Lewis County Sirens.com

MAN INJURED IN CENTRALIA TRAILER FIRE

• A man using a heat gun for warmth in a travel trailer is hospitalized after he woke up to fire this morning in Centralia. Firefighters responding about 7:20 a.m. to the blaze in the 400 block of Madison Street found the approximately 16-foot trailer fully engulfed in flames and threatening an adjacent two-story house, according to Riverside Fire Authority. The individual is very fortunate he made it out, Assistant Chief Rick Mack said. He had fallen back asleep but woke up to thick, black, choking smoke and flames, according to Mack. The victim managed to exit the trailer, but sustained minor burns on his hands and his head, Mack said. He was transported by aid to Providence Centralia Hospital. “He also inhaled quite a bit of smoke so he’ll be in there till they can ascertain the extent of his injuries,” he said. The trailer was destroyed and the house sustained damage to its exterior side, according to Riverside. The loss is estimated at $14,000. Mack said the heat gun was a hand held device typically used in construction.  He said he believed the victim was in his 30s or 40s.

ASSAULT

• A 44-year-old Centralia man was arrested this morning for second-degree assault for allegedly striking an individual in the head with a metal object. Officers responding about 7:30 a.m. to the 1200 block of Harrison Avenue booked Glenn D. Williams into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• Police began looking for a 28-year-old Tumwater man following an assault reported about 12:20 p.m. yesterday at the 1100 block of South Tower Avenue in Centralia. Adam P. Chapman is wanted for second-degree assault in connection with an incident involving his brother, according to the Centralia Police Department.

TRAIN HOPPING

• A 46-year-old Chehalis resident was arrested about 11 a.m. yesterday for criminal trespass after allegedly climbing onto a train while it was stopped near East Maple Street in Centralia. Apolicarpio Mares-Maldujano was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department.

AND MORE

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

Updated at 6:50 p.m.

BREAK-IN NEAR NAPAVINE

• An individual who was gone from their home on the 100 block of Vernon Road northwest of Napavine for just an hour last night returned to find someone had stolen four firearms and a dozen bottles of prescription medicine, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. It occurred between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m., Sgt. Rob Snaza said. Missing are an Olympic Arms AR15, an Interarms 243, a Ruger 10/22 rifle and a a Rossi 20/22 “over-under”, according to the sheriff’s office.

STOLEN CAR

• Someone stole a red 1991 Toyota Corolla from where it was parked at the 600 block of Meskill Road west of Chehalis sometime between 2 o’clock yesterday morning and noon,  according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. It has a license plate of 097 YTY, according to the sheriff’s office.

BEWARE OF CALLER WHO WANTS TO FIX YOUR COMPUTER

• Centralia police responded to a call from the 600 block of Scott Drive in which the resident was receiving phone calls from someone with a heavy foreign accent who claimed they could fix a windows-based problem on the individual’s computer. An officer advised it would have been a scam in which the caller was attempting to gain personal information, according to the Centralia Police Department. Sgt. Stacy Denham said one of the things officers recommend is for a person to make an attempt to independently verify the incoming phone number, and they will likely find it is not legitimate.

DRUGS

• A 39-year-old Centralia resident was arrested for possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver after suspected drugs were located in a motel room with him overnight, according to the Centralia Police Department. Officers were looking for someone else when they went to the 1300 block of Belmont Avenue around 2 o’clock this morning, according to police. Travis J. Holman was booked into the lewis County Jail, according to Sgt. Stacy Denham. Also arrested and booked for possession of meth was Sean D. Cheever, Denham said.

• A former Lewis County man was arrested yesterday at the AM/PM store in Centralia for allegedly selling a quarter ounce of methamphetamine. Eugene L. Kolb, 40, Bremerton, was charged today in Lewis County Superior Court with one count of delivery of methamphetamine in connection with an alleged deal conducted in the parking lot at Safeway last month. At his bail hearing this afternoon, defense attorney Bob Schroeter told the judge the information Kolb related about his financial situation may be an illusion, as he suffered a brain injury in Iraq. His income consists of veteran’s disability payments, and as part of that, his work at IMF Bangor at Bremerton, according to Schroeter. Kolb said he earned $5,000 per month, but Schroeter thought he likely actually qualified for a court appointed attorney. Kolb has lived in Bremerton for five years, but went to high school locally and has family in Mossyrock and Morton, Schroeter said. He was released pending trial on a $10,000 unsecured bond, co-signed by a friend. His arraignment is scheduled for Jan. 30. His girlfriend Lisa M. Balkwill, 44, Tacoma, was charged with delivery and possession, as, according to charging documents, she was with Kolb in the Safeway parking lot and then yesterday when she was arrested, police found a small amount of methamphetamine. Her bail was set at $5,000.

