Lewis County Sirens.com

Stolen car recovered and two arrested near Big Hanaford and Downing roads outside Centralia. / Courtesy photo by Aaron Towman

Updated

CENTRALIA CAR CHASE ENDS AT RIVER

• Two were arrested after a police pursuit overnight that ended near Schaeffer Park outside Centralia when an officer used a patrol car to disable the fleeing vehicle. Both occupants ran but were apprehended nearby, with one of them first trying to get away via the Skookumchuck River, according to the Centralia Police Department. It began around 1 a.m. at the 2400 block of Borst Avenue when police tried to pull over an erratic vehicle which had been involved in two prior reckless driving hit and run incidents, according to police. The driver, Damen J. Kroll, 24 of Centralia, was arrested for eluding, driving under the influence and driving with a suspended license, police report. Passenger Matthew M. Morris, 21 of Chehalis, at first jumped into the water, but gave up quickly when he discovered how cold the river was, according to police. Morris was arrested for obstruction. The car turned out to be stolen; it’s owner called police after waking up and discovering it was gone, police said. Both men were booked into the Lewis County Jail.

ROCHESTER FIRE: TIMING IS EVERYTHING

• Members of three fire departments responded yesterday afternoon when a Rochester area resident who’d arrived home only about 15 minutes earlier spotted smoke inside her single-story house. West Thurston Regional Fire Authority called at 4 p.m. to the 10,800 block of Independence Road found fire burning in a wall next to the chimney, spreading up into the attic and down to below the floor, Chief Robert Scott said. Crews tore out some kitchen cabinetry, cut a hole in the roof and extinguished the blaze, he said.  Scott said she’d had fire in her wood stove earlier that morning. He said the brick chimney in the fairly older home was butted up against the tongue-and-groove wall boards, which ignited from the heat. The smoke damage was limited as many of her interior doors were left closed, he said. She is staying is staying with family in the area, according to the chief. It’s a road that just a few days ago that was covered by about 18 inches of flowing water, according to Scott. Had it not yet receded, responders would have had to take a longer route, he said. “Another five or six minutes burning unchecked, this would have been an entirely different story,” Scott said.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants … and more.

DISAGREEMENT ON ROADWAY ERUPTS WITH PEPPER SPRAY

• A pair of feuding motorists ended up getting talked to by police  yesterday morning after their rolling argument included a pause to exchange words in Chehalis and one was sprayed with a Mace-like substance. It happened around 9:30 a.m. beginning with some sort of driving incident outside the city and the two males followed each other finally stopping side by side near Boistfort Street and Market Boulevard, according to the Chehalis Police Department. “One brought out his little chemical spray and took a snap at him,” detective Sgt. Gary Wilson said. The sprayee called 911. It was a minimal amount and didn’t get in his eyes or anything, Wilson said. The sprayee subsequently decided he didn’t want to press it, so nobody was arrested, according to Wilson. The other driver was contacted and told it was not acceptable behavior, he said. “Fortunately, there were no firearms involved in this,” he said.

AUTO THEFT

• Centralia police took a report about 9 a.m. yesterday of a black Honda vanishing during the night from the 1000 block of H Street. The car was subsequently located abandoned after an accident in Grays Harbor County by a trooper, according to Centralia Police Department.

SHED BURGLARY

• An officer was called to the 600 block of Dobson Court in Chehalis on Wednesday morning and took a report of tools stolen from a shed sometime during the previous week, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

CAR PROWL

• Centralia police responded to the 400 block of North Gold Street about 8:45 a.m. yesterday regarding vehicles at a business which had been broken into.

