Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

October 8th, 2012

Updated at 12:28 p.m.

RANDLE MAN THREATENED WITH SHOTGUN

• Two men were arrested last night after they reportedly used a shotgun and a chainsaw to encourage a Randle man to move away. Deputies called about 8 p.m. to the 100 block of Kiona Road were told the pair arrived uninvited to the trailer of the 45-year-old victim and that Lloyd J. Goble, 33, held a gun directly under the victim’s head trying to get him to move off the property. At the same time, Gabriel J. Smithers, 29, was outside cutting a cedar tree and threatening to drop it onto the trailer, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. They were described as acquaintances, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said. She wasn’t sure if either of the suspects had an ownership interest in the property or what their reasoning was. Two shots were fired before they left, Brown said. Goble, of Randle, and Smithers of Olympia, were subsequently located at the Big Bottom Bar and Grill in Randle and booked into the Lewis County Jail for first-degree assault and burglary, Brown said.

CAR CRASHES INTO DRUG STORE

• A driver rammed into the side of the Rite Aid drug store in Centralia yesterday when she attempted to park and mistakenly hit the gas pedal instead of the brakes, according to Centralia police. Aid called to the scene at 1200 Harrison Avenue said nobody was hurt but the exterior wall was shoved in about a foot and it “knocked a bunch of product of the shelves.” The store remained open, according to Riverside Fire Authority’s Capt. Greg Schwartz.

BOOZE LIFTED AFTER BREAK-IN

• Someone broke into a distillery on the 700 block of North Tower Avenue in Centralia and made off with a bottle of whiskey, according to the Centralia Police Department. An officer who took the report yesterday morning concluded they threw a rock through the door sometime during the night.

KIDS, ALCOHOL AND FOOTBALL

• An underage girl and an underage boy were arrested for being in possession of alcohol on Friday night at a football game on the 2500 block of Mount Vista Road in Centralia, according to police.

CREDIT CARD FRAUD

• Centralia police took a report on Friday from the 200 block of West Oakview Avenue about someone making fraudulent charges of about $100 on someone else’s credit card. The case is under investigation, according to the Centralia Police Department.

DRUGS

• A 29-year-old Centralia woman was found to be in possession of suspected methamphetamine and heroin when she was arrested for a warrant about 12:30 p.m. yesterday at East Center Street and North Tower Avenue, according to police. Elizabeth J. Bowman was booked in to the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department.

WRECKS

• An 81-year-old driver and his two passengers were hospitalized last night with what appeared to minor injuries when his brakes failed as he was rounding a curve on the 1000 block of Gore Road in Onalaska, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The 1992 Toyota van hit several small trees and landed on its side, sustaining major damage, according to a deputy who arrived about 9:20 p.m.

• A 57-year-old Winlock man was driving too fast and under the influence when he totaled his car yesterday afternoon on state Route 505 about 10 miles out of Toledo, according to the Washington State Patrol. A trooper called to the scene just before 5 p.m. reported Marc V. Raubuch was unable to negotiate a curve and lost control causing his 2000 Mercedes 320 to roll and come to rest in a field. Raubuch  was taken to Providence Centralia Hospital where he was treated and has been released, according to authorities.

• Two occupants of a Toyota Camry were treated at Providence Centralia Hospital following an early morning three-vehicle collision on Interstate 5 about five miles south of Chehalis yesterday, according to the Washington State Patrol. A trooper called about 4:40 a.m. to the northbound lanes near milepost 70 indicated Aleksey T. Kozorezov, 79, of Bothell, lost control of his car and hit a Pontiac Grand Am driven by a Winlock woman and a big rig. He and his 34–year-old passenger, Andrey A. Kozorezov of Federal Way were transported to the hospital but have since been released, according to authorities. No other injuries or serious vehicle damage was indicated.

• A 44-year-old Ethel man was hospitalized with complaints of abdominal pain after a single-vehicle wreck on Saturday evening on the 400 block of Tucker Road, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The driver said he was eastbound when he lost control at a corner and ran into a tree, according to the sheriff’s office. His Dodge Dakota pickup suffered major damage, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said.

