Lewis County Sirens.com

The Centralia Police Department’s special anti-crime team found four plastic bins plus some garbage bags filled with marijuana they say was to be made into hash oil. / Courtesy photo by Centralia Police Department

Updated at 11:03 a.m.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Centralia police dismantled a potentially explosive hash oil making operation in the basement of a rental home across the street from Centralia College.

The setup they found was using butane and situated next to a hot water heater, according to the Centralia Police Department.

Hash oil is a highly concentrated form of marijuana resin.

“During the production process, a highly flammable and explosive vapor is emitted which can explode on contact with an ignition source,” Sgt. Jim Shannon said in a news release.

A 52-year-old Centralia man was charged yesterday in Lewis County Superior Court with manufacturing marijuana. Dale R. Brotherton is being held in the Lewis County Jail on $10,000 bail.

The find came on Wednesday night at a home on the 800 block of West Pear Street.

Shannon said police had been investigating the situation for about a week.

Officers arrested Brotherton earlier in the day in the area, for a traffic violation. He was driving a pickup truck pulling a fifth-wheel trailer near the bus garage and police stopped him for driving without a required ignition interlock device, according to Shannon.

The sergeant said he believes Brotherton lives in the RV.

The resident of the home they searched that night is a friend of Brotherton’s who allowed him to use the space, Shannon said. She was cooperative, he said.

Shannon’s special anti-crime team confiscated more than 140 pounds of marijuana trimmings and various items used in the hash oil process, he said. They also found a jar of the substance in the kitchen freezer, he said.

He estimates the total street value in hash oil from the marijuana recovered by police would be about $156,000. Shannon used a street price of $40 per gram for the product referred to as Honey Oil, Shatter, BHO, Wax and Earwax.

The resulting product is something users would smoke with a vaporizer or e-cigarette or also could be used for so-called edibles, or marijuana-infused food products, according to Shannon.

Marijuana processing is something newly legalized under Initiative 502, with a state-issued license, but not presently allowed within Centralia city limits, Shannon said.

The sergeant said he didn’t know where Brotherton obtained the marijuana and he didn’t know if Brotherton is someone attempting to get involved in the legal market.

The police department seized the 2003 Ford F-350 pickup truck, the 35-foot RV and also a 1998 Toyota Camry belonging to Brotherton.

The investigation is ongoing, he said. Brotherton is scheduled to be back in court on June 5 for his arraignment, or to review if he’s been able to hire a lawyer, according to Lewis County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Will Halstead.

Shannon said the house they searched is the same address where last Friday, a 17-year-old boy was injured when he was pinned briefly between a pickup and a fifth-wheel travel trailer during an attempt with someone else to hitch the two together. He  said he didn’t know if it was Brotherton or Brotherton’s vehicles involved.

He described the hash oil making process they found as several hanging glass tubes filled with compacted marijuana, through which butane would be passed via a small hole in the bottom – sort of like a drip coffee maker.

The resulting substance would lay on a glass surface, in this case a glass door and a very large glass window, he said. The remaining liquid solvent – sometimes paint thinner like Naptha or alcohol, is evaporated off, according to Shannon.

The end product is the remaining resin, a highly concentrated form of THC.

Shannon said some people use waxed paper to keep it in, and some keep it refrigerated to retain its solidity.

And it looks like ear wax, he said.

Sometimes further processing can turn it into even harder, which is then broken up which is why it sometimes is called Shatter.

He noted the final product retains a certain amount of residue from the solvent, and that indoor growers notoriously use fungicides because of humidity and some use pesticides since aphids are a problem.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office has decided to wait until the water level in the Cispus River drops in order to access an area beneath a log jam where a missing 5-year-old child may be.

The Tacoma boy was riding a motorcycle at a camp spot on Monday when he apparently accidentally went into the water. His motorcycle and a visor to his helmet have been recovered.

The child was camping with his family over the weekend about 10 and a half miles south of Randle, along Forest Service Road 120, off Forest Service Road 23.

Search and rescue personnel combed the area, on the ground and in the water each day through Wednesday afternoon.

On Thursday, the sheriff’s office said a spotter from KIRO TV’s helicopter back on Tuesday observed something the same colors as the boy had been wearing beneath a particular log jam in the swift flowing river. Attempts were made on Wednesday by a water rescue team to probe the jam but they were unsuccessful because of the depth and current, according to Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown.

The banks of the river have been searched and the child is presumed drowned.

“It is believed once the water level drops a few feet, searchers will be able to access the area under the logjam in hopes of finding the boy,” Brown said in a news release at mid-day on Thursday.

The plan is to secure a helicopter and crews for another search next week, if the conditions cooperate, according to Brown.

Meanwhile, they will be checking the area on foot frequently and keep monitoring water gauges in the area, Brown said.

“We don’t know that he’s in that log jam,” Brown said. “But we believe he is, given what the KIRO spotter saw and the way the currents run.”

Lewis County Sheriff Steve Mansfield points out how swift and dangerous the search area is, even for rescuers with specialized training.

“Our searchers have worked relentlessly trying to recover this little boy’s body,” Mansfield stated in the news release. “Most of us have children and understand the extreme importance of recovering this little guy for his family. The river conditions have just made this search extremely difficult.”

According to the sheriff’s office, the river level has fluctuated only a few inches either way over the past few days. With the increased warmer weather, unfortunately, the water level will rise due to snowmelt, Brown says.

They also are considering the practicality of utilizing a search dog for future efforts, according to Brown.

Updated at 11:23 a.m.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Five swift water rescue team members continue to scour the Cispus River this morning in hopes of finding the 5-year-old Tacoma boy who vanished while camping with his parents on Monday.

“They’re going back over the river and looking at log jams,” Lewis County Sheriff’s Office Cmdr. Steve Aust said. “The Randle Fire Department and Packwood SAR (Search and Rescue) are on standby, if we should find anything.”

The family was staying at an unimproved campground in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest several miles south of Randle. The child was riding his motorcycle and apparently got too close to the bank and fell in, while his parents had their back to him, according to the sheriff’s office.

Search and rescue efforts yesterday went until dark, with 18 personnel, including a dive team from Thurston County. A news helicopter assisted earlier in the day, the sheriff’s office said.

They focused on several log jams, Aust said. What was thought to be the child’s helmet about a mile downstream turned out to be only its visor hung up on a log jam, according to the sheriff’s office.

The motorcycle was pulled from the river yesterday, close to the camp spot, according to Fire Chief Jeff Jaques.

Responders called about 7 p.m. on Monday were looking for both the little boy and his 32-year-old father, who had jumped in the river. It was almost dark before the man was found, on the bank looking for his son about a half mile from the camp spot, according to Aust.

The terrain, steep embankments and heavy brush, is making the effort very challenging, the sheriff’s office said yesterday afternoon.

“The river continues to run very swift and cold making the search extremely dangerous,” the sheriff’s office said.

At the scene this morning are sheriff’s office Chief Criminal Deputy Gene Seiber and the water rescue members consisting of four deputies and a officer with Fish and Wildlife, according to Aust.