Lewis County Sirens.com

Updated at 4:46 p.m.

OFFICERS DETAIN ONE FOLLOWING RUCKUS AT CITY HALL

• Police arrested 69-year-old John C. Baker yesterday morning after they were summoned upstairs at Centralia City Hall where Baker was reportedly causing a commotion in the city attorney’s office. Sgt. Stacy Denham said he wasn’t sure what Baker’s business at the office was but he was arrested for misdemeanor theft as when police asked him to step outside to discuss the matter, a stapler belonging to the city clerk was noticed in his pocket. Denham said one of Baker’s “parting shots” was he would return at 9 a.m. today to go “nose to nose” with the person in the office. Baker, a Centralia resident, was booked into the Lewis County Jail.

BRASS KNUCKLES PUT ALLEGED COMBATANT IN JAIL

• Centralia police officers called about 10:15 a.m. yesterday about two males fighting in an alley arrested one of them for possession of brass knuckles as well as disorderly conduct. Witnesses told police Terry Bryan, 33, a homeless person, attacked a 22-year-old acquaintance for no reason in the area of the 500 block of North Tower Avenue, according to the Centralia Police Department. The victim did not wish to press charges for assault but Bryan was booked into the Lewis County Jail for the aforementioned offenses, according to police.

IN-PROGRESS HOMICIDE TUNS OUT TO BE PRANK

• Centralia police responded about 11:15 p.m. yesterday to the 100 block of Virginia Drive after getting a call from a child that a parent was being killed. The young girl reportedly called 911 several times but hung up before dispatchers could get more information. When officer checked the address given by the girl, they found only a family at home, no violence, according to the Centralia Police Department. They checked neighboring apartments as well without success until they discovered an 11-year-old girl who made the calls as a hoax, according to police. She was warned about the consequences for making a false report but not arrested because of her young age, according to police.

BURGLARIES IN CHEHALIS

• Chehalis police were called yesterday morning about repeated burglaries to a building across from the police department on the 100 block of Northwest Prindle Street.

• Chehalis police were called yesterday afternoon to an auto business on the 1600 block of North National Avenue about an attempted break-in and vandalism to a truck parked in the lot. A screen had been removed from the building and the window broken on the vehicle, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

VANDALISM

• Someone punched holes in the water holding tank on a travel trailer parked at the 1300 block of Kresky Avenue in Chehalis, according to a report made to police about 1:30 p.m. yesterday.

ALLEGED GANG MEMBER DENIES BEATING TEEN

• Centralian Joshua Rhoades, purported to be an Surenos LVL gang member, pleaded not guilty this morning to second-degree assault involving a fight in downtown Centralia last Thursday night in which a 17-year-old boy was knocked unconscious.  Rhoades, 32, remains held in the Lewis County Jail as prosecutors included so-called aggravators in their charging, alleging it occurred with a deadly weapon – a knife – and was meant to improve Rhoades’ standing in a gang. Charging documents allege Rhoades and two others got out of a green Ford Taurus in the area of South Tower Avenue and Cherry Street and approached three young men and that Rhoades identified himself as LVL, asking the trio if they were rival “Nortenos”.  The victim, Dustin McLean, told police he replied “no” and then held his head while Rhoades and Rhoades’ friends kicked him in the head, according to charging documents. McLean also said Rhoades used the closed knife like brass knuckles to punch him in the face several times, charging documents allege. One of the young men, Caleb Capo, said when he jumped in to defend his friend, that 24-year-old Ashley Huner punched him twice, charging documents state. Police subsequently found and detained Rhoades, Huner, and 25-year-old  Michael J. Daily. A knife and two cell phones were found in Huner’s jacket pocket, but she said the coat belonged to Rhoades, according to the documents. Rhoades told police he was the one who got jumped, after three young men rushed his car. Rhoades, Daily and McLean all had facial injuries, police stated. This morning, a trial date for Rhoades was scheduled for the week of March 25 in Lewis County Superior Court.

Joshua Rhoades, right, tells Judge James Lawler he is not guilty today in Lewis County Superior Court.

Updated at 1:09 p.m.

LOOKING FOR A BEDTIME SNACK?

• A deputy was called about 10:30 p.m. yesterday to a home in Onalaska after a 28-year-old man walked into a stranger’s residence, strolled past the couple who live there and went into their kitchen. The husband escorted the man back outside where he waited for the deputy, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. It happened at the 3000 block of Centralia-Alpha Road, according to the sheriff’s office. The intruder, who appeared to be under the influence of something, gave various names and was finally identified as Matthew E. Eastman, a homeless person who lives in the Chehalis area, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said. The couple did not want to press any charges, but Eastman was arrested and booked for making a false statement to a public servant, Brown said.

