Lewis County Sirens.com

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Authorities believe the three fisherman from Lewis County in last week’s deadly boat wreck spent hours in the water before they were located by a Coast Guard helicopter on Wednesday morning.

“There’s indication they were able to get to the overturned boat and strap themselves to it,” but sometime during the night the straps broke, Pacific County Sheriff’s Office Chief Criminal Deputy Pat Matlock said.

Responders don’t know for sure though when the accident occurred, but think it could have been around 12 hours before they were found, Matlock said. It happened near the entrance to Willapa Bay.

Robert “Tony” F. Garrity, 70, and Charlie Garrity, 26, of Chehalis, and Shad Hail, 30, from Centralia, failed to return home from a Tuesday afternoon fishing trip out of Tokeland, he said. It is salmon season.

“From what we can understand, they got turned around and were coming back,” Matlock said. “They might have hit a sandbar. The people thought they felt the bottom of the motor hit something.”

“A large wave hit the bow, it tipped over and they all went out,” he said.

The wife of one of them called the sheriff’s office about 1:40 a.m. on Wednesday and sure enough, their vehicle was still parked at the boat launch, according to Matlock. The Coast Guard launched a search by boat and by air at first light, and discovered the  24-foot vessel near Leadbetter Point at 7:15 a.m.

The two younger men were on a sandbar, Robert “Tony” Garrity was on top of the boat, he said. The younger Garrity and Hail were hoisted into a helicopter and taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital.

The helicopter returned to retrieve the senior Garrity’s body.

The Pacific County Sheriff’s Office wasn’t able to gain a lot of information from the survivors because they were in pretty rough shape, Matlock said.

The coroner’s office lists Robert Garrity’s cause of death as accidental due to hypothermia. He died on Wednesday morning, Deputy Coroner Darrell Stoller knows, because the two boys watched him pass away, he said.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is investigating the boat accident.

Matlock said fatal accidents on the coast are not uncommon.

“The ocean’s not a very forgiving place,” he said. “The weather can change so quickly.”

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The parents of the 16-year-old Toledo boy accused of hitting his father in the head with a baseball bat are refusing to talk with police or prosecutors about the case.

The Toledo High School student was arrested in mid-July and charged in adult court with first-degree assault, a felony with a maximum penalty of life in prison.

Charging documents allege he came upon his parents arguing about the father’s extramarital affairs and struck his dad with a metal baseball bat.

When police and aid were called to the Toledo home, the father Leslie Bagley was unconscious on the floor with what was described as major trauma to his head, according to authorities. The mother appeared intoxicated, police noted.

Bagley, 55, was airlifted to Harbor Medical Center in Seattle that morning, July 19. Within days he was upgraded to satisfactory condition.

When Toledo Police Chief John Brockmueller traveled to the hospital to speak to Bagley, the mother Tena Bagley stopped him at the door and turned him away, according to court documents.

“I’m going to put a stop to this right now,” Tena Bagley is quoted as telling him. “I told you that I don’t want to give a statement and Les does not want to give one.

“You need to contact our attorney Chris Baum.”

Baum, who represents the teenager, has said in court the parents are upset the police report does not accurately reflect the situation.

Bail was set at $75,000, but a judge allowed the family to post $7,500 cash with the court and put up the grandfather’s property as security.

No contact orders are in place preventing the teen from communicating with his parents. A judge said the boy could stay with an adult brother.

Prosecutors write in court documents they have spoken with a family friend who says the couple is not releasing any information, even to their friends, “perhaps because they do not want police to have the information.”

Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Shane O’Rourke said today the mother is a witness, the father the alleged victim and he needs to interview them, but he’s exhausted all avenues in trying to reach them.

“These are my witnesses, I need to talk to them,” he said. “They’re not talking.”

Lewis County Superior Court Judge Richard Brosey signed an order yesterday for the parents to appear for a deposition. O’Rourke said next week he will be scheduling the meeting.

The boy has pleaded not guilty. A trial is set for the week of Oct. 15.

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For background, read “Toledo teen charged in adult court for allegedly taking bat to father’s head” from Tuesday July 24, 2012, here

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

As many as 50 firefighters responded to a barn and wildfire that grew to as much as four acres today in the Curtis-Boistfort area.

Lewis County Fire District 13 was called about 1:20 p.m. to the blaze at the end of Hubbard Road.

The barn burned to the ground and the fire at one point threatened the house, District 5 Chief Eric Linn said.

Twenty-five to 30 personnel from the state Department of Natural Resources joined firefighters from Chehalis, Centralia and Napavine, Linn  said.

The flames got into grass, slash and trees, he said.

Local firefighters spent about five hours at the scene, leaving DNR out there around 6 p.m., according to Linn.

“We had some pretty significant concerns if we wouldn’t have been able to stop it at the ridge, it would have been quite an event,” he said.

Nobody was injured. Linn didn’t yet have a cause for the fire.