Posts Tagged ‘By Sharyn L. Decker’

Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Thursday, September 19th, 2013

Updated

CABIN BURGLARY

• The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reports a 19-year-old man was arrested for a break-in to an Ashford area summer cabin after a deputy followed a trail of knocked down brush to his nearby mother’s home and found missing property. The burglary at the 200 block of Skate Creek Road occurred sometime between Friday and Monday, but was discovered on Tuesday, according to the sheriff’s office. An arriving deputy observed several windows broken, the front door ajar and found security lights and camera smashed on the ground, according to Sgt. Rob Snaza. The neighbor’s son, Matthew T. Kelley, who is from Longview but has been staying with his mother was contacted on Tuesday, interviewed and then booked into the Lewis County Jail for first-degree burglary, according to Snaza. All of the stolen items were recovered, he said, such as fishing poles, a shotgun, a 22 rifle and various electronics.

OUT-OF-CONTROL TEEN

• A 14-year-old boy was arrested yesterday morning for harassment after he allegedly made threats to kill people at the 900 block of South Market Boulevard in Chehalis. Officers called to the home about 10 a.m. took the teen to the Lewis County Juvenile Detention Center, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

DOMESTIC INCIDENTS

• A 56-year-old woman who visited the Centralia Police Department yesterday asking about what crime it would be if her adult son pushed her, causing her to fall down and possibly break her arm and was told it would be a felony, decided she didn’t want to give a statement, according to police. A report was forwarded to the Lewis County Prosecutors Office for evaluation of a charge of second-degree assault, according to police.

• A 33-year-old Chehalis man was arrested after he allegedly kicked in a door to a residence he shares with a female on Southwest Johnson Avenue last night. Donnie S. Donahe was booked into the Lewis County Jail for third-degree malicious mischief, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

CENTRALIA BREAK-IN

• Police were called about 7:40 a.m. yesterday to the 1900 block of Honeysuckle Lane in Centralia to a report someone had broken into the home and damaged a toilet. The investigation is ongoing, according to the Centralia Police Department.

MISSING MEDS

• A Chehalis woman contacted police yesterday to report missing her prescription drug used for preventing cravings for other drugs, according to police. She didn’t know exactly where it may have been lost but was concerned about it getting out onto the street, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

STRANGER ENCOUNTERS

• Chehalis police were called to a residence on Southwest Ninth Street where an unknown person reportedly walked into the home and then left. Further details were not readily available.

• Deputies would like to find and talk with a man who contacted three teenagers waiting for a school bus early yesterday morning near Rochester. It was about 6:30 a.m. at the 10200 block of 179th Avenue Southwest when the brown haired man in a light colored four-door passenger car stopped and asked if they’d seen a girl and wanted to show them pictures, but when a father stepped out of his house, the subject quickly left, according to the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office. What he did wasn’t a crime, but it makes one wonder what he was really doing since he departed as another adult appeared, Sgt. Kenneth Clark said. A detective would just like to locate him and ask him about it, Clark said. He is described as an unshaven white male between 35 years old and 45 years old, possibly with a mustache, according to the sheriff’s office. The car is either light green or cream colored.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants; responses for suspicious circumstances, shoplifting and other misdemeanor theft, parenting conflict, disputes, hit and run; complaints of loud music, motorist talking on phone, eating ice cream ands steering with elbows … and more.

News brief: Two girls hospitalized after vehicle wrecks off state Route 6

Thursday, September 19th, 2013

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Three young people escaped serious injuries when a 16-year-old Pe Ell boy lost control of his car on state Route 6 about 12 miles west of Chehalis yesterday evening.

Troopers and aid called about 6:30 p.m. found the 2005 Saturn on its top, its roof was smashed.

The vehicle was eastbound in between the two ends of River Road when it traveled along the right hand ditch about 25 feet, rolled and possibly flipped, according to responders. The occupants exited through a side window, according to Lewis County Fire District 16 Chief Greg Feuchter.

“Very lucky, not having major injuries,” Feuchter said. “Very lucky.”

Justus Hoffman, 16, was not injured but 11-year-old Faith Hoffman of Pe Ell and 15-year-old Rylee White of Chehalis were taken to Providence Centralia Hospital, according to the Washington State Patrol.

The girls were transported more or less to be observed, Feuchter said.

The car was described as totaled. The driver was cited for improper lane usage, according to the state patrol.

Big Bottom Bust cases ending with plea deals

Wednesday, September 18th, 2013
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Jack W. Mullins, left, prepares to sign his sentencing documents in Lewis County Superior Court.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – His attorney says it was credibility issues with the confidential informant, the deputy prosecutor said he didn’t have enough confidence the informant would cooperate during a trial.

Fifty-seven-year-old Jack Wayne Mullins was sent to jail today for two and half months after making a plea deal, pleading guilty to possession of methamphetamine.

Mullins was one of 10 people swept up in what was dubbed Operation Big Bottom Bust, a June operation in which some two dozen law enforcement officers from multiple agencies descended upon Randle in the Big Bottom Valley in east Lewis County and arrested 10 individuals following a months-long drug investigation.

One person was picked up only on a warrant, but the rest were jailed for allegedly dealing meth. Two were never charged.

Mullins, the oldest of the arrestees, is the sixth of the bunch to have entered into a plea agreement.

The remaining person, Marty Joe Mullins, 48, is scheduled for trial later this year.

The cases were distributed among four deputy prosecutors. Lewis County Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher is handling Marty Mullins’ case.

Meagher declined to say if any kind of plea arrangement was in the works.

“The trial’s a long ways down the road,” Meagher said today.

The investigation and raids were coordinated by the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office Regional Task Force. One of its members, sheriff’s detective Jeffrey S. Humphrey is on paid administrative leave after getting arrested a week and a half ago for driving under the influence in Chehalis.

Whether Humphrey remains a deputy will have no bearing if he can still be a witness, Meagher said. But whether his pending gross misdemeanor case could affect the one drug dealing case left, Meagher said simply, maybe.

Today, in Lewis County Superior Court, Jack Mullins listened as his lawyer and a deputy prosecutor told the judge they agreed he should spend 75 days in jail. He faced a sentencing range for drug possession of zero to six months as he has no criminal history.

Defense attorney Jacob Clark told the judge the $3,000 in fines and fees would be a hardship as his client earns money picking mushroom, with the season starting this time of year.

Jack Mullins asked Judge Nelson Hunt to give him more time before going to jail.

“I work the last four months of the year to pay my bills,” Jack Mullins said. “I’m going to lose my house if I don’t get my taxes paid.”

Hunt imposed the financial obligations, and said he could begin paying $25 each month starting 60 days after his release. Jack Mullins was handcuffed and taken away.

Among the other defendants, Byron O. Daily, 42, is in jail for 75 days having pleaded guilty to possession of meth. Twenty-five-year-old Leah D. Williams who lived with Daily and has children got herself into family drug court and was given 30 days of house arrest for possession, according to Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Shane O’Rourke.

Still to be sentenced is 52-year-old Diane L. Allison who lives with Jack Mullins; Keith A. Sanders, 42, and Robert D. LaChance Sr., 51. All live in Randle.

LaChance was arrested again earlier this month by the sheriff’s office for possession and delivery of methamphetamine.

Deputy Prosecutor Eric Eiseneberg said today LaChance was looking at  at least five years for one count of delivery of methamphetamine, and he will likely recommend the high end of the standard sentencing range because of the new case.
•••

For background, read “Seven charged for dealing meth in Randle” from Tuesday June 11, 2013, here

Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Wednesday, September 18th, 2013

BURGLARY SUSPECT BOOKED, ANOTHER AT LARGE

• Deputies arrested one person yesterday and are looking for a second individual in connection with an interrupted burglary to a garage on the 2400 block of Seminary Hill Road in Centralia that occurred on Monday morning. According to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office, a 56-year-old resident leaving his home around 8 a.m. noticed a vehicle parked down the road and had forgotten something so he returned home. He found two men in his garage who “plowed by him” to exit, according to the sheriff’s office. He tried to keep them from leaving and they fought back to get away, Sgt. Rob Snaza said. The burglars fled, but the man wrote down their license plate on his hand, according to Snaza. The sheriff’s office contacted Brad J. Christian, 41, of Centralia, yesterday and booked him into the Lewis County Jail for first-degree burglary, according to Snaza. They are looking for his companion, Henry M. Reilly, 50, of Centralia, who may be in the Cinebar area, Snaza said.

CHAINSAW THEFT

• Centralia police were called about 3:20 p.m. yesterday after the discovery of a burglary to a house on the 600 block of Jefferson Street. Someone pried open the back door sometime after 7 o’clock that morning, went inside and left with two chainsaws, according to the Centralia Police Department.

WRECK

• A vehicle which pulled to the side of the road at the 2700 block of Borst Avenue in Centralia yesterday afternoon and attempted a U-turn collided with another car and then struck a mailbox and a stone pillar., according to the Centralia Police Department. There were no life-threatening injuries, police said.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, misdemeanor assault, driving with suspended license; responses for alarm, protection order violation, theft of rental property; concerns about kids shoving each other into traffic, parked log truck obscuring other vehicles’ traffic vision; complaints of loud stereo … and more.

Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Tuesday, September 17th, 2013
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Surveillance video from Yard Birds Mall shows unpaid for Honda Trail 50 rolling out the front door. / Courtesy photo Chehalis Police Department

MINI MOTORCYCLE THEFTS

2013.0918.faceyardbidguy• Chehalis police are hoping somebody recognizes a shopper captured on security video who left Yard Birds Mall on North National Avenue with a stolen mini bike, after taking it outside with a child on it. The theft of the 1970 Honda Trail 50 was reported about 5:40 p.m. on Aug. 30. “It looked like he pushed the kid around to ride it and pushed it out the door and took it home,” Chehalis Police Department detective Sgt. Gary WIlson said. They left through the east side of the building and loaded it into a white mini van, according to Wilson. The van contained a man, a woman and two small children, he said. The vintage two-wheeler was valued at $900, according to police.

• A deputy was called about 10 o’clock yesterday morning to the 200 block of Stowell Road in Salkum where someone had broken into a garage and made off with a Honda 50cc motorcycle, tools and other property such as a tow hitch. The 37-year-old man said he was in the process of moving out and the burglary occurred between Friday and Sunday, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The sheriff’s office has possible suspect information, Sgt. Rob Snaza said.

ATTEMPTED BREAK-IN

• A resident on the 500 block of Madison Street in Centralia discovered yesterday evening someone tried to kick in his front door. The area around the latch was “shattered” but the deadbolt held, according to the Centralia Police Department. It occurred sometime between 8 o’clock Sunday night and 6 p.m. yesterday, according to police.

CAR PROWLS

• Police were called to the 500 block of Madison Street in Centralia about 6:25 p.m. yesterday regarding the theft of a sub-woofer from an unlocked vehicle.

• An officer responded about 2:15 p.m. yesterday to E and Fourth streets in Centralia where someone had tried to steal a stereo from a car.

• Police took a report about 10 o’clock yesterday morning that two vehicles were broken into during the night at the 1000 block of North Washington Street in Centralia.

• Centralia police responded to a two-vehicle accident about :40 p.m. yesterday at Borst Avenue and North Schueber Road. One woman with shoulder pain was transported to Providence Centralia Hospital, according to responders.

GUNSHOTS

• An officer responded about 10:20 p.m. yesterday to the area of Southwest First near Main Street in Chehalis to a report of someone hearing three gunshots. They were unable to locate any problem, according to the Chehalis Police Department

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, misdemeanor assault; responses for alarm, protection order violation, disturbance, missing bicycle; complaints of dog running around alone, high school kid with noisy exhaust pipes on truck, marijuana smoke from neighboring apartment seeping over, irate customer when laundry removed from machine after being left for several hours, loud music in the night and request to please refrain from playing cell phone music so close to neighbor’s sleeping baby’s window… and more.

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Surveillance video from Yard Birds Mall on Aug. 30 shows white mini van into which a stolen mini bike was loaded. / Courtesy photo Chehalis Police Department

Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Monday, September 16th, 2013

FAMILY FEUD

• A 47-year-old Centralia man was arrested for allegedly grabbing his 19-year-old stepson by the throat when the teen stepped in between his mother and step-father during an argument at a family gathering yesterday afternoon at the 700 block of Burchett Road in Onalaska. Charles E. Lloyd left but was later contacted and booked into the Lewis County Jail for second-degree assault, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. He is to be released without charges pending further investigation.

INMATE ATTACK

• Chehalis police were called about 7:30 p.m. on Saturday to Green Hill School on Southwest 11th Street to take a report of a staff member who was reportedly punched repeatedly by an inmate-student. The case remains under investigation, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

FLASH: BANKS USE SURVEILLANCE CAMERAS

• A 45-year-old Onalaska woman was arrested for allegedly stealing a wallet left on a counter by a customer at Twin Star Credit Union on Friday. A deputy called about 5:20 p.m. regarding the missing item from the 200 block of Second Street West reviewed security video which led to the suspect, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Christina G. Hendricks was booked into the Lewis County Jail for second-degree theft, according to the sheriff’s office.

WOOD STOVE WALKS AWAY, WITH HELP

• Police called about 12:45 a.m. on Saturday regarding flashlights seen inside a vacant, foreclosed upon house on the 400 block of Gertrude Street in Chehalis arrested a 31-year-old neighbor who was reportedly found hauling a pellet stove away on a hand truck towards his home. Brady A. Morgan was booked into the Lewis County Jail for second-degree burglary, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

AUTO THEFT

• A stolen baby blue 1970 Mach One Mustang worth “thousands and thousands of dollars” was recovered at a Chehalis gas station on Saturday when an individual recognized the car, blocked it in and called 911. Officers responding about 1 p.m. to the 100 block of Southwest Interstate Avenue learned the vehicle went missing overnight from an Olympia auto dealer and the 35-year-old Olympia man who had it said he worked there. He didn’t, but he had been at the business the day before as a customer, detective Sgt. Gary Wilson said. Curtis M. Sword was arrested and booked into the Lewis County Jail for first-degree possession of stolen property, according to the Chehalis Police Department. Sword asked to be reimbursed for the $40 worth of fuel he’d put in the car but his request wasn’t granted, Wilson said.

• A Volkswagen Jetta reported stolen on Saturday morning from the 1600 block of South Schueber Road in Centralia turned up wrecked about 1 a.m. on Sunday near Ives and Gallagher roads northwest of town. Responding deputies and a police dog found two individuals hiding in nearby brush and they were arrested, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Raymond D. Faure, 32, was booked into the Lewis County Jail for possession of stolen property and Brittany L. Carey, 25, was booked for a warrant, according to the sheriff’s office.

• A red 1997 Honda Civic was stolen from the 3200 block of Ives Road near Centralia sometime between 1:30 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. yesterday, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. It has a license plate of AFR 1730, according to the sheriff’s office.

• A maroon Ford Expedition reported as abandoned on Friday at the 400 block of Northwest Chehalis Avenue in Chehalis turned out to be stolen from Tumwater. The SUV was in perfectly good shape with its keys still in it, according to the Chehalis Police Department. The owner retrieved the vehicle.

TOOLS TAKEN

• Two chainsaws and a chop saw were stolen from a home on the 12000 block of U.S. Highway 12 in Packwood sometime between Sept. 7 and Saturday, the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reported this morning. The loss is estimated at $1,500.

ZOOM ZOOM

• A 24-year-old Centralia resident was arrested about 9:45 p.m. on Saturday for allegedly racing another car on the 600 block of Harrison Avenue in Centralia. Nevarone N. Ruben was issued a citation for reckless driving and then released, according to the Centralia Police Department.

VEHICLE PROWL

• Centralia police were called about 5:30 a.m. today to the 900 block of North Washington Avenue where someone had broken a window on a truck’s canopy and taken assorted tools.

• Chehalis police were called regarding three vehicle batteries stolen from an auto repair business at the 2100 block of North National Avenue in the Yard Bird complex on Friday afternoon.

