Lewis County Sirens.com

Courtesy photo by Richard Butterton

TRIO OF TEEN BOYS BLAMED FOR CENTRALIA VEHICLE VANDALISM RAMPAGE

• Police were called about 7 a.m. today to the 1700 block of Sunset Way in Centralia where four tires were slashed on a vehicle. Officer John Panco says the incident isn’t related to the spree of vandalism in the south end of town from early Thursday as three teenagers were arrested Friday evening for that. Officers spent all day Thursday taking reports of cars with smashed windows and flattened tires. Following up on a tip, police were able to identify three boys who reportedly confessed to the damage to more than 30 vehicles, according to Panco. He didn’t hear what their motive was, Panco said. The suspects tossed large rocks and even something like a cinder block into cars, according to Panco. A damage estimate is not yet available. “It all was sent to detectives, I think they’re going to have to do a little bit of calculating,” he said. The teens, ages 14, 14 and 15 were booked into the Lewis County Juvenile Detention Center for first-degree malicious mischief, according to the Centralia Police Department.

Courtesy photo by Richard Butterton

TAVERN TROUBLES

• Centralia police responded to the 300 block of North Tower Avenue twice overnight, first arresting a 20-year-old Chehalis resident for frequenting a tavern, obstructing and resisting arrest. Edu A. Leal was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department. Just after closing time, a 45-year-old Chehalis man – Rafael M. Pantoja – was arrested for resisting and obstructing, according to police.

HARASSMENT ARREST

• A 25-year-old Centralia man was arrested for felony harassment domestic violence about 7:50 p. m. on Friday after officers responded to the 500 block of West Center Street in Centralia. Martin T. Johnson was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department.

VEHICLE PROWL

• Police were called about 9 a.m. yesterday about a car prowl on the 1100 block of South Pearl Street in Centralia. Taken were an amplifier and a stereo face plate, according to police.

VANDALISM

• Police were called about 7:30 p.m. on Friday to West Reynolds Avenue where someone used a large rock to smash out the window to a vehicle, according to the Centralia Police Department.

GROOM’S MOTHER LEAVES FIRE STATION WEDDING IN TURNOUT GEAR

• The wedding of two volunteer firefighters being held at the Salkum fire station was interrupted yesterday when a wildfire broke out in the midst of 250-acres of timber at a private camping area off Spencer Road. The cake had been cut when the tone went out and the bride and groom stayed behind, but among the five firefighters who responded was the mother of the groom, Lewis County Fire District 8 Chief Duran McDaniel said. About 20 individuals from District 8, Lewis County Fire District 2 and the state Department of Natural Resources extinguished the blaze and contained it to one acre, McDaniel said. It happened in the Timber Trails Association property, along a trail used for riding all terrain vehicles, he said. The cause is under investigation.

VACANT MOBILE HOