Posts Tagged ‘news reporter’

Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Friday, December 22nd, 2017
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•••

BURGLARY TOLEDO

• A Toledo area woman arrived home from work yesterday to find jewelry scattered onto a bedroom floor and various valuables missing. A deputy responding just before 9 p.m. to the 200 block of Blakely Drive learned that among the items stolen were a gold wedding band, five to six silver dollar coins and a container holding about $800 in change, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Chief Deputy Dusty Breen said it happened between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. yesterday.

AUTO THEFT

• Chehalis police were called just before 7 a.m. today for the theft of a vehicle from the 300 block of Southwest Third Street.

CAR PROWL

• Chehalis police were called to the 1200 block of Northwest Louisiana Avenue about 7 p.m. yesterday for a vehicle prowl.

ON THE ROAD, OFF THE ROAD

• The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a single-vehicle accident in which the driver was partially ejected but trapped when her vehicle crashed into trees along Centralia-Alpha Road near Oppelt Road east of Chehalis. Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Breen said the 54-year-old woman from Cinebar was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle with possible broken legs and internal injuries. It happened around 5:20 p.m. on Wednesday, Breen said. The 2006 Ford F250 pickup was totaled, he said.

AND MORE

• And, as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, probation violation, fourth-degree assault, driving under the influence, driving with suspended license; responses for alarm, dispute, shoplifting, harassment, civil issue, hit and run, vehicle collision, noisy neighbors, disorderly person, suspicious circumstances … and more among 137 calls for local law enforcement and / or fire-emergency medical services in the 24-hour period ending about 7 a.m.

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Crews from rural Chehalis, Napavine and Onalaska responded to rescue driver along Centralia-Alpha Road on Wednesday evening. / Courtesy photo by Lewis County Fire District 6.

Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Thursday, December 21st, 2017
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•••

TOOLS STOLEN

• Chehalis police were called about 1:50 p.m. yesterday to the 300 block of Southwest Pacific Street to take a report of a burglary to a garage. Approximately $900 worth of hand tools and power tools were missing, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

GREEN HILL SCHOOL ASSAULT

• Chehalis police were called yesterday morning to Green Hill School to take a report of an incident occurring on Nov. 22 in which a 17-year-old student-inmate allegedly punched a staff member during a dispute between student-inmates. A case for custodial assault is being submitted to prosecutors, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

ON THE ROAD, OFF THE ROAD

• A 17-year-old boy was arrested after the vehicle he was driving left the roadway and struck a tree about 3:40 p.m. yesterday at Long Road and Alder Street in Centralia, according to the Centralia Police Department. He was arrested for reckless driving as well as driving without a license and was released to his parents, according to police.

AND MORE

• And, as usual, other incidents such as arrests for drugs, warrants, disorderly conduct, fourth-degree assault, driving under the influence, third-degree malicious mischief; responses for alarm, dispute, civil issue, vehicle collision, suspicious circumstances … and more among 136 calls for local law enforcement and / or fire-emergency medical services in the 24-hour period ending about 7 a.m.

Cispus: Independence Day shooting of veteran labeled justifiable homicide

Thursday, December 21st, 2017
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Dusty Phelps
1966 – 2017

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Dusty Phelps had recently been evicted from his home at the Mount Adams Motel in Randle, and set up camp in the Cispus area south of Randle.

His belongings were stored in his multi-roomed tent, his many guns were packed inside the Chevrolet Tahoe which was parked sideways partially blocking the entrance to his campsite. There was a separate child-sized tent with bedding inside for his dogs.

Twice earlier that day, he’d been to the motel and invited former neighbors to come check out his camp and shoot off a few rounds. It was the Fourth of July.

By that evening, the 51-year-old lay dead on the ground in his camp, from a gunshot wound.

Deputies were dispatched after a  911 call at 7:14 p.m. on July 4 from a 63-year-old Glenoma man who said he shot an individual at a campsite in self defense.

Law enforcement responded to the area, on Forest Service Road 2801 off Cispus Road, in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest to investigate.

Within days, the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office related some of what they had learned. The man and his wife from Glenoma said they were out for a drive in the woods, when they heard gunshots going through the trees.

The couple drove into Phelps’ campsite to contact him about discharging firearms in an unsafe manner. They said Phelps approached the driver’s side door of their vehicle and fired multiple shots, to include one round into their interior of the vehicle.

John Arnold fired one round, striking Phelps in his head.

Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Dusty Breen said the initial evidence appeared consistent with self defense, but the case would be forwarded to prosecutors for evaluation.

Last week, Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer relayed to the lead detective that his thorough review made it clear Arnold acted in self defense. No criminal charges would be filed.

Arnold declined, through his wife in a phone call, to comment.

Phelps’ younger sister is still mourning, making plans for a military burial at Fort Richardson National Cemetery in her hometown of Anchorage.

“If that’s what it is, that’s what it is,” Rebecca Phelps said upon learning the final determination.

Her brother isn’t the type who would harm someone, she said, unless he felt threatened. She expressed her wish, repeatedly, the Arnolds would have done things differently that day.

“It wouldn’t have happened if he just stayed away, call the police,” she said. “He took it upon himself to take himself, his wife and his gun and confront my brother. My brother didn’t drive up to him.”

Chief Breen said last week, his recollection was there was very little conversation between the two men before shots were fired. The incident report, which includes interviews with the Arnolds, offers very little detail about what was said.

John Arnold and his wife Violet Arnold recalled the crucial moments somewhat differently from each other.

John Arnold didn’t mention any words being exchanged, until a deputy spoke with him a second time, after hearing Violet Arnold’s account.

“Violet said the man and her husband had a short conversation about shooting safely and not killing someone,” Detective Gabe Frase wrote of his interview that took place that night.

Frase spoke to John Arnold again: “He told me he remembers just starting to talk when the shots occurred,” Frase wrote.

Rebecca Phelps hadn’t seen her brother since 2013, when she lived with him for a short time in Yelm, but they kept in touch through Facebook and by phone.

She said her brother was in the military about 25 years, doing terms in Iraq and Kuwait. He was discharged in 2010 or 2011, with an injury to the side of his jaw and ear from an IED, she said.

“That really had a lot to do with his post traumatic stress disorder,” she said. “He smoked weed, I know he drank too.”

She called him a loner, who had his dogs, and spent his time hunting and fishing.

The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office’s reports on the incident contain interviews with numerous people who knew Phelps, interviews with the Arnolds and an interview with one person who spoke with John Arnold that evening.

Almost three weeks later, a detective went to the Mount Adams Motel where the owner said Phelps had been evicted because of complaints from other residents he was aggressively harassing them to give him things.

One of his old neighbors said Phelps was quick to lose his temper, another said Phelps didn’t have any problems with people at the motel. One said Phelps often came to his place to watch the news, and was especially interested if there was any news about the war. Another resident said Phelps was “already drunk” when he stopped by earlier on July 4.

While numerous deputies and detectives responded that evening, it was a trooper and a Morton police officer who arrived first. A Washington state Department of Fish and Wildlife sergeant responded as well.

A trooper detained John Arnold at the Cispus Learning Center, where he had gotten a lift to from a citizen who found him walking, trying to get a cell signal. He had left his wife at the campsite.

WSDFW Sgt. Brad Rhoden decided to check the area for potential witnesses and didn’t find any other camps.

“I did locate, down the road from the shooting, a turnaround spot in which the last vehicle to leave it had accelerated out, spinning the back tires,” Rhoden wrote in his report.

He got a lead on who had given John Arnold a ride and went to talk to him. Don Reichert, a camper from Portland, said he turned off Forest Service Road 28 when he came across a man who said he’d just shot someone and needed to get to a phone.

Reichert said John Arnold had told him he and his wife were driving, heard shooting and bullets hitting the trees as they passed the campsite and then drove back “to tell the shooters to knock it off,” according to the report.

Detective Frase arrived to the scene about 8:40 p.m. It was then he interviewed the Glenoma couple, separately.

John Arnold said he, his wife and dog had gone for a drive checking campsites, something they often do after a weekend to see what others have left behind.

