Posts Tagged ‘By Sharyn L. Decker’

Lewis County Jail sergeant let go for mistreating inmates, then arrested for computer snooping at work

Wednesday, July 16th, 2014

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A 10-year veteran of the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office has been fired over his manner of dealing with two assaultive inmates.

Sheriff Steve Mansfield said Trevor S. Smith worked in the jail where he was promoted to sergeant in 2011. He was terminated June 27 for an incident at the beginning of this year and another last year, Mansfield said.

The longtime corrections officer abused and exceeded his authority, Mansfield said.

It was the way they were treated, the way they were contained that was a problem, and how Smith handled it was inappropriate, the sheriff said without going into much detail.

“Both situations involved inmates who were acting out and assaulted staff, situations that needed immediate intervention,” he said. “That’s what it is; it’s disgusting and embarrassing for this organization.”

Mansfield said he is reluctant to say more, as Smith is appealing his firing, and the sheriff worries about jeopardizing any termination hearing that may come up.

Meanwhile, Smith was arrested on Monday at his home in Chehalis for a discovery made after he left, that he allegedly had been snooping into secure jail computer records.

“He had no business accessing administrative and personnel files,” Mansfield said. “There’s a reason for them being secure.

Mansfield said he used someone else’s password.

Some deleted files have been recovered but the primary issue is he should not have been reading them and collecting information, the sheriff said.

Smith was booked Monday into the Lewis County Jail for five counts of computer trespass, a class C felony with a maximum penalty of five years in prison, according to the sheriff. He was housed at another jail until his hearing in Lewis County Superior Court yesterday and then released by the judge, Mansfield said.

The criminal allegations, investigation and arrest were handled by the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office.

The inmate treatment issues were investigated internally.

Mansfield said after the most recent incident, Smith was taken out of any role that involved contact with inmates and put on administrative duties, in an office next to the jail chief’s.

Mansfield spoke in general about the duty of care to the people housed in his jail. Feeding, housing and making sure they are safe is his obligation under the law, he said.

Corrections officer have a variety of ways to contain or isolate problem inmates, including using whatever level of force is necessary, but only until the point the situation is stabilized, he said.

“If they do something wrong, the judge decides the level of punishment, not me,” he said. “When people cross that line and make it their role to punish someone, you’ve got problems.”

Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Wednesday, July 16th, 2014

Updated at 6:14 p.m.

HIKING ACCIDENT

• A 27-year-old Portland man hiking the Pacific Crest Trail was retrieved by members of Packwood Search and Rescue yesterday after an injury sustained when he slipped on the edge of a snow field and fell about 50 feet. The hiker called 911 on his cell phone just before 5 o’clock yesterday morning and said it happened the evening before and he had made it back to his camp site planning to wait until morning then walk out, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Sheriff’s Cmdr. Steve Aust said the hiker found however he was in severe pain with a deep cut to his knee and realized he needed help. He was about two miles south of the White Pass Ski Area, Aust said. A sheriff’s office Search and Rescue coordinator and others brought the injured hiker down a ski lift and he was taken to the hospital by friends, according to Aust.

THEFT

• Centralia police responded about 10 p.m. yesterday to the 1100 block of Harrison Avenue to a report someone left the store with a cart-full of unpaid for groceries loaded them into a vehicle and drove away.

• Chehalis police took a report yesterday of money stolen from a business on Southwest Chehalis Avenue. The case is under investigation, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

• A 41-year-old Chehalis resident was arrested for third-degree theft after she was allegedly seen taking mail from a mailbox on the 2100 block of Southwest Salsbury Avenue in Chehalis. An officer responding about 8 p.m. booked  Cynthia Davis into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

DRUGS

• A 25-year-old Winlock man was arrested for possession of suspected methamphetamine following a traffic stop about 4:30 a.m. today near the 300 block of South Market Street in Chehalis. Nicolas E. Dodrill was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

THE WAL-MART BEAT

• Chehalis police were called about 9:25 a.m. yesterday to a report of a male hitting his child outside of Wal-Mart. An officer found no injury to the child and viewed video of the incident, concluding the individual did nothing criminal, according to the Chehalis Police Department. The child was acting out and was being given a “time out”, detective Sgt. Gary WIlson said.

• Chehalis police were called about 7 p.m. yesterday to a report of a male hitting his child outside of Wal-Mart. An officer was unable to locate the pair, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

OUCH

• Aid was called to Safeway in Centralia yesterday afternoon when an individual with a seriously cut hand came inside to get help. Someone had bought a beverage for the homeless man and when he tried to open in the parking lot by smashing it on the curb, he cut his right hand, Riverside Fire Authority Firefighter-paramedic Jennifer Ternan said. He was transported to Providence Centralia Hospital, she said.