• A 22-year-old woman escaped injury when she had a seizure and her car left the roadway off the 700 block of West Reynolds Avenue in Centralia, traveling through a yard, a hedge and barbed wire fence before coming to rest in a pasture on Saturday morning, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. A deputy arriving to the scene about 10:20 a.m. noted nobody else was injured and the damage was minor. She taken to Providence Centralia Hospital for treatment of her seizure, according to the sheriff’s office. The woman was not cited but a driver re-evaluation form will be forwarded to the state Department of Licensing, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said.

Tacoma man missing from mushroom gathering outing south of Randle

October 8th, 2012

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Volunteers on horseback are looking for a 79-year-old Tacoma man who got separated and lost from his family yesterday while picking mushrooms near Randle.

He was with two family members off Forest Road 26 near Strawberry Mountain about 10 miles south of Randle at 10:30 a.m. yesterday; the family called for assistance about 3 p.m. after looking for him, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

“When they could not find him they returned to their car and waited,” Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown stated in a news release. “When he didn’t return to the car they began searching for him but were still unable to find him.”

Temperatures reached 32 degrees in the area last night, according to Brown.

The missing man had a backpack with water but was not prepared for an overnight stay, she said. The family said he is an experienced hiker.

Packwood Search and Rescue along with Cascade Dogs searched for him until about midnight, according to the sheriff’s office.

Lewis County Posse’s horse team and citizen ham radio operators are at the scene this morning searching, Brown said.

Volunteer search and rescue groups from Thurston and Cowlitz counties are en route to assist, according to Brown.

Kirotv.com identifies the missing man as Dapeng Yang.

News brief: Authorities seek help finding elderly Centralia pair

October 7th, 2012
2012.1007.jamesoneal.florencefisher.trim_2

Florence L. Fisher and James O’Neal. / Courtesy photo Lewis County Sheriff’s Office

Update: The sheriff’s office said about 7:15 p.m. the pair were found in Ballard and are safe.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Police are asking for the public’s help finding a missing elderly Centralia couple.

James L. O’Neal, 85, and Florence L. Fisher, 92, were last seen about 11:30 p.m. on Friday in the Everett area and were reported missing yesterday afternoon, according to the Centralia Police Department.

He was driving a dark blue Pontiac Vibe hatchback.

“Apparently both have forms of dementia, hers being more prominent,” Lewis County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Pat Smith said.

Smith said he understood they were in an accident and a family member was on their way up to meet them.

“I don’t know any details; it must have been minor,” Smith said. “The car was still drivable and nobody went to the hospital.”

However, the couple drove off, Smith said. They had been at a Dennys restaurant in Everett.

“They’re concerned he could get disoriented,” Smith said, noting O’Neal apparently thought he was in Centralia

The public is asked to call police if they see them or their car.

Maurin murders: Amount of new evidence overwhelming the defense

October 5th, 2012
2012.1005.ricky.riffe.crowley_2

Ricky Riffe listens to his attorney John Crowley in court this morning.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The trial in the 1985 Maurin kidnap and murder case was pushed out once again as the defense voiced concerns about slowness of information being turned over to him while the prosecutor worries about witnesses who could die before they ever get called to the stand.

Ricky Allen Riffe, 53, appeared in Lewis County Superior Court this morning as attorneys reviewed the status of the case with Judge Richard Brosey.

It was scheduled for the week of Nov. 5.

Seattle-based defense attorney John Crowley said he won’t be prepared by then.

Crowley told the judge he just received a witness statement from Senior Deputy Prosecutor Will Halstead; a witness he still needs to interview.

“It was typed August 30, I got it two days ago,” Crowley said.

Crowley noted his client was arraigned in August, but the state just last week collected DNA from his client, which is presumably now being tested at the state crime lab.

He also pointed out the prosecutor turned over 6,000 emails as recently as Tuesday collected from his client’s computer.

“The point is, we can’t be ready, given the rate of production of discovery by the state,” Crowley said.

2012.0709.edminniemaurin.small_2

Ed and Minnie Maurin

Halstead objected to the request for a postponement until March, and being accused of “dribbling” the required documents to the defense.

“This is a case that’s recently re-emerged,” Halstead said. “As you can imagine, people have come forward.”

Halstead said the state has serious concerns about witnesses being available given the case is 27 years old, noting one who had a heart attack last week.

“He’s not the only one who might not be around in six months,” Halstead said.

Riffe, a former Lewis County resident, was a long time suspect but was just arrested in July at his home in Alaska.

The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office has investigated and reinvestigated the case since December 1985 when Ed and Wilhelmina Maurin vanished from their home in Ethel and their bodies turned up days later off a logging road outside Adna.