Both Arnolds said they started hearing gunfire flying through the trees near them and turned around to go express their concerns to the shooter and tell them where they could go to shoot safely.

They pulled into Phelps’ campsite, driving around the back of his Tahoe, toward his tent.

Violet Arnold said the guy sitting by the tent got up and walked to their car, and as he and her husband talked, she leaned forward in her seat to see around her husband.

Violet Arnold said the man cocked his gun and aimed it at her, and she leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes. “She then heard two or three shots.”

John Arnold told Frase as the male walked up, his wife noted the male had a pistol in his hand, and John Arnold retrieved a pistol from his driver’s door and put it on his lap.

John Arnold said as the male arrived at his open driver’s window, the male immediately fired two shots into the ground and then pointed the pistol into the window at the couple.

John Arnold said he used his left hand to shove the male’s hand toward the windshield and used his right hand to fire his pistol once, striking him the head.

Investigators examined the scene and took photos, returning the following day to collect evidence and finish up.

Four of Phelps’ pit bulls were taken by the Lewis County Animal Shelter, and a fifth one escaped.

The reports go on to describe other items collected as evidence.

One of the first sheriff’s deputies to arrive noticed a large amount of spent ammunition throughout the camp, and observed wounds on several trees with sap running out.

A Ruger 9 mm handgun was located on the driver’s seat of the Arnold’s vehicle. A Ruger .380 pistol was retrieved from inside a purse on the passenger side floorboard. A 12-gauge shotgun was stored in the back of the Durango.

Another Ruger 9 mm lay on the ground on the right side of Phelps’ body.

Inside Phelps’ Tahoe, were five long guns, on the backseat and in its trunk area. Written in the dust on the back window were the words, “Remember Ramadi” and a circle with a star inside.

From atop wooden box next to a chair, detectives collected a pack of Marlboro cigarettes, a pipe, a box of ammunition, an unopened can of beer and a lighter.

At the south side of the fire pit was an orange Igloo water cooler. Sitting on its top was ammunition and an AR-15-type magazine. Next to that, on the ground was a Sig Sauer 556 semi automatic rifle with its barrel elevated by a bipod.

A table held a camp stove, cooking supplies and food. Between two trees, sat other camping supplies, an open case of beer and an open case of Dr. Pepper. Empty beer cans were found in the fire pit and other places around the site.

Among the items inside the large tent were several military sea bags, a military rucksack and clothing, including an Army dress uniform with Phelps’ name on it.

A deputy tried but was unable to close the passenger side window of the Arnold’s Durango before departing the scene.

After their Durango was back at their home, the Arnolds’ called to say the window switch had worked fine before, but it was damaged during the shooting.

A detective on July 6, went to the Arnolds’ residence and retrieved two bullet fragments from inside the passenger door of the Durango.

Early this month, the results from the Washington State Crime Laboratory were received by a sheriff’s detective, regarding the bullet fragments. The analysis eliminated it as having been fired from John Arnolds’ gun. The lab could not say for sure if the fragments were or were not from Dusty Phelps’ gun.

Dusty Phelps’ funeral will be held on June 14 in Anchorage, after the ground thaws out.
•••

For background, read “News brief: Coroner reveals name, info on man killed near Randle” from Tuesday July 11, 2017, here

Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Wednesday, December 20th, 2017
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•••

Updated at 12:02 p.m.

‘PIECE OF BROKEN GLASS’

• A 24-year-old Chehalis area woman was arrested last night after allegedly striking her significant other in the side of his head with a piece of broken glass at the 1000 block of state Route 508. Deputies arriving about 6:45 p.m. to Providence Centralia Hospital spoke to the victim who said he was walking out of the bathroom when Danielle M. Toft hit him from behind with an unknown object, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. She said there was an argument, according to the sheriff’s office. Toft was booked into the Lewis County Jail for fist-degree assault, Chief Deputy Dusty Breen said.

ALTERCATION

• Chehalis police were called yesterday to Green Hill School to take a report of an incident occurring on Nov. 26 in which a 19-year-old student-inmate allegedly pushed one staff member and kicked another. A case for custodial assault is being submitted to prosecutors, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

THEFT, THEFT, THEFT

• Centralia police were called to the 500 block of South Pearl Street about 3:30 p.m. yesterday to take a report of a burglary to a shed.

