Posts Tagged ‘By Sharyn L. Decker’

News brief: Burning restrictions lifted in Lewis County

Tuesday, September 24th, 2013

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – It’s okay to light your outdoor burn pile now, if you live in unincorporated Lewis County.

A burn ban put into place two months ago was lifted at 12:01 a.m. today.

The Lewis County fire marshal’s office indicated in a news release this morning the previous threat of fire danger has diminished satisfactorily.

For further information regarding the rules for outdoor burning, contact Fred Chapman at 360-740-1146.

Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Monday, September 23rd, 2013

Updated at 3:40 p.m.

THEFT BY FRAUD

• A Chehalis man was tricked into wiring money to Haiti after getting a call from someone who said he was his grandson, was in trouble and needed funds to get of of jail. An officer contacted by the victim was told the caller sounded like his grandson and so he went to Wal-Mart to send $1,900 by Western Union, Chehalis police said this morning. Afterward, he checked with his grown children and learned his grandson was not in Haiti, police said. Detective Sgt. Gary Wilson said it’s the kind of scam that plays on a person’s heart strings and can cause them to act before they think about it. The incident was reported on Friday, there’s nothing more police can do WIlson said. His best advice is the man should have called his family before sending money, he said.

GUN THREAT LANDS MAN IN JAIL

• Deputies were called about 8 p.m. on Saturday to the 100 block of state Route 131 in Randle where a 38-year-old woman said her boyfriend had pulled out a handgun and pointed it at her during an argument. “He threatened to harm her,” Lewis County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Rob Snaza said. Robert R. Feddersen, 32, from Puyallup was subsequently located nearby and arrested and booked into the Lewis County Jail for second-degree assault, according to Snaza.

PARTYING ENDS BADLY

• A 20-year-old member of the military from Fort Lewis was arrested in Chehalis early on Sunday morning after he allegedly crashed his car through a planting bed on North Market Boulevard but walked down the street and called to report it had been stolen. Police responding about 1 a.m. conducted a dog track from the 2007 Ford Mustang and the dog followed a scent directly to the 20-year-old, according to the Chehalis Police Department. Riese K. Doyle was arrested for driving under the influence, false reporting, initially allegedly trying to use fake identification that said he was a 21-year-old from New York as well as hit and run, detective Sgt. Gary WIlson said. he was booked into the Lewis County Jail.

• Chehalis police were called about 6 a.m. on Saturday about a 25-year-old man whose car and wallet were stolen after he left with some people in Centralia to a house party in Chehalis. Possibly he was taken also, in his car and he was missing his shoes, detective Sgt. Gary Wilson said. It’s just not clear what happened, Wilson said. The vehicle turned up at Ace Hardware on South Market Boulevard, according to the Chehalis Police Department. The man was not hurt, his vehicle was not damaged, Wilson said.

ANTI THEFT CAMERA SWIPED

• Police were called to a business on the 200 block of Downing Road in Centralia yesterday morning to take a report of an outdoor security camera being stolen. A person wearing a hoodie and a partially covered face could be seen for about one and half seconds around 3:30 a.m. removing the camera from outside the market, according to the Centralia Police Department.

BREAK-INS

• A deputy responding to a residential burglary alarm about 4:45 p.m. on Saturday at the 200 block of Howe Road near Toledo discovered someone had forced their way inside and left with a computer and other valuables, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

• A Honda dirt bike, a mower, tools and other items were reported stolen from a shop on the 100 block of Oak Drive outside Chehalis on Saturday. A responding deputy was told the items were talked sometime since the end of May, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

DRUGS

• A 33-year-old Centralia woman riding her bicycle on North Gold Street in Centralia about 2 o’clock this morning was recognized by an officer as having a warrant and arrested for possession of methamphetamine, according to police. A search of her purse turned up cotton balls and needles which field-tested positive for the drug, according to the Centralia Police Department. Kristy A. Price-Alvarez was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to police.

SPARE TIRE TAKEN OFF VEHICLE

• Chehalis police took a report about 5:25 p.m. on Saturday at the parking lot of K-Mart when an employee discovered someone had stolen his spare tire which was stored beneath the bed of the truck. It’s not clear exactly where the theft occurred, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

CAR PROWL

• Someone broke in through the back window of a vehicle parked off state Route 7 near Morton while its owner was hunting and stole about $1,500 worth of clothing yesterday. The 46-year-old man from Yelm had left his vehicle at the turnout near milepost three about 7:30 a.m. and when he returned at 2:30 p.m. discovered the theft, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

• A wallet was reported stolen from a vehicle at Southeast 12th Street and Market about 2:20 p.m. on Saturday, according to the Chehalis Police Department. The victim thought someone got into his vehicle while he was checking his mail, according to police.

VANDALISM

• An officer was called about 7:45 p.m. yesterday to an apartment building on the 300 block of Southwest Third Street in Chehalis when a teenager discovered three tires on his father’s Ford Explorer had been slashed.

• Someone tagged a building on South Market Boulevard in Chehalis, according to a report made to police on Friday.

WRECK

• A 22-year-old Centralia woman was arrested for allegedly driving drunk after a deputy arriving to the 500 block of Reynolds Avenue about 4:15 a.m. on Saturday found front end damage to a 2006 Hummer according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The driver Casaundra M. Rodriguez said a Dodge Neon which tried to pass her forced her off the road, Sgt. Rob Snaza said. Rodrigues wasn’t injured but she booked into the Lewis County Jail for driving under the influence, according to Snaza. The deputy was unable to locate the Neon, he said.

SUNDAY DRIVING

• Some vehicles were towed and others were able to be driven away from the scenes following a pair of rear end accidents on Interstate 5 in Chehalis  yesterday afternoon. The Washington State Patrol described them both as minor injury collisions. A 7-year-old boy from Woodburn, Ore. was taken to Providence Centralia Hospital after an incident about 2 p.m. in the northbound lanes near the Chamber of Commerce Way interchange, according to the state patrol. About 40 minutes later near the 13th Street exit, an 18-year-old girl from Battleground was treated at the scene and then released when her car was struck by a pickup trying to avoid getting hit by a semi truck, according to the state patrol. The semi truck rear ended a Subaru Outback, the investigating trooper reported. Citations were issued for following too closely.

SATURDAY FLYING

• An 80-year-old Mossyrock man escaped serious injury when his ultralight experienced problems with its motor as he was flying over Riffe Lake on Saturday afternoon. He was able to navigate toward dry land where he put his small aircraft down, sustaining only a minor laceration to one hand, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. A deputy called about 3 p.m. to the 100 block of Lake Terrace Place south of the lake reported there was no major damage to the ultralight, Sgt. Rob Snaza said.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, driving under the influence, misdemeanor assault; responses for alarm, suspicious circumstances, shoplifting, disputes, minor collisions … and more.

Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Sunday, September 22nd, 2013

Updated

PAIR HURT IN SINGLE-VEHICLE COLLISION

• Two people were hospitalized after an allegedly intoxicated driver ran off U.S. Highway 12 east of Glenoma early yesterday morning, drove through a guard rail and hit a utility pole. Troopers and aid called about 1:45 a.m. to the scene near Scott Road found the pickup truck destroyed but the occupants were outside of it, according to responders. “From what I understand, he had minor injuries and the female had a broken arm,” Lewis County Fire District 18 Chief Ed Lowe said. Scotty R. Mays, 35, from Glenoma, and Brooke D. Pyles, 21, of Randle, were transported to Morton General Hospital, according to the Washington State Patrol. “They’re lucky to be alive,” Lowe said. Pyles was treated and then released, but Mays was stabilized and then transferred to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle; he has been released, according to hospital spokespersons. The state patrol reports Mays faces possible charges of driving under the influence and vehicular assault.

THEFT

• Someone stole a cargo trailer from the 100 block of North Ash Street in Centralia, according to a report made to police about 8 a.m. yesterday. The white 2002 Pace enclosed trailer has a license plate of 0961 VX, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• Someone apparently crawled through the window of a residence on the 1300 block of Windsor Avenue in Centralia and stole two firearms. Missing is a Ruger semi-automatic and a Taurus revolver, according to a report made to police about 5:40 p.m. on Friday. The case is under investigation, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• Centralia police are investigating a second-degree theft regarding a report made from the 600 block of F Street on Friday. “Items” were missing, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• Centralia police took a report late Friday afternoon from the 100 block of North Ash Street that someone stole the spare tires from two vehicles.

POLICE: MEDS NOT MISSING

• Centralia police yesterday reported they are referring a case for a possible charge of fraud related to a 27-year-old woman allegedly attempting to file a false police report of stolen medications.

UNCOOPERATIVE SUBECT JAILED

• A 41-year-old man was arrested and booked into jail for obstructing after he allegedly failed to follow police officers’ instructions during a dispute about 9:20 p.m. on Friday at the 2800 block of Russell Road in Centralia. Wuilson Alverto Lopez was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department.

VANDALISM

• Police were called about 4 p.m. yesterday regarding a window broken out of a vehicle at the 100 block of Virginia Drive in Centralia.

MILLIONS GIVEN TO ASSIST LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT EFFORTS

• The U.S. Department of Justice has awarded more than $1.1 million to the Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation as part of series of grants to enhance services to crime victims and improve criminal justice in tribal communities. A little more than $407,000 will go towards crime issues related to alcohol and substance abuse, a little more than $307,000 is to combat violence against women and the remainder is for tribal police for training, equipment and to fund their community oriented policing efforts, according to an announcement on Friday from U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan. More than $10 million awarded last week was distributed among eight Indian Tribes in Western Washington, according to Durkan. “We look forward to continuing our partnership with the Tribes, and are confident these grants will help increase the public safety of each community,” Durkan stated in a news release. “One size does not fit all, and I am pleased these grants will address specific needs on Tribal lands.”

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, driving under the influence, driving with suspended license, misdemeanor assault; responses for minor collision, other misdemeanor theft, someone who found the air had been let out of their tire … and more.

Rochester man loses murder appeal

Friday, September 20th, 2013

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Robert J. Maddaus Jr. lost his appeal of his convictions and sentence that put him in prison for life in connection with a weekend of threats and death as he tried to recover cash and pounds of methamphetamine stolen from his Rochester trailer home.

011.0105.maddaus.smallthurst_2

Robert J. Maddaus Jr.

The admitted drug dealer was found guilty of the first-degree murder of Shaun Peterson, a 42-year-old acquaintance who died handcuffed and shot on an Olympia street early on Nov. 16, 2009.

At his jury trial in Thurston County Superior Court in early 2011, Maddaus was also convicted of two counts of unlawful possession of a firearm and four counts of witness tampering, as well as second-degree assault and attempted kidnapping related to his interrogation of a 25-year-old woman he suspected was involved in the theft.

In a unanimous opinion issued today, the Washington State Court of Appeals, Division II affirmed the convictions, except for one count of witness tampering.

His appeals attorneys argued, and the state conceded, that two counts of tampering related to multiple contacts with Theodore Farmer to persuade him to provide an alibi constituted at the most one unit of tampering. The appeals court agreed.

Today’s decision remands to the trial court to vacate or dismiss one of those counts.

Through his attorneys, Maddaus argued a dozen different reasons and ways the outcome of his trial was wrong. The one point he won on won’t change his sentence of life without the possibility of release, based on the so-called three strikes law.

Among the rejected arguments discussed in the 57-page opinion are that his home was improperly searched, that he was allowed to be  restrained with a leg brace and shock device during trial and challenges to recorded jail phone conversations, jury instructions, the prosecutor’s closing statements and more.

Maddaus was captured in Chehalis about a week and half after Peterson’s death, in a car containing pounds of meth, cocaine and heroin.