Prosecutors believe Riffe and his now-deceased brother John Gregory Riffe got into the Maurin’s home, uncovered bank records and forced the couple to go with them to the bank and withdraw $8,500 before shooting them in the backs with a shotgun inside their car, according to charging documents.

Ed Maurin was 81 years old. His wife, who went by Minnie, was 83.

The prosecution has in excess of 100 witnesses, some from out of state. Halstead today said the trial could last as long as four weeks. Last month, he estimated it could take two or possibly three weeks.

Judge Brosey said he would reschedule the trial for the week of Feb. 4 and proposed setting aside the whole month. He wants the attorneys to meet with him again in mid-November to review their progress.

“I don’t think I can be ready,” Crowley told him. “Given the computer and biological evidence floating out there.”

Halstead is preparing to take a formal deposition of one of his witnesses, Donald Burgess of Centralia, just in case his health prevents him from being present at the trial.

The parties will be back in court next Friday morning to address the details of the deposition with the judge.

Riffe is charged with two counts each of first-degree murder, first-degree kidnapping and first-degree robbery, as well as one count of burglary.

He has pleaded not guilty. His attorney continues to claim they got the wrong man.

Today in court he expressed optimism about the results of the DNA tests, which he’s still waiting to see.

“This was a bloody scene,” he said. “Hopefully the perpetrator left behind some evidence.”
•••

For background, read “Maurin homicide: Accused murderer’s lawyer says no new evidence in old case” from Thursday July 26, 2012, here

Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

October 5th, 2012

‘I SEE YOU’

• A sheriff’s detective driving by the Handi Mart on Kerron Avenue in Winlock yesterday morning stopped when he spotted an individual on a mountain bike making repeated brief contacts with people in cars in the parking lot. The detective observed for awhile because numerous complaints have been received over the past few months about suspected drug dealing there, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. When the man motioned for one motorist to follow him up the street and the detective saw some kind of exchange, he contacted the bicyclist, Christopher W. Shope, 47, Winlock, and arrested him for possession of methamphetamine, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said. Shope denied selling drugs but admitted he had about $20 worth of meth with him, Brown said. Shope was booked into the Lewis County Jail.

ASSAULT WITH WOODEN ROD

• A 49-year-old Centralia man was arrested for second degree assault yesterday morning after he allegedly threatened to strike family members with a wooden closet rod. Keith A. Smith was booked into the Lewis County Jail after contact with an officer about 8:20 p.m. at the 1400 block of Johnson Road in Centralia, according to the Centralia Police Department.

ONE DOWN, ONE TO GO

• A woman wanted for hit and run for allegedly colliding with some mailboxes on the 1400 block of Centralia-Alpha Road as her boyfriend fled an alleged assault on Tuesday was arrested when she was spotted at Dennys in Chehalis last night. Raelynn D. Gonzales said she didn’t know where Mitchell W. Sinclair was, Lewis County Sheriff’s Office Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said. She was booked into the Lewis County Jail. He is wanted for allegedly striking a woman in the head and face with a steel bar.

THE GOOD STUFF IS GONE

• An empty purse found on a piece of equipment at a business on the 600 block of Northwest State Street in Chehalis was turned into the police department yesterday. The brown handbag discovered with an empty blue cloth lunch bag had no name or anything inside of it, according to police.

DEER WRECK

• A 37-year-old Castle Rock woman escaped serious injury when she swerved to miss a deer, crossed over the center lane and hit a guard rail before heading down an embankment. It happened about 8 p.m. yesterday on the 1000 block of Jackson Highway South near Toledo, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Her vehicle sustained major damage and she was cited for wheels off the roadway because her attempt to avoid the deer was unsafe, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said.

CHIMNEY FIRE

• Firefighters were called just before 7 p.m. yesterday to a fire on Vine Street in Napavine found five-foot high flames coming from a chimney. It was extinguished before it spread to the structure, according to Lewis County Fire District 5. Firefighter Brad Bozarth said its a good time for folks to get their chimneys cleaned if they haven’t already done so. This one was cleaned last year, but not very well, he said.

