misdemeanor assault, protection order violation; responses for collisions on city streets … and more.

Updated at 7:12 p.m.

CHEHALIS WOMAN SCARES BURGLAR AWAY

• Deputies were called about 12:05 a.m. today to the 400 block of Yates Road south of Chehalis after a 30-year-old mother discovered a tall thin stranger wearing a ski mask and dressed all in black inside her home. She screamed and he ran out through the laundry room door, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The woman said she had been in her daughter’s bedroom trying to get her to fall asleep when she heard a voice and thought her boyfriend had returned home, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said. She hid in her child’s room until law enforcement arrived and when they searched the house, they discovered in the master bedroom a safe had been opened and a Sony Playstation had been placed inside a pillow case, Brown said. Missing from the safe was about $600 cash, silver coins, a gold watch and necklace, according to Brown. The woman said she believed the intruder had gray hair and was caucasian, according to the sheriff’s office.

ACQUAINTANCE TAKES VALUABLES BY FORCE

• The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reports this morning that last Wednesday, a deputy took a report from a 33-year-old Toledo man who said a person he knows entered his home and used physical force plus threats of further harm while demanding anything of value in the residence and left with three laptop computers. The deputy was told it happened at noon last Monday at the River Oakes RV Campground off state Route 506 west of Interstate 5, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The case is being referred to prosecutors for a charge of robbery against the suspect, a 33-year-old man from Winlock or Cowlitz County, according to the sheriff’s office. Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said there was a second victim present during the incident and there is a second suspect involved as well who is not yet identified.

MORTON POLICE CHECK FOR INTRUDER

• Police responded to a call at a residence in the 100 block of First Street in Morton about 3:10 a.m. on Friday after the homeowner reported being awakened by a noise in the attic. Officers searched the attic, and all around the exterior of the home, however, nothing was found, according to the Morton Police Department.

TOOLS TAKEN

• The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reports this morning they are investigating the theft of two chainsaws and a winch from a metal building on the 400 block of state Route 505 outside of Winlock that occurred sometime in the week that ended on Friday. The loss is estimated at $2,300, according to the sheriff’s office.

CAR PROWL

• Someone prowled an unlocked vehicle parked at the 100 block of West High Street in Centralia while its owner was shopping, according to a report made to police about 6:25 p.m. yesterday.

GRAFFITI

• A vehicle belonging to a business and a building at the 500 block of South Tower Avenue in Centralia were discovered vandalized with graffiti early yesterday morning, according to the Centralia Police Department.

FROM THE COURTHOUSE

• A 65-year-old Toledo man was arrested after he allegedly stopped  a car traveling near his home and pointed a gun at the driver and her 8-year-old son on Friday night. Police were called about 8 p.m. about the incident in the area of North Fifth Street and the woman had taken off and parked near Toledo High School and turned off her headlights to hide from the man, according to authorities. Larry N. Bemrose, 65, was contacted and spoke to officers about how he was protecting his neighborhood, allegedly admitting he’d contacted a white sport utility vehicle and a Lincoln, although denying he’d confronted the woman, court papers state. The woman, Finola Erickson, told police she’d just left a relative’s house in the area of Middle Crest Road and when she came to the stop sign, a pickup truck pulled a U-turn in front of her and blocked her, according to charging documents. She said a man she’d never seen before got out, approached with a rifle and pointed it at her son who was sitting in the passenger seat, and then walked around her side of the car and pointed it at her, charging documents relate. Bemrose gave police permission to search his truck and they retrieved a long gun leaning against his passenger seat that he said was a 4-10 shotgun, the documents state. He was arrested for first-degree assault and booked into the Lewis County Jail. Bemrose, who has no criminal history was charged with the same offense today – which has a maximum penalty of life in prison – and ordered held on $100,000 bail pending trial. His arraignment is set for Thursday in Lewis County Superior Court.

COLLISION

• A 21-year-old Randle resident was reportedly uninjured but his 1991 Chevrolet Astrovan sustained major damage when it slid off the roadway and overturned along the 200 block of Silverbrook Road in Randle about 4:30 p.m. on Friday. Ethan Middleton said he did not know what happened and advised he had been drinking alcohol, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. One of six firearms located in his vehicle was loaded, so Middleton was arrested for having a loaded firearm in a vehicle as well as first-degree negligent driving, according to the sheriff’s office. He was then released, according to Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, obstructing a public servant, teenage boy for alcohol possession, shoplifting, misdemeanor assault, protection order violation, driving with suspended license, driving under the influence; responses for alarms, disputes, misdemeanor theft, collision on city street … and more.