At trial, the 41-year-old took the witness stand and denied everything, except that he sold drugs and wanted to find out who had robbed him.
•••

For background, read “Three guesses as to who helped murder suspect Maddaus hide out …” from Sunday Feb. 6, 2011, here

Read the opinion, here

Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Friday, September 20th, 2013

OUCH

• Centralia police arrested a woman yesterday for allegedly biting a police officer while he was attempting to take her into custody. Alyssa F. Acord, 31, was wanted on a warrant and officers responding to the 400 block of South Iron Street about 1 p.m. ended up arresting her for possession of methamphetamine as well, according to police. She was booked into the Lewis County Jail for third-degree assault and the drug violation, according to police.

DISORDERLY PERSON

• Centralia police responded about 4 p.m. yesterday to a disturbance at the 100 block of South Tower Avenue and arrested a 48-year-old homeless man who allegedly tried to start fights with several people. Anthony D. Webb was booked into the Lewis County Jail for fourth-degree assault, according to the Centralia Police Department.

DRUGS

• A boy, no age available, was arrested for possession of unspecified drugs about 9:30 a.m. yesterday at the 800 block of Eshom Road in Centralia, according to the Centralia Police Department. He was booked into the Lewis County Juvenile Detention Center, according to police.

CAR PROWL

• An officer was called about 11 a.m. yesterday to the 1000 block of Scammon Creek Road in Centralia regarding someone trying to break into a vehicle.

VANDALISM

• Centralia police took reports yesterday of graffiti to buildings on the 200 block of South Pearl Street and the 500 block of North Tower Avenue as well as markings on a fence at the 800 block of North Tower Avenue.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, driving with suspended license, probation violation, other misdemeanor assault; responses for alarm, threats made, collision, suspicious circumstances, stolen bicycle; complaints of barking dogs … and more.

News brief: Now medicated, medic attacker set for prison

Thursday, September 19th, 2013

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS –  The man accused of biting, hitting and kicking three paramedics in an apparently unprovoked attack at a Centralia gas station earlier this year is a diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic who is now court ordered to comply with treatment recommendations for mental health and anger management.

Wade C. Buchanan, 48, will be doing that in prison.

Buchanan was sentenced yesterday in Lewis County Superior Court to a year and a day, following his guilty plea last Friday to one count of second-degree assault and two counts of third-degree assault. He actually made a so-called Alford plea in which he did not admit guilt.

Buchanan was arrested after the Jan. 26 brawl at the Chevron station on Mellen Street, near Interstate 5. The AMR medics were fueling up their ambulance when he approached them.

According to court documents, the Olympia resident with a bachelors degree in engineering began showing signs of the illness in his early 20s and before his arrest, had been hospitalized by crisis intervention services multiple times. He was reportedly not taking any medication when he was detained.

He was admitted to Western State Hospital this spring under court order and put on medications, according to court documents. Buchanan had no felony criminal convictions before now.

Upon his release, Buchanan will be supervised by personnel from the state Department of Corrections for 18 months.
•••

For background, read “Olympia man charged in attack of medics will be sent to Western State Hospital” from Friday February 1, 2013, here

News brief: Chehalis father jailed for stealing students’ money

Thursday, September 19th, 2013

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The Chehalis man who wrote himself checks out of a fund set up for the W.F. West High School senior class being managed by his wife is sitting in the Lewis County Jail now.

Robert N. Downs Jr., 43, remained free on his personal recognizance after being charged this past spring with first-degree theft and 14 counts of forgery. When police announced their conclusion the account had been tampered with to the tune of about $8,000, they indicated the money had already been paid back.

Downs, an employee at Green Hill School, the state juvenile corrections facility for boys in Chehalis, was sentenced yesterday to three months in jail. He pleaded guilty as charged in July in Lewis County Superior Court.

His lawyer asked the time be served at home with electronic monitoring. Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer asked he be sent to prison for one year and a day. Judge Richard Brosey gave him 90 days.
•••

For background, read “Chehalis parent pleads not guilty to stealing from high school senior fund” from Thursday May 23, 2013, here