• The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reported this morning that an estimated $1,200 worth of tools and equipment were stolen from property on the 100 block of Madden Road in Cinebar since Thursday. Among the missing items are a 14-inch chop saw, a two-and-a-half gallon compressor and a generator, according to the sheriff’s office.

• A woman called Chehalis police about 2 p.m. yesterday to report someone had taken and used her EBT card which was inside her purse, left in her vehicle on Nov. 21 at the 100 block of Northeast Hampe Way when she was arrested. Her vehicle was found, but the purse was gone, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

• Chehalis police were called yesterday by an individual who said a prescription drug was missing from their vehicle, believed to have gone missing on Saturday, possibly while parked at the 1600 block of Northwest Louisiana Avenue.

• Centralia police were called about 11:40 a.m. yesterday regarding the theft of a CB, tools and a power inverter from inside a truck parked inside a garage at the 1000 block of North Pearl Street.

VEHICLE THEFT

• A 1985 Chevrolet S10 pickup truck was reported stolen from the 700 block of Harrison Avenue in Centralia about 7:45 p.m. yesterday. It is red, tan, with a red hood and has a license plate reading B00050G, according to the Centralia Police Department.

VANDALISM

• Centralia police were called about 6:45 a.m. today to the 1800 block of Van Wormer Street where someone had thrown a rock at the window of a house, shattering the glass.

AND MORE

• And, as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, driving with suspended license; responses for alarm, civil issue, shoplifting, hit and run, vehicle collision, suspicious circumstances … and more among 118 calls for local law enforcement and / or fire-emergency medical services in the 24-hour period ending about 7 a.m.

Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Tuesday, December 19th, 2017
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•••

THOUSANDS TAKEN FROM SAFE

• Approximately $10,000 worth of collectors coins were stolen from the 1300 block of Eshom Road in Centralia yesterday, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. A deputy responding just before 6 p.m. was told they were missing from an unsecured safe inside the victim’s garage, taken sometime between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m., according to the sheriff’s office.

VEHICLE PROWL

• Chehalis police were called to the 2100 block of Southwest Olympic Drive about 10:50 a.m. yesterday where someone had attempted to cut out the catalytic converter from a vehicle parked on the street.

UNLAWFUL FIREARM

• A 28-year-old Centralia resident was arrested for unlawful possession of a firearm after contact with police about 1 p.m. yesterday at the 1100 block of South Tower Avenue in Centralia.  Jon C. Dailey was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department.

ALMOST SCAMMED

• Chehalis police were contacted about 12:45 p.m. yesterday by an individual who got caught up in a scam via email where he almost lost $1,850. He was told he was chosen to participate in something and they would send him a check, and he needed to keep most of the money, but send some of it back, according to the Chehalis Police Department. The transaction was stopped at the bank before he could be victimized, according to police.

ON THE ROAD, OFF THE ROAD

• Chehalis police were called about 11:50 p.m. yesterday to the 500 block of Northwest Pacific Avenue where a vehicle had struck a light pole which blocked both lanes, but then left the scene, according to the Chehalis Police Department. A license plate left behind led an officer to a suspect, according to police. Brenden T. Webster, 23, of Chehalis, was arrested for hit and run, department spokesperson Linda Bailey said.

AND MORE

• And, as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, trespassing, shoplifting, probation violation, fourth-degree domestic assault; responses for alarm, dispute, civil issue, hit and run, vehicle collision, noisy neighbor music, suspicious circumstances, third-degree theft … and more among 149 calls for local law enforcement and / or fire-emergency medical services in the 24-hour period ending about 7 a.m.

News brief: Nighttime intruders steal shotguns, rifles, slippers

Tuesday, December 19th, 2017

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reports this morning they are investigating a burglary in which someone went into a home west of Chehalis while two people were sleeping and stole numerous firearms and then took their truck.

A deputy called to the 700 block of Deep Creek Road was told by the men, ages 59 and 20, it happened between 12:30 a.m. and 4 a.m. on Sunday.

Also missing were a wallet, a pair of slippers and two bows, according to the sheriff’s office. The 2006 Ford Ranger was stolen, but found abandoned on the 2000 block of Big Hanaford Road, Chief Deputy Breen said. Its canopy and trailer hitch were gone, Breen said.

The stolen guns include a Bushmaster AR-15, a Savage .17 caliber rifle, a Marlin .357 caliber rifle, a Saiga 12-gauge shotgun and a Winchester 12-gauge shotgun, according to Breen.

Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Monday, December 18th, 2017
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•••

ON THE ROAD, OFF THE ROAD

• A 27-year-old Chehalis resident was arrested for driving under the influence following a single-vehicle collision in which his Volkswagen Jetta was totaled. A deputy called about 1:35 a.m. on Sunday to the 2500 block of Jackson Highway found the car had failed to negotiate a corner and spun around several times before striking a boulder, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Joseph W. Allen was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the sheriff’s office.

SWASTIKAS

• Chehalis police were called about 4:30 p.m. yesterday following the discovery of two swastikas and the words Hail Hitler spray painted in purple on a house marker in a rockery near Southeast Dobson Court and Park Hill Drive. An individual had earlier reported her car had been vandalized a short distance away, with similar paint, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

PERSON PUNCHED

•  Centralia police were called about 1 a.m. on Sunday to the 100 block of South Tower Avenue where a man was allegedly assaulted by another man when he was punched in the face without provocation according to the victim. The case is still under investigation, according to the Centralia Police Department.

STUDENT THREATENED

• A 15-year-old boy was arrested for allegedly threatening to kill another student, in a case that was reported on Friday afternoon associated with Centralia High School. He was booked into the Lewis County Juvenile Detention Center for harassment, according to the Centralia Police Department.

MISSING TOOLS

• Centralia police were called about 9:50 a.m. yesterday to take a report of the theft of tools from the 1000 block of Ham Hill Road.

MISSING AIR COMPRESSOR

• Centralia police were called about 4:45 p.m. yesterday to the 700 block of South Gold Street to take a report of the overnight theft of a 22-gallon air compressor from a carport.

MISSING MAIL

• A individual called police about 11:45 a.m. yesterday to report his mailbox had been broke open and it appeared he was missing some of his mail at the 1300 block of Lakeshore Drive in Centralia.

CAR PROWL

• An Android cell phone charger and cleaning wipes were reported stolen from inside a parked vehicle at the 300 block of Latona Street about 1:10 p.m. yesterday.

• Several bags of Christmas gifts were reported to have been stolen from the trunk of a vehicle, according to a report about 12:50 p.m. from the 800 block of F Street in Centralia.

• Centralia police were called about 11:25 a.m. yesterday by an individual who discovered someone had rummaged around inside her vehicle at the 400 block of Yew Street in Centralia. Nothing was reported missing, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• Centralia police called about 7:30 p.m. on Saturday about vehicle prowl associated with the 300 block of Courtland Street are referring a case to prosecutors regarding three teenage boys, ages 17 and 15.

• An individual reported on Friday evening that two nights earlier at the 400 block of Centralia College Boulevard someone attempted to break into their vehicle and then slashed one of the tires.

ALCOHOL AT SCHOOL

•  A 15-year-old boy was arrested for allegedly bringing an alcoholic beverage to school at the 800 block of Eshom Road in Centralia on Friday morning. He was released to a parent and the case is being forwarded to Lewis County prosecutors for consideration of a charge of minor in possession, according to the Centralia Police Department.

AND MORE

• And, as usual, other incidents such as arrests for drugs, warrants, trespassing, shoplifting, hit and run, probation violation, driving under the influence, fourth-degree domestic assault, driving with suspended license, operating motor vehicle without required ignition interlock device; responses for alarm, dispute, civil issue, vandalism, vehicle collision, suspicious circumstances, unfounded reports, third-degree theft … and more among 405 calls for local law enforcement and / or fire-emergency medical services in the 72-hour period ending about 7 a.m.