DRUGS

• A 15-year-old girl was suspended and a case referred to prosecutors for a charging decision after an officer was called to W.F. West High School on Wednesday about a suspected meth pipe found in a school locker, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

PLAYING WITH FIRE

• An officer was called to W.F. West High School about 6:40 p.m. on Wednesday where a 15-year-old Olympia girl had allegedly lit a piece of paper on fire in the restroom. The case is being referred to prosecutors for a possible charge of reckless burning, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

DOGS SHOT BY DEPUTY IN ROCHESTER

• The Olympian reports a deputy shot and killed two pit bulls in Rochester yesterday afternoon after reports of a chicken killing and a resident being blocked from leaving her home at Cinnamon Court and then an attack on a dog and its 38-year-old owner on Loganberry Street. News reporter Andy Hobbs writes the two were located on the porch of a house in the 5400 block of 189th Avenue Southwest at about 3:15 p.m. and the deputy fired in self defense when the animals charged.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, driving with suspended license; responses for alarms, misdemeanor assaults, shoplifting and other misdemeanor theft, suspicious circumstances, non-injury collisions … and more.

DRIVER OF ABANDONED JEEP ARRESTED

• The motorist who slid off Bunker Creek Road yesterday morning and got a ride to work, leaving her Jeep Cherokee partially submerged in a creek was arrested for third-degree driving with a suspended license as well as hit and run with property damage. Deputies and the fire department responded about 7:30 a.m. to the scene, and spent quite a bit of time trying to find and rescue any possible victims, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. She should have called and reported it, Sgt. Rob Snaza said. “You’ve got people in the water, worried about her, a halfway submerged vehicle, firefighters jumping in trying to see if she’s in there,” Snaza said. “You know, taking all these life saving measures, and she’s at her workplace and didn’t think to call.” Elyse A. Skeen, 55, of Chehalis, who was located finally at the Adna store, had slid on black ice, according to responders. “When asked why she didn’t call, she said she just didn’t,” Snaza said. The damage portion of her alleged offense was to a culvert, according to Snaza. Skeen was booked into the Lewis County Jail. Her vehicle, which had come to rest on its driver’s side in four to six feet of water in Prairie Creek sustained major front end damage and was impounded.

BREAK-INS AND THEFT

• Centralia police say a 34-year-old Toledo man was arrested about 12:30 a.m. today after he was identified as being the person inside a storage unit at the 1100 block of Brotherson Road trying to steal property. Joshua J. Williams, was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to Centralia Police Department.

• Centralia police were called just before 11 a.m. yesterday to the 1100 block of South Pearl Street about a burglary to a residence. Officer have possible suspect information and the case is under investigation, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• Someone stole more than $1,000 worth of equipment from a boat parked at the 100 block of Boshart Lane near Mossyrock during a nighttime prowling incident, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s office. A deputy responded yesterday and learned someone came onto the property around 4 a.m. on Tuesday and left with a flare gun, a depth finder, a two-way marine radio and four fishing poles with reels, Sgt. Rob Snaza said.

• A 41-year-old Centralia man was arrested yesterday in connection with an ongoing trafficking stolen property case and was found to be in possession of methamphetamine when he was detained, according to the Centralia Police Department. Eric J. Bates, contacted just before 2 p.m. at the 2600 block of North Pearl Street, was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to police.

WIRING BLAMED FOR HOUSE FIRE

• The source of the fire that broke out in an Onalaska home last home last week turned out to be a short in an electrical outlet in an upstairs bedroom. Crews called on the evening of Feb. 12 to the two-story house at the 1800 block of state Route 508 found most of the damage in between the ceiling on the first floor and the floor of the upper level, according to the fire chief. The owner was away. Fire Investigator Jay Birley said he was able to track down the owner fairly quickly; he has a second home in another state, he said. The wiring in the master bedroom outlet had begun smoldering and ignited the blaze, according to Birley. He estimated the loss at about $25,000.

COLLISION

• A 52-year-old Chehalis woman was hospitalized after a two-vehicle accident on Interstate 5 just north of Napavine yesterday. It happened around 1 p.m. when there was quite a bit of hail on the ground, according to responders. Troopers called to the northbound lanes near milepost 74 learned a pickup truck slowed for traffic and Julie A. Chavez’s Ford Focus ran into its rear end. Both vehicles had to be towed and Chavez, 52, was transported to providence Centralia Hospital because of potential serious injuries, according to responders. She was to be cited for following too closely, according to the Washington State Patrol.