DRILL ASSAULT SUSPECT FOUND, ARRESTED

• An Ashford man wanted for allegedly assaulted his roommate with a cordless drill was arrested yesterday when he returned to his home. Deputies were looking for him after they were called Monday night and told he beat his 27-year-old female roommate with a steel bar, threw firewood at her head and held a power drill to her throat as she shielded her 4-year-old daughter. Robert C. Sliger, 55, was booked into the Lewis County Jail for first-degree assault, according to the sheriff’s office.

JUVENILE ASSAULT

• Chehalis police were called just after 1 a.m. today to Greenhill School regarding a felony assault. Further details were not readily available.

BUSINESS BURGLARIZED IN CHEHALIS

• Chehalis police were called about 4:15 a.m. today about a burglary on Northwest Prindle Street. Someone had broken a window to get inside a business but some of the missing items were found in the bushes nearby, according to the Chehalis Police Department. Recovered was a vacuum cleaner, a hand truck, a radio and  mechanic’s “creeper”, Officer Linda Bailey said. The break-in is under investigation.

MECHANICS TOOLS MISSING IN CHEHALIS

• A deputy was called about noon yesterday to a “mechanic’s facility” on the 100 block of Ribelin Road in Chehalis where almost $2,200 worth of Matco, Craftsman and another brand of professional tools were missing from a large rolling tool box, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The victim, a 27-year-old man from Chehalis, said it occurred sometime since the previous day, according to the sheriff’s office.

SHOP BURGLARIZED IN VADER

• A 57-year-old Vader man called the sheriff’s office yesterday to report a guitar, a spotting scope and two bows were missing from his shop on the 800 block of State Route 506 in Vader. The theft occurred sometime during the previous five days, a deputy was told.

GARAGE BURGLARY IN CENTRALIA

• Centralia police arrested a 19-year-old Centralia resident yesterday in connection with a burglary to a garage discovered Monday at the 3000 block of Russell Road. Police say Dustin Z. Nickols at first blamed someone else but then admitted stealing the firearm reloading gear and selling it. The property was recovered and returned to its owner and Nickols was booked into the Lewis County Jail for theft, trafficking in stolen property and malicious prosecution, according to the Centralia Police Department.

MUSICAL INSTRUMENT MISSING

• A trumpet was reported stolen from the band room at Washington Elementary School in Centralia on Monday.

BOTCHED DINE AND DASH

• Chehalis police were called to Denny’s restaurant on Southwest Interstate Avenue just before 4 p.m. yesterday regarding a complaint a customer had left without paying for her meal, and had forgotten her driver’s license. The business wanted police to know what happened but chose not to pursue it, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

CHILD FOUND ALONE IN BANK

• Police were called to the 2000 block of Northeast Kresky Avenue in Chehalis at 2 p.m. on Monday where a 6-year-old boy in the bank’s lobby said his mother drove away without him. It was only minutes before the mother showed back up, according to the Chehalis Police Department. “It seems like somebody just lost track of their world,” detective Sgt. Gary Wilson said. “She turned around and came back to the credit union.”

SUSPICIOUS BEHAVIOR CALL

• Chehalis police were called just after 6 p.m. Monday about a male sitting in the street and barking at a trash can. The caller said the skinny, bald individual appeared to be under the influence of something, according to police. An officer checking the area of South Market Boulevard and 18th Street couldn’t locate the subject, detective Sgt. Gary Wilson said.

PROWLING AROUND VEHICLES

• Someone rummaged through an unlocked vehicle parked at the 400 block of Northeast Washington Avenue in Chehalis, according to a report made to police on Monday morning.

• A police officer was called about 3 p.m. on Monday to the 300 block of  Northeast Washington Avenue in Chehalis where someone had entered a vehicle and gone through items in it, according to the Chehalis Police Department. There may have been some change missing, detective Sgt. Gary Wilson said.

• Chehalis police were called to the parking lot at Wal-Mart about 10:30 p.m. on Monday where a subject was watching what appeared to be someone trying to break into a truck. An officer contacted a 53-year-old Centralia man who was wanted on an outstanding warrant related to a driving offense in Whatcom County, according to the Chehalis Police Department. Gary D. Newton was booked into the Lewis County Jail, for the warrant, according to police.

VANDALISM

• Police were called Monday morning the Centralia Outlet Mall where someone had spray painted light blue apparent gang graffiti on the side of the Gymboree store.

DRYER FIRE

• A fire at a home Monday afternoon on Third Street in Chehalis appeared to be caused by something electrical, according to the Chehalis Fire Department. Crews called about 2:25 p.m. found the resident was using a clothes dryer when flames started near the outlet. They used a dry-chemical extinguisher to stop it, Chief Kelvin Johnson said. The damage was estimated at about $1,000, he said.