Posts Tagged ‘By Sharyn L. Decker’

News brief: Three hurt when 14-year-old rolls vehicle off Interstate 5 south of Chehalis

Monday, October 1st, 2012

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

A 14-year-old Portland girl who was allegedly driving drunk wrecked a van on Interstate 5 south of Chehalis early yesterday.

Aid and troopers called just after 3:30 a.m. to the scene near the U.S. Highway 12 and Avery Road interchange said three occupants of the vehicle were injured.

The registered owner, a 51-year-old Portland man, was a passenger in the 2006 Dodge Caravan, according to the Washington State Patrol.

The state patrol doesn’t know why an unlicensed teenager was driving with the adult in the van.

The vehicle was northbound, traveled off the roadway to the right and landed on it top, according to the state patrol.

The 14-year-old, Paris Roach, and a 16-year-old passenger, Kaliea Miller, both from Portland, were taken to Providence Centralia Hospital with bumps, bruises and scrapes, state patrol spokesperson Trooper Will Finn said.

Miller is a runaway, according to Finn.

The owner of the van, Stephan Hardy, 51, of Portland, suffered a laceration to his forehead but declined aid, according to the state patrol.

Finn said Hardy was dropped off at a nearby exit at a service station or a restaurant where he could get services or call for a ride.

Finn  said they do know the girls and the man are not family to each other. The situation is still under investigation, Finn  said.

Authorities impound nine malnourished horses from Morton couple

Monday, October 1st, 2012
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Courtesy photo by Lewis County Sheriff’s Office

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office seized nine horses near Morton following an investigation into animal neglect.

The horses on property at the 800 block of state Route 7 were severely malnourished and dehydrated; one in such poor condition it had to be put down, according to the sheriff’s office.

The seizure on Friday came after attempts by county animal enforcement to encourage the owners bring the horses back to a healthy condition, according to a news release from the sheriff’s office.

Five private groups and the Lewis County Animal Shelter assisted in the removal and now foster care of the horses, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said this morning.

The sheriff’s office is asking the prosecutor to charge the owners with first-degree animal cruelty. They belong to Terry Simmons, 58, and Joanne Simmons, 65, according Brown.

Brown said authorities had asked the owners before Friday to seek the services of a veterinarian, but they failed to follow through.

The couple didn’t really have an explanation for the poor condition of the horses, according to Brown.

“I don’t know that they really understood how bad of condition they were in,” Brown said.

The owners were however cooperative and in agreement on Friday the animals needed care, according to Brown.

The horses ranged in age from as old as 15 to just a foal, according to the sheriff’s office.

Brown said donations of feed and grain are needed, and can be made to the animal shelter.

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Courtesy photo by Lewis County Sheriff’s Office

Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Saturday, September 29th, 2012

RUN, RUN, RUN … RUN AWAY

• Centralia police were called about 2:35 p.m. yesterday to the 1600 block of South Gold Street and a report store employees were chasing a shoplifter who disappeared in the area of the bowling alley. A search by police and deputies turned up a suspect hiding in some bushes, according to the Centralia Police Department. Matthew D. Christensen, 20, of Centralia, was arrested for shoplifting and an outstanding warrant and booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to police.

SCHOOL BUS HIT IN CENTRALIA

• Police and aid were called about 12:20 p.m. yesterday when a vehicle rear ended a school bus on the 3400 block of Galvin Road in Centralia. It happened at slow speed and no students were injured, according to the Centralia Police Department.

DRUGS

• A 27-year-old Centralia man was arrested for possession of heroin and an outstanding warrant about 9:30 a.m. yesterday in the 1000 block of Belmont Avenue in Centralia, according to police. Zachary W. Gallagher was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to police.

LEAKING LIQUID DRAWS LARGE RESPONSE TO STORAGE BUSINESS

• Firefighters, police and responders from the state Department of Ecology and the county health department converged on a storage unit business in Centralia yesterday where a suspicious red liquid was discovered leaking from one unit. Riverside Fire Authority personnel were on the scene at the 300 block of West Reynolds Avenue about four hours while the substance was evaluated and people kept away, according to Fire Chief Jim Walkowski. The chief said it was probably less than five gallons that spilled inside and outside the unit and smelled of petroleum. Exactly what it was isn’t known but police contacted the renter of the unit who said it was part of a tea making process, Walkowski said. There were chemicals being stored inside the unit that shouldn’t have been however, he said.

WRECK

• Two cars were totaled when a 16-year-old Winlock girl neglected to stop on Military Road before entering state Route 505 in Winlock yesterday evening. Troopers called to the scene about 5:35 p.m. said Kayleigh D. Anderson was taken to Providence Centralia Hospital and a 71-year-old Olympia man in the second vehicle was unhurt. The teenager was cited for second-degree negligent driving, according to the Washington State Patrol

Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Friday, September 28th, 2012

Updated at 6:34 p.m.

LAUREL HEDGE GOES UP IN FLAMES

• Firefighters were called to Westside Drive on the hillside in Chehalis about 9 o’clock last night to reports of flames rising 20 to 25 feet high above a hedge. The property owner told firefighters there had been work trucks in the area and one had been idling nearby for quite awhile, leading them to speculate if a cigarette might have been to blame, according to the Chehalis Fire Department.

BURGLARY

• Police responded to a burglary on the 500 block of South Silver Street in Centralia about 2:10 p.m. yesterday. Missing are some video games and computer-related items, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• Centralia police were called about 4:45 p.m. yesterday to a residence on 1000 block of Scammon Creek Road in which it appeared someone had broken in and disturbed things inside but stole nothing.

• A deputy took a report yesterday from the 100 block of Leonard Road in Onalaska where a resident advised sometime between Sunday and Wednesday someone stole her Stihl MS250 chainsaw.

HIT AND RUN ARREST

• Centralia police arrested a 35-year-old Centralia driver after an approximately 11:15 p.m. incident yesterday in which he allegedly struck a vehicle in the area of the 600 block of South Pearl Street and then parked and walked away. Pedro Saucedo-Chavez was located several blocks away and booked into the Lewis County Jail for hit and run as well as a warrant, according to the Centralia Police Department.

DRUGS

• Centralia police arrested a 22-year-old Chehalis resident about 4:45 a.m. today at the 1300 block of Belmont Avenue. Shaina K. Campbell was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department. William G. Fultz-Valenta, 24, of Grand Mound as arrested at the same time for an outstanding warrant, according to police.

WRECK

• Centralia police said a bicycle rider suffered a hand injury when they fell off their bicycle after its back tire was struck by a vehicle on the 900 block of Woodland Avenue about 8:50 a.m. yesterday.

• A motorist was uninjured after her car and a semi truck tangled on southbound Interstate 5 in Chehalis this morning. Aid called about 11:10 a.m. to the scene just south of the Main Street interchange said it appeared her car was bounced back and forth between the truck and the guard rail several times and was totaled.

SWAT team encounters armed man in his bed during morning drug raid in Winlock

Friday, September 28th, 2012
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Law officers detain nine at the 1900 block of Ferrier Road in Winlock. / Courtesy photo by Lewis County Sheriff’s Office

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

A 48-year-old Winlock man is in custody after he was confronted in his bed by a SWAT team this morning and grabbed for a loaded pistol under his pillow, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

David W. Sohrakoff is among nine people detained when law enforcement officers from the sheriff’s office and the Chehalis Police Department accompanied by personnel from the state Department of Corrections raided his residence on the 1900 block of Ferrier Road in Winlock.

The 7 a.m. serving of a search warrant followed a three-month long investigation into methamphetamine dealing and trafficking of stolen property at the home, according to a news release from the sheriff’s office.

Sohrakoff is the same man deputies were looking for after a Monday incident on the 700 block of Rhoades Road in which a Castle Rock resident was caught allegedly stealing timber.

Sheriff’s Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said the stolen property involved at Sohrakoff’s home is not timber, but she didn’t have further details.

Two others who live at the home were arrested and six who were initially detained have been released, according to Brown.

No shots were fired and no injuries were reported.

Sheriff Steve Mansfield applauded the law officers for quickly diffusing a dangerous situation without using lethal force or being harmed themselves.

“This incident is a sober reminder of the dangers that law enforcement faces on a day to day basis,” Mansfield stated in the news release.

Arrested along with Sohrakoff were Joy L. Music, 47, for possession of methamphetamine and Burliss Watson, 59, for conspiracy to deliver methamphetamine, according to the sheriff’s office.

Sohrakoff is arrested for two counts of delivery of methamphetamine, conspiracy to deliver methamphetamine and attempted first-degree assault, according to Brown.

Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Thursday, September 27th, 2012

DISPLAY CASE AND CONTENTS BURGLED IN GALVIN

• Sometime between 3 p.m. on Tuesday and 7 a.m. yesterday, someone entered a shop-storage building on corner of Galvin Road and Union Avenue outside Centralia and made off with an antique display case that contained an Olympic Club coin, a brass carburetor and a Ford sign, according to the  Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

BAM

• An individual reported to police just before 1 o’clock this morning that a man in his early 20s walked up, asked “What’s up fool?” and then punched him the face. It happened in the 1100 block of South Tower Avenue in Centralia, according to police. Further details were not readily available.

ATTEMPTED CAR PROWL

• Centralia police were called about 2:35 a.m. today to the 1300 block of Oxford Avenue after a car alarm woke up a resident and damage to the driver’s side door was subsequently found. Nothing was taken, and there are no suspects, according to the Centralia Police Department.

BAD BILLS

• Centralia police were summoned to a business on the 500 block of Harrison Avenue about 3:40 p.m. yesterday after two counterfeit $50 bills were spent there.

VANDALISM

• Gang-style graffiti was discovered on a building yesterday morning on the 700 block of North Tower Avenue in Centralia, according to police.

News brief: Details on death near Longmire still scarce

Wednesday, September 26th, 2012

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

The Lewis County Coroner’s Office has made a tentative identification of the woman whose body was found  below a lookout in the southern part of Mount Rainier National Park and is in touch with that woman’s family.

Coroner Warren McLeod said he’s determined the cause and manner of death but won’t reveal it until he knows for sure who the woman is.

“The extensive injuries are making it difficult,” McLeod said today.

Park officials located the body on Monday at the base of a cliff below Ricksecker Point, a dramatic lookout between Longmire and Paradise. Rangers had been investigating a vehicle parked for several days at the lookout and found identification which they linked to a missing person report.

The injuries are consistent with a fall from a great height, according to park spokesperson Patti Wold.

McLeod said he is hoping to use dental records or finger prints to make a positive identification by the end of the week.

The death is being investigated by park service law enforcement.

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For background, read “News brief: Body found at base of cliff near Longmire” from Tuesday September 25, 2012 at 5:27 p.m., here