Updated at 1:39 p.m.
VADER CHURCH, FLAG TARGETED BY TEENS
• Four teenagers were arrested after a vandalism spree in Vader over the weekend that involved a church and the old city jail, with one of them taking down a flag, tying it in a knot and setting it on fire before running it back up the flag pole. Deputies contacting the pastor at the Assembly of God Church learned some of the events were captured on security video and took place between 10 p.m. and midnight on Saturday, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said the youths broke down a door at the jail, cut phone lines at the church across the street, pried open a power box and destroyed security cameras. However, close up views of their faces were found on video images, Brown said. Two lights that shined upon the American flag were stolen as well, Brown said. The teens, all from Vader, ages 14, 15 and 16, were booked into the Lewis County Juvenile Justice Center for third-degree malicious mischief, theft and criminal conspiracy, according to the sheriff’s office.
MAN CONCEALS SELF WHILE RESIDENCE BURGLARIZED
• The sheriff’s office is investigating after an overnight break-in the north end of Centralia in which a 29-year-old resident said he hid in a bedroom while his home was burglarized. Deputies responded about 2 a.m. yesterday to the 3000 block of Lowery Lane following a 911 call in which a man was saying help me, help me repeatedly before the phone disconnected, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. There was a language barrier and it’s not clear what was taken or known who the intruder was, according to Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown. Evidence was collected from outside a broken bedroom window which will be analyzed, Brown said.
TENT FIRE
• A 28-year-old man from Lakewood is jailed after he allegedly tried to burn down someone’s tent during the night at a Toledo area campground early on Friday following a dispute. No injuries were reported, except the arrestee who suffered from a dog bite which had occurred earlier, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Deputies were called about 1:15 a.m. on Friday to the Cowlitz Timber Trails Campground on the 1900 block of Spencer Road found friends of the 23-year-old victim, who is from Lynnwood, had detained the suspect who tried to run away and hide beneath a trailer, according to the sheriff’s office. A spokesperson for the sheriff’s office didn’t indicate what the disagreement was about, but said that Justin E. Roberts who was unknown to the victim came to the camp site three times earlier and each time was told to leave. Then later, someone heard the velcro to the tent being opened and saw the same person light it on fire, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said. Roberts was taken to Providence Centralia Hospital to be treated for the bite and then booked into the Lewis County Jail for second-degree arson, she said. Brown said the sheriff’s office had no information about the dog bite.
GIRL FIGHT GOES BAD
• Centralia police are investigating a nighttime meet-up for a fight between two young women that ended with a cracked eye socket for one and a head concussion for the other. Officers were advised yesterday afternoon by Chehalis police that the incident had taken place around 2 o’clock in the morning. The injured had gone to the hospital on their own, according to the Centralia Police Department. Sgt. Kurt Reichert said the initial investigation indicates the two arranged to meet in the Seminary Hill Natural Area to fight and then six or seven others, both males and females, jumped in. As for the reason for the dispute, Reichert would only say they didn’t like each other. The victims are ages 18 and 19 and both from Chehalis, he said. Someone could be in trouble for second-degree assault, according to police.
OUT-OF-CONTROL GROWN SON
• Deputies arrested a 43-year-old Ethel man on Sunday afternoon after a call to the 100 block of Pinkerton Road where his mother and sister advised he was in the house freaking out and broke a window. The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office says that during the arrest, Lynn K. Jorgensen injured a deputy’s finger, grabbing it and squeezing it until it “popped.” Jorgensen was arrested and booked into the Lewis County Jail for third-degree assault and disorderly conduct, according to the sheriff’s office.
JAIL ASSAULT
• A 24-year-old inmate at the Lewis County Jail found himself in further trouble when he was queried about a broken broom and responded by punching a corrections officer in the face on Sunday afternoon, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The sheriff’s office says the jail employee was told Drake A. Lorber had busted the tip off the broom handle and wanted to retrieve it for safety reasons. When the guard told Lorber to come out of the shower, Lorber reportedly jumped out flexing his arms, puffing his chest and screaming “insanity”, the sheriff’s office reports. Staff managed to restrain Lorber who now faces a possible charge of custodial assault, according to Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown. The 24-year-old employee suffered soreness to his left cheek, she said. Staff indicated they tried to learn why Lorber acted the way he did, but couldn’t, Brown said.
CAT BURGLAR ENTERS FROM ROOF
• Chehalis police were called about 1:30 p.m. yesterday by the owner of a building on the 1200 block of Northwest Cedar Way after the discovery someone broken in by removing panels from the roof to get inside. Missing are automotive parts; it’s a structure used for storage, according to the Chehalis Police Department.
THEFT IN CHEHALIS
• A woman who was in the process of moving called police yesterday after finding while she was gone someone came into the residence near Southwest Seventh Street and Market Boulevard in Chehalis and went through her belongings, taking small items, according to the Chehalis Police Department.
THEFT FROM SELF STORAGE BUSINESS
• Padlocks were cut from three customer’s storage units in Randle and multiple items stolen including three ring-type crab pots and a Lincoln wire feed welder sometime between 2 p.m. on Thursday and 2 p.m. on Saturday. A deputy contacted on Saturday afternoon about the burglaries at CVS Storage on the 9400 block of U.S. Highway 12 noted the victims, all Randle residents ages 28, 57 and 80, also lost a rototiller, a Craftsman pressure washer and a chainsaw, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The loss is estimated at $710.
FIREARMS TAKEN IN BURGLARY
• A deputy was called to a home on the 300 block of Howe Road outside Toledo about 6:20 p.m. on Friday where a 32-year-old man said while he was working out of town, someone broke in and stole a Remington 12-gauge shotgun and a Stevens 12-gauge pump-action shotgun, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.
DRUGS
• A traffic stop and a warrant led to an arrest for possession of methamphetamine on Saturday afternoon on South Market and Main Street in Chehalis. When Levi G. Edmonds, 24, of Centralia, was booked into the Lewis County Jail, some suspected drugs were found, according to the Chehalis Police Department.
WRECK TAKES OUT TWO POWER POLES
• A 16-year-old driver from Chehalis was reportedly uninjured when she collided with two utility poles on Sunday morning, sheering one off at its base and coming to rest against the second one. A deputy responding just after 8 a.m. to the 500 block of Highway 603 west of Chehalis found the 1997 Ford F150 pickup truck totaled and learned the girl had taken her eyes off the road when she reached for something on the passenger seat, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. She was cited for speeds too fast for conditions, according to the sheriff’s office.
AND MORE
• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, driving with suspended license, negligent driving, misdemeanor assault; responses for alarms, disputes, shoplifting groceries; complaints of barking dog, house and cars egged, penis drawn onto a car with a grease pen, young women pulling their pants down in public, tent pitched in gully across from mint factory, an energetic medium-sized dog repeatedly running into a retirement home … and more.
•••
CORRECTION: This has been updated to reflect the correct location for the nighttime break-in at the north end of Centralia in which a resident hid in a bedroom while his home was burglarized. It occurred on the the 3000 block of Lowery Lane.
Join us