• Someone stole the faceplate from a stereo of an unlocked vehicle parked in the lot of an apartment complex on the 300 block of Southwest Third Street in Chehalis, according to a report made to police on Friday morning.

VANDALISM

• An officer was called about 3:45 p.m. yesterday to the 2500 block of Borst Avenue where someone had shot a BB through the windshield of a vehicle.

• Police were called about 3:30 p.m. on Saturday to the 400 block of Kearney Street in Centralia regarding graffiti discovered on an individual’s house.

SEX CRIME

• An Ethel area teen was arrested early Saturday morning at his home in connection with an alleged intimate encounter with a 14-year-old girl at a house party in Chehalis in late July.  It is unlawful for a person more than 48 months older than a 14 or 15 year old to engage in sex with them, according to detective Sgt. Gary WIlson. Quentin Deuel, 18, is 54 months older than the girl, Wilson said. Deuel was arrested and booked into the Lewis County Jail for third-degree rape of a child, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, misdemeanor assaults, violation of protection order, driving under the influence; responses for alarm, disputes, suspicious activity, bar fight, animal fight, shoplifting of crackers, candy, hair extensions, ice, and other items as well as other misdemeanor thefts, non-injury collisions in which drivers fell asleep, request to standby while an employer fired a temperamental worker, unlicensed black Labrador found walking alone downtown Centralia yesterday morning, unescorted friendly Pit Bull out in a field behind a Chehalis home on Friday morning; complaints of man pushing a shopping cart home from a grocery store, neighbors playing loud music in the night … and more.

Headless, burned dog belonged to Centralia residents

Saturday, September 14th, 2013
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Crom, a Doberman-Labrador-Pit Bull mix, pauses for a photo.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CENTRALIA – Michelle Nelson and Tim Filer buried their dog last week. Yesterday they buried its head.

Nelson, a 28-year-old nursing assistant who lives in Centralia, had been looking for her pet named Crom for days when she heard someone had set fire to a decapitated dog near the railroad tracks in downtown Centralia.

At first, when a police officer showed her photos of the carcass, she didn’t think it was hers. But when she learned the animal still remained laying out on the gravel off Walnut Street, she went to view it in person. It was Crom.

It’s a mystery what happened to the half Doberman, part Labrador and part Pit Bull mix.

“I just wish the cops had more to tell me; it’s pretty brutal,” Nelson said.

Crom was just a little more than a year old and lived with the couple on Pine Street, but recently moved to Main Street near Centralia College. Filer and Nelson had a kind of joint custody agreement after they separated.

“He was a really sweet dog, my dog,” Nelson said. “He just loved everybody.”

Crom was familiar with the downtown neighborhood as they would take walks to see Filer at work on Tower Avenue just blocks from home, she said.

It was a dark and rainy night when he bolted out the door chasing a cat, she said. It was Aug. 28.

Early on the morning of Aug. 31, the fire department was called to the area behind Power Sports and extinguished the fire in between the two sets of tracks.

Centralia Police Department Sgt. Buster said a large bag of clothes and the dog were burned. Buster told Nelson he was wrapped in a sweater. Police didn’t think the animal was alive when it was lit.

No arson investigator was requested. Police advised BNSF to come and remove it because it was on railroad property.

Filer’s mother contacted police two days ago when she got a tip about where Crom’s head might be found. She and Officer Angie Humphrey walked the area and found a mound of rocks along the side of the tracks a few blocks south of where the body had been.

“The collar was still on him,” Humphrey said.

Humphrey said she doesn’t know what happened, but she’d like to find out.

“There’s some pretty morbid individuals out there,” Humphrey said today. “There’s a lot of speculation, but without more information, it’s hard to say.”

It’s difficult to imagine for a train to have decapitated the dog, and what animal is going to lay with its head on the rails anyhow, Humphrey said.

“I’m just kind of speculating, because it’s not normal for a dog to lose its head,” she said.

Humphrey asks if anyone has any information about what happened to the dog, that they call her at the Centralia Police Department, or call Lewis County Crime Stoppers, where they can be anonymous.

Crime Stoppers can be reached at 1-800-748-6422.