NEIGHBORS HELPING NEIGHBORS

• Four firefighters from West Thurston Regional Fire Authority traveled to Mason County last night to assist with a wild fire that  has burned about 150 acres. Fire Chief Robert Scott reminds folks there is a red flag alert in place in parts of Western Washington because weather conditions are ripe for fires. The (Tacoma) News Tribune reports the blaze near Shelton threatened about 100 structures when it began yesterday but 100 firefighters who worked through the night have it 30 percent contained.

Joshua Vance admits to killing his father

October 4th, 2012
2012.1004.joshua.vance.sent_2

Joshua Vance sits with defense attorney David Arcuri as he pleads guilty to murder in Lewis County Superior Court.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Going to trial is a gamble and both sides in the Onalaska murder case in which a 25-year-old mentally disturbed man stabbed to death his sleeping father chose to cut their losses with a plea agreement.

Joshua Leroy Vance previously pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity but this morning told a judge he was guilty.

His father, 58-year-old Terry Vance, was stabbed at least 11 times and his throat was cut the morning of March 7.

Lawyers crafted a modified set of charges so they could secure a sentence of between 25 and 30 years.

Vance, 25 years old and shackled at the waist and ankles said very little in court today, only answering Lewis County Superior Court Judge Nelson Hunt’s several questions.

Vance pleaded guilty to first-degree murder.

“That means you thought about it for awhile and decided that’s what you were going to do?” Hunt asked.

“Yes,” Vance replied.

Instead of three counts of attempted murder, because Vance had told deputies and hospital personnel he had intended to kill the rest of his family, Vance pleaded guilty to third-degree assault.

The plea to the second count was pursuant to a doctrine referred to as “In re Barr”.

As the judge put it, he pleaded guilty to a crime he may not have committed or did not commit as part of an agreement.

Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher explained he knew he could not get a conviction on those charges because of a rule that prevents him from relying on the defendant’s confessions alone.

Had the case moved toward trial, Vance’s admissions would not have been heard by a jury and Meagher would be left with no evidence of attempted murders, Meagher said.

But Meagher wanted Vance to be held accountable for them, so offered the “In re Barr” option with third-degree assault, he said.

Meagher will be asking for 30 years in prison when Vance is sentenced the week after next.

Defense attorney David Arcuri will be asking for 25 years, he said.

A psychiatric evaluation by a doctor for the defense supported the not guilty by reason of insanity, but an examination by a doctor hired by prosecutors indicated differently, according to Arcuri.

“If both experts had agreed, we would not be doing this,” Arcuri said.

It’s all about weighing the probabilities and the potential amounts of time, Arcuri said.

His client would have been facing close to 100 years in prison if they’d gone to trial and lost, he said.

Vance was attending Centralia College in the months before the attack. He was being treated for mental health issues; his family said he’d gone off his medications because he couldn’t afford them.

His diagnosis’s in the Western State Hospital doctors’ report included psychotic disorder, major depression, amphetamine dependence and alcohol abuse.

He has been hospitalized in the past for command hallucinations to kill himself and harm others. He also has been treated for substance induced hallucinations, according to the report.

Meagher said he took that into consideration.

“Let’s face it, the guy does have psychotic tendencies,” Meagher said.

Sentencing is set for Oct. 17.
•••

For background, read “Breaking news: Plea agreement made in Onalaska murder case” from Monday October 1, 2012, here

Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

October 4th, 2012

NINTENDO STOLEN

• Centralia police were called to  home on the 500 block of Prairie Rose Street just after 6 p.m. yesterday about a Nintendo which had been stolen.

PAPER RACK VANISHES

• The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reported this morning a deputy was called about the theft of a newspaper dispenser from a gas station on the 2900 block of U.S. Highway 12 in Silver Creek. It is believed to have been taken sometime between Sunday and Monday and is valued at $600, according to the sheriff’s office.

ANGRY GRANDMA INVESTIGATED

• Police were called to Chehalis Middle School about 3:40 p.m. yesterday when a staff member said they witnessed a grandmother pull her granddaughter by the hair and slap her repeatedly. An officer requested security video footage and is following up, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

DRUGS, DRUGS AND MORE DRUGS

• A 20-year-old Centralia woman arrested yesterday for a garage burglary that occurred in Centralia last year was found with a variety of suspected drugs including heroin, methamphetamine and pills, according to police. An officer spotted Chelsea R. Hensley walking along the 1500 block of North Pearl Street about 3 p.m. and took her into custody, according to the Centralia Police Department. She was booked into the Lewis County Jail.