VEHICLE PROWL

• Police took a report just before 8 a.m. today of a car prowl at the 1000 block of Eckerson Road in Centralia. It occurred sometime during the past two days, according to the Centralia Police Department.

VEHICLE VERSUS BICYCLE

• A man on a bicycle and a van collided about 6:15 p.m. yesterday on the 2000 block of Jackson Highway in Chehalis. The victim, in his mid-40s and from Chehalis, ended up with a small abrasion on his head and leg pain, according to police. He had been traveling northbound on the west side of the roadway when the van turned into a church parking lot, police said.

TUMBLING PICKUP LANDS ON FUEL TANKER

• A 19-year-old Oakville resident escaped injury along U.S. Highway 12 near Aberdeen today when his brakes failed, he swerved and struck a curb causing his pickup to roll, landing between a semi tanker and its tanker trailer. It happened about 1 p.m. four miles east of town at Solki Road, in the parking lot of a 7-11, according to the Washington State Patrol. Neither Wyatt R. Carter, 19, from Oakville, nor the truck driver, William C. Watkins, 47, of Gig Harbor, were hurt, the state patrol reports. Trooper Russ Winger says the tanker was for fuel, and its driver was just finishing paperwork. The investigating trooper reports Carter was eastbound with traffic slowing in front of him when he couldn’t stop because of the defective brakes; his 1992 Ford Ranger landed wheels down.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants; responses for alarms, misdemeanor theft, suspicious circumstances, minor collision on city street, noisy neighbor music … and more.

Updated at 5:51 p.m.

BURGLARY

• An individual who left their Centralia home for about 20 minutes yesterday returned to discover someone had broken in and stolen jewelry. An officer was called to the residence on the 2700 block of Eureka Avenue at about 3 p.m., according to the Centralia Police Department.

• Chehalis police responded yesterday about 3 p.m. to a possible burglary at an apartment on Southeast Washington Avenue but nothing appeared to be missing. A door may have been left unlocked, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

FIST FIGHT

• A Chehalis police officer took a report at Green Hill School for boys yesterday regarding a fist fight between a pair of student-inmates in which an employee trying to break it up ended up getting hit. An 18-year-old is in trouble for punching a 17-year, who is in trouble for punching the staff member in the face, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

CAR PROWL

• Centralia police were called about 1:15 p.m. yesterday to a parking lot at the 1100 block of Harrison Avenue in Centralia when an individual found someone had taken a purse from an unlocked vehicle. They didn’t actually observe him take it, but a possible suspect is a male in his mid-20s wearing a green hoody who had been standing near the vehicle and then took off southbound, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• Police responding yesterday to a vehicle prowl at the 800 block of Southwest 21st Street in Chehalis learned someone stole power tools from the back of a pickup truck sometime between 10 p.m. the night before and 8 o’clock that morning, according to the Chehalis Police Department. The loss is about $1,500, according to police.

DISORDERLINESS

• A 42-year-old Centralia man was arrested yesterday after he was contacted walking up the middle of Maple Street apparently intoxicated and refused to talk with an arriving officer. Police Sgt. Stacy Denham said Paul L. Ramirez was heading towards Tower Avenue. “Not on the side, or on the shoulder, but right down the centerline,” Denham said. Ramirez was belligerent and wouldn’t identify himself so he  was booked into the Lewis County Jail for obstruction, according to the Centralia Police Department.

DRUGS

• Chehalis police are investigating the possession of a small amount of suspected marijuana by a 14-year-old student at Chehalis Middle School, following a call yesterday afternoon.

COLLISIONS

• A 64-year-old driver escaped injury when he swerved to miss a herd of elk last night in Packwood and slammed into a tree. A deputy called about 10:30 p.m. to mile marker one on  Cannon Road noted major front end damage to the man’s 2014 Honda Pilot, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

• The roadway was closed only briefly on U.S. Highway 12 east of Rochester yesterday after a log truck driver apparently lost consciousness and his loaded vehicle left the roadway, rolling onto its side. Aid responding to the approximately 12:10 p.m. accident near Hilt Street extricated the 57-year-old man from Randle and transported him to Providence St. Peter Hospital as a precautionary measure, according to responders. “We’re just very thankful he went to the right and not to the left into the oncoming lane,” Washington State Patrol Trooper Guy Gill said. The truck hit a guard rail and ran into the embankment for the railroad tracks and trees, leaving it with substantial damage, Gill said.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrant, misdemeanor  assault, driving with suspended license; responses for alarms, suspicious circumstances, minor collision on city street, rear-end collision on county road, parking lot hit and run … and more.

U.S. Highway 12 near Hilt Street in Rochester. / Courtesy photo by Washington State Patrol Trooper