Lewis County Sirens.com

UNDERAGE DRIVER WRECKS TRUCK

• The sheriff’s office says a pair of teenagers driving around smashing mailboxes with a baseball bat wrecked their truck last night, and the 15-year-old behind the wheel didn’t have a license. Deputies called about 7:30 p.m. to the 700 block of Pleasant Valley Road learned the boys were southbound when they struck a ditch, then a pole, then another ditch, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The 1994 Chevrolet pickup was totaled, Sgt. Rob Snaza said. It belonged to the 16-year-old passenger, according to Snaza. As many as five mailboxes on Haywire and Pleasant Valley Roads were damaged. The case is being referred to juvenile prosecutors for charging decisions, according to the sheriff’s office.

FROM THE COURTHOUSE

• A 42-year-old Toledo woman will return to court next Thursday to make her plea in a public assistance fraud case. Kelly M. Hanson is alleged to have given false information to the state and collected $5,419 more in food assistance than she qualified for for the 13 months that ended in April 2012 but was just charged last month and summonsed to appear in court this week, according to court documents. A judge on Tuesday afternoon allowed her to remain free on a $5,000 signature bond pending trial. According to charging documents, Hanson collected medical and food benefits for herself and three children and authorities got suspicious in late 2011 the father was residing with them as well. Investigators learned Ty Hanson – her husband, and the children’s father – opened a construction business listing the same address where his wife reported living, but she didn’t report to DSHS he was a member of the household, or any household income beyond  $1,000 a month in child support, according to the allegations. Kelli Hanson terminated her food and medical benefits in March 2012, but an investigation was already underway, the documents show. The state computed what they believed was an overpayment to her by looking at his gross revenue filed with the state Department of Revenue. Kelli Hanson is charged with first-degree theft of public assistance, a felony with a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and also charged with false public assistance verification, a felony with a maximum penalty of 10 years.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, driving with suspended license; responses for alarm, collision on city street, violation of protection order, inquiry on child custody dispute … and more.

Updated at 8:02 p.m.

CANNABIS COOKING OIL KITCHEN SHUT DOWN

• Centralia Police Department’s special anti-crime officers visited a home on the 700 block of Sky Meadows Drive yesterday afternoon where they confiscated an ounce of butane hash oil, an ounce of hallucinogenic (psilocybin)  mushroom and nearly four pounds of marijuana. Officers served a search warrant about 2:30 p.m. and arrested the 25-year-old resident for manufacturing a controlled substance, according to police. Sgt. Carl Buster said as he understands it, the oil results from a newer processing style to make the hash more concentrated and useable for cooking products that will get a person high. It’s dangerous too, Buster said, and that’s what they were doing there. Logan P. Rodgers was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department.

FRAUD

• Centralia police were called yesterday morning to the 500 block of East Magnolia Street where they learned someone had taken out a loan using the victim’s social security number. The case is under investigation, according to the Centralia Police Department.

SPECIAL (UN) DELIVERY

• Some stole a box left by UPS on a front porch at the the 800 block of G Street in Centralia, according to a report made to police late yesterday afternoon.

OTHER THEFT

• Centralia police were called about 5:30 p.m. yesterday to take a report of the theft of a purse an individual had left on a gas pump at the 1200 block of Mellen Street.

DRUGS

• Chehalis police were called to the drug and alcohol rehabilitation center on Southeast Washington Avenue on Monday afternoon to a report a client was caught smoking marijuana in the bathroom. They were told basically it isn’t a criminal issue, its a policy issue for them to deal with, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

• An officer was called just after 8 p.m. on Monday to ABHS treatment center again when a new client arrived with drugs in his luggage. Police took the individual and the small amount of black tar-like substance, according to the Chehalis Police Department. Matthew A. Perron, 34, was booked into the Lewis County Jail for possession of heroin, according to police.

VANDALISM

• Chehalis police took more calls on Monday about vehicles getting “egged” in the areas of St. Helen’s Avenue  and Northeast Washington Avenue.

GHOST DRIVER

• Chehalis police responded yesterday morning to a report from a woman in her 70s who said someone took her vehicle from the 100 block of Southwest Fifth Street during the night and then returned it. She said she knew that because they put 43 miles on the odometer and it wasn’t the first time it had occurred; it had been going on for some time, according to the Chehalis Police Department. There was no evidence to indicate such a situation had occurred, according to police.

CLOSE CALL

• A 68-year-old Rochester man was arrested for driving under the influence after his pickup truck veered off Harrison Avenue and one tire rolled up a wheelchair ramp entrance to a building, flipping the truck onto its side in the parking lot yesterday afternoon. Police and aid called about 2:30 p.m. found two males, neither with any serious injuries. “He went off the road, crossed a sidewalk, through the bushes, through the lot and onto the ramp,” Sgt. Carl Buster said. It happened on the 1200 block of Harrison, destroying the hand railing but only making slight contact with the building itself, according to Riverside Fire Authority. James L. Christensen was cited and then released, according to police.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, misdemeanor assault; responses for alarm, possible theft, disorderly persons, collision on city street, harassing text messages, violation of protection order… and more.

Nobody was hurt when a pickup truck drove nearly to the door of a Harrison Avenue business. / Courtesy photo by Travis Brown

Riverside Fire Authority extends its ladder into a tree to bring down both a cat and the neighbor who attempted to rescue it. / Courtesy photo by West Thurston Regional Fire Authority

MAN, CAT RESCUED FROM TREE

• Firefighters responded to Grand Mound with their ladder truck last night to rescue a man and a cat from a tree. The 20-year-old had climbed about 40 feet up a cedar tree and was too tired from the position he was in to get himself back down, according to Riverside Fire Authority. The black and white long-haired feline was perched about five feet above his head, Acting Capt. Jesse Berry said. “It wasn’t even his cat, I think he was trying to get it for a neighbor,” Berry said. The Centralia firefighters responded about 8 o’clock to 186th Lane Southwest near Nutmeg Street where they joined a crew from West Thurston Regional Fire Authority. With the ladder extended, they were able to reach both, although the cat was a bit apprehensive about letting go of its hold, according to Berry. The human had been stuck for about an hour, the pet for as long as five days, he said.

BURGLARY

• Police were called just before 9 p.m. yesterday regarding the theft of an unspecified item from a locked bedroom at the 2300 block of Sirkka Avenue in Centralia.

• Centralia police were called about 9:30 p.m. yesterday to a report of a burglary at the 100 block of Haliday Road in which a video game system disappeared sometime during the previous several days.

• A deputy was called about 5 p.m. yesterday to the 2900 block of Yahtahay Lane outside Centralia regarding a break-in to a shed behind the home in which a dishwasher was stolen. Also missing sometime since January 13 were shovels and other tools, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The loss is estimated at $800, according to the sheriff’s office.

OTHER THEFT

• An officer was called yesterday about possible fraud on a checking account in connection with the 2400 block of Borst Avenue, according to the Centralia Police Department.

WRECK

• The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reports both driver’s escaped without injury but a 2014 Kia Forte was totaled when two vehicles collided at the intersection of Bishop and Rush roads south of Chehalis yesterday afternoon. A deputy called about 4 p.m. learned Samantha Johnson, 25, from Centralia, was east bound on Bishop in her Jeep Grand Cherokee and Douglas Lawson, 50, of Glenoma, was headed north, according to the sheriff’s office.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for shoplifting, breaking husband’s cell phone during dispute, drugs in which no information was readily available; responses for misdemeanor theft, minor collision on city street, non-injury accident on county road, graffiti scratched into a shop window … and more.