COLLISIONS

• Centralia police were called about 12:25 p.m. yesterday to the 900 block of Harrison Avenue where a vehicle reportedly hit a dog and then backed up striking a vehicle and the drove away.

• A motorcyclist was hospitalized after slamming into the driver’s side of a mini van he said pulled out in front of him on the 3200 block of Harrison Avenue in Centralia yesterday afternoon. “He estimated he was going 40 to 50 mph, northbound,” Riverside Fire Authority Firefighter-paramedic Jennifer Ternan said. Responders called about 5:20 p.m. found the 40-year-old patient was wearing a helmet, but he sustained serious injuries to his chest and neck, Ternan said. Nobody in the van was hurt, she said. The 63-year-old Centralia woman driving the van was cited for failing to yield the right-of-way and not having auto insurance, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for misdemeanor assault, malicious mischief; responses for alarms, dispute, protection order violation, suspicious circumstances, hit and run, collision on city street, rollover accident off county road, dog locked inside parked vehicle, vehicle getting “egged”; complaints of barking dog, noisy neighbors … and more.

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CORRECTION: The item regarding the collision between the van and the motorcycle has been updated to reflect the correct age of the van’s driver.

Port Orchard teen’s body remains lost to the Ohanapecosh River

Tuesday, July 15th, 2014

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office said yesterday the 17-year-old boy who was swept away in the Ohanapecosh River on the Fourth of July hasn’t turned up and no further searches are planned.

“We’re really going to have to rely on somebody recreating finding something,” sheriff’s Cmdr. Steve Aust said.

The Port Orchard teen was taking photos with friends slipped and fell into the cold, fast moving river near the Cedar Grove Campground off state Route 123 just south of the entrance to Mount Rainier National Park, according to the sheriff’s office.

Searchers with the sheriff’s swift water rescue team and rangers from the national park searched for the boy over that weekend with no success.

Aust said it’s an especially treacherous waterway, with steep canyon walls and class five rapids, where the risks to personnel outweigh the likelihood of finding a body.

“It’s not a place where you can expect to walk along the bank and see anything much anyhow,” he said.

The sheriff’s office has a group of kayakers they are in touch with and had them look as they went down the river over the weekend, he said. For perspective, he recommended a You Tube video of the area shot last year by the same group when the water level was about four feet lower than it is now.

The Kitsap Sun reported several hundred people filled the bleachers at the high school stadium, when a gathering was held last week to remember Josh Osborn, a wide receiver for the football team.

It’s been a bad year for drownings in the area.

The same day Osborn drowned in the East Lewis County, an 18-year-old Tacoma resident,  Rashawn J. Hale-Moody, drowned in Alder Lake, at the intersection of Lewis, Thurston and Pierce counties.

Last month, another Tacoma teen drowned in the Chehalis River at Rainbow Falls State Park west of Chehalis. Seventeen-year-old Linsey Mike had only recently immigrated from Nigeria and told friends he wasn’t a good swimmer.

In May, a 5-year-old Tacoma boy riding a motorcycle next to the CIspus River near Randle lost his life when he was swept away. Drake Ostenson’s body was recovered four days later.

And in April, a 46-year-old Gary L. Rhoades of Mineral drowned in Lake Mayfield during a fishing outing when he jumped in the water to retrieve his boat as it drifted away.

News brief: State says jailed firefighter can’t work as EMT

Tuesday, July 15th, 2014

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

The state Department of Health announced yesterday it has suspended the EMT license of the Onalaska firefighter and school bus driver accused of raping a teenage relative during spring break.

Richard L. Crumbliss was arrested in April.

The Office of Emergency Medical Services and Trauma System Programs is alleging unprofessional conduct based on the three felony sex crime charges filed in Lewis County Superior Court, according to a news release.

“He has 20 days to respond to the charges and request a hearing, and cannot practice as an emergency medical technician until these charges are resolved,” the agency stated.

Crumbliss was charged on April 21 with two counts of third-degree rape of a child and one count of first-degree incest but denied the allegations.

He remains held in the Lewis County Jail on $100,000 bail, awaiting an October trial.

Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Tuesday, July 15th, 2014

Updated at 2:35 p.m.

NOISY NEIGHBOR POULTRY AND A PELLET GUN

• A 52-year-old Toledo man and his teenage son were jailed yesterday for allegedly sneaking onto their neighbor’s property to silence their chickens’ squawking, with a pellet gun and death. At least six chickens from the 400 block of Toledo-Salmon Creek Road have been discovered either mortally wounded or dead since the end of March and beginning of April, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The owner, a 34-year-old Toledo woman, reported her suspicions they were being stolen on April 6 and a surveillance camera was set up in her barn area, according to the sheriff’s office. They captured images viewed yesterday of Michael L. Knight, 52 and Bryan M. Knight, 18, entering the barn in the night, armed with a pellet gun and shining flashlights on the poultry, detective Sgt. Dusty Breen said this morning. A deputy contacted the men yesterday, and the son reportedly said the reason they were killing the animals is they were getting tired of the noise, Breen said. Two more are missing and presumed deceased, according to Breen. The Knights were arrested for second-degree burglary and also malicious killing of livestock, he said. The sergeant didn’t know if the birds were pets, show animals or raised for food.

POLICE: SEVENTEEN-YEAR-OLD THREATENS 10-YEAR-OLD WITH KNIFE

• A dispute at a school playground in Centralia ended with the arrest of a teen after he allegedly pulled out a knife and scratched a boy’s wrist with it last night. There were several juveniles and one thought the other kids were talking bad about him, Officer John Panco said. Police called about 6:10 p.m. to Edison Elementary School on the 600 block of H Street arrested the 17-year-old boy from Winlock, Panco said. The 10-year-old victim thought he was going to be stabbed, but he wasn’t, he said. The teenager was booked into the Lewis County Juvenile Justice Center for second-degree assault, according to the Centralia Police Department. The pocket-type knife valued at $5 was confiscated as evidence, according to police.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants,  shoplifting; responses for alarms, dispute, protection order violation, suspicious circumstances, collision on city street, rollover on county road, vehicle getting “egged” in Centralia … and more.

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CORRECTION: This has been updated to reflect the correct school where the juvenile dispute took place.

Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Monday, July 14th, 2014

Updated at 8:54 p.m.

NOT GOOD

• A 19-year-old Chehalis man was arrested after he reportedly ran over a woman who was trying to stop him from driving drunk early yesterday morning in Chehalis. Officers called just before 3 a.m. to the scene on Northwest State Avenue found Tyler J. Edwards was intoxicated and when he put his truck in reverse, it lurched and struck the inside right leg of the 19-year-old woman, according to the Chehalis Police Department. And then he backed over her ankle, detective Sgt. Gary Wilson said. Edwards was booked into the Lewis County Jail for vehicular assault and faces possible other charges, according to Wilson.

RIFLE TROUBLE

• A 22-year-old Centralia man was arrested for first-degree assault for trying to win an argument with his girlfriend by allegedly getting a rifle from a closet, loading it and pointing it at her last night in Centralia. Officers responding about 11 p.m. to the 1400 block of Lewis Street booked Enrique Ramirez-Perez into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department. Prosecutors declined to charge him.

BREAK-IN CENTRALIA

• Centralia police were called about 9:20 p.m. yesterday when a resident returned home to the 1900 block of Honeysuckle Lane to discover a burglary. A number of items were stolen, according to the Centralia Police Department.

BREAK-IN CHEHALIS

• Chehalis police were called about 8 o’clock yesterday morning regarding someone breaking through the back door of a vacant rental home on Southwest Seventh Street near Market Boulevard and stealing tools.

BREAK-IN CENTRALIA

• Centralia police responded about 6:20 a.m. yesterday for a break-in to a business on the 700 block of North Tower Avenue. The case is under investigation, according to the Centralia Police Department.

AUTO THEFT

• Someone stole a reddish-orange 1989 Chevrolet pickup from the 3100 block of Ives Road outside Centralia yesterday sometime between 9 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The approximately $5,000 truck was unlocked and missing its driver’s side mirror, according to the sheriff’s office. It has a license plate of B03935W, Cmdr. Steve Aust said.

PROWLING COUNTY BUILDING

• A 42-year-old woman who allegedly tried to break into her former boss’s office in Chehalis was arrested early Sunday morning, but not until after fleeing a police officer into some brush and then getting captured by a police dog. It was about 1:45 a.m. when an officer on patrol along the 2000 block of Northeast Kresky Avenue noticed a vehicle at a county building with its parking lights on and hatch open, according to the Chehalis Police Department. He spotted a person in dark clothing and told them to stop or he would send out his dog, detective Sgt. Gary WIlson said. Victoria A. Cheney was detained by the dog and taken to the hospital to be treated and then booked into the Lewis County Jail for attempted burglary, according to police. The vehicle belonged to her former boss and the window in the building that was shattered was to his office, WIlson said. It wasn’t immediately clear what she may have been doing, he said.

CAR PROWL

• A wallet was reported stolen from a vehicle at the 1200 block of West Main Street in Centralia yesterday.

• Chehalis police were called about 10:45 a.m. on Friday to a car prowl on Northwest Quincy Street in Chehalis in which a backpack was stolen.

TENINO HOUSE CATCHES FIRE

• A vacant bank-owned house in Tenino went up in flames early yesterday morning, drawing six fire departments at about 1:40 a.m. Thurston County Fire District 12’s Tina Vanderhoof said this morning she didn’t have information about the cause although the fire started outside. Nobody was injured, but the single-family home at the east end of Tenino City Park sustained major damage, she said. “They were able to put it out rather quickly, but stayed on the scene several hours mopping up and cleaning up,” she said.

VEHICLE VERSUS BUILDING

• An 89-year-old driver who ran into the side of Smith and Son Grocery in Mossyrock doesn’t know why she hit the building on Friday afternoon, but was uninjured, according to police. Morton Police Department Chief Dan Mortensen described the damage as significant, possibly knocking a wall off its foundation. It happened about 2:30 p.m. on the 200 block of East State Street and no citation was issued, but the collision remains under investigation, according to Mortensen.

TOO MANY DUIS

• A 46-year-old Centralia woman was arrested allegedly for her fourth DUI on Saturday after the owner of a Subaru saw her van run into his parked vehicle about 2:30 p.m. at the 500 block of Harrison Avenue and then drive away, according to the Centralia Police Department. Officer John Panco said police subsequently contacted Carrielynn Dodge on the 100 block of King Street and concluded she was under the influence of alcohol. Dodge was booked into the Lewis County Jail for felony DUI, as she has three previous DUI convictions, Panco said. Prosecutors are declining to file felony DUI.

HOT DOGS

• Police in Chehalis were called numerous times over the weekend for dogs left inside parked vehicles in the heat. There were no instances of serious issues but the violation is heavily enforced, Chehalis Animal Control Officer Angie Elder said. Elder said if they see them suffering they will go into the car and remove them, attempting first with a slim jim tool. The criminal citation for animal cruelty is $500, she said.

STP ROLLS THROUGH

• A lot of aid calls in Centralia on Saturday, some for heat-related situations including bicyclists with the STP event, according to Riverside Fire Authority. Just before 10 a.m., police and firefighters responded to the 200 block of Downing Road after a car pulling into a convenience store struck a male bike rider, causing minor injuries, according to responders. He was taken to the hospital to be checked out, Fire Capt. Casey McCarthy said.

FIRE DEPARTMENT LEVY QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

• Riverside Fire Authority Chief Mike Kytta says there are two more public meetings to discuss the proposed new levy. A maintenance and operation levy will be on the coming ballot. Kytta will be available to answer questions at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday night at the Stillwater Estates Club House at 2800 Cooks Hill Road in Centralia. The final gathering will be held the following Wednesday at the same time at the fire department headquarters, at 1818 Harrison Avenue in Centralia, according to Kytta.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants,  misdemeanor assault, driving under the influence, driving with suspended license; responses for alarm, dispute, misdemeanor theft, protection order violation, suspicious circumstances, collision on city street, vehicles getting “egged” in Chehalis; complaints of neighbors lighting off fireworks … and more.

Centralia police shooting case now in the hands of prosecutor for review

Monday, July 14th, 2014

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news

Centralia Police Chief Bob Berg indicated this morning he’s certain his officer’s actions in fatally shooting a man following a shoplifting incident will be found as justified, after being briefed on findings of the outside investigation.

Berg and Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer met with a representative of the multi-jurisdictional team of law enforcement officers that looked into the June 29 incident late last week and were told of its conclusions, Berg said in a news release.

Paul M. Edmundson, a 43-year-old Centralia man, died from a bullet wound to his chest in the parking lot of Anchor Bank, after, police said, he attempted to pull a gun from his pocket during a struggle with a police dog and Officer Ruben Ramirez. The officer had been called to a report someone stole a burrito from the gas station convenience store next door.

It happened at South Tower Avenue and Cherry Street.

The investigation is complete, and was submitted on Thursday to the prosecutor for formal review, according to Berg.

“I thank the regional team for their work in this investigation and look forward to the review by the Lewis County prosecutor,” Berg stated.  “Based on the information presented by the team at the briefing I remain confident that the actions of Officer Ruben Ramirez will be found as a justified response to the threat that officer faced on that Sunday morning.”

Ramirez was placed on paid administrative leave.

Once Meyer is finished with his part, an internal use-of-force review board will convene, according to Berg.

The board will consist of a command level officer from the Centralia Police Department and at least three other command level officers from other law enforcement agencies.

•••

For background, read “Coroner releases name of police shooting victim” from Wednesday July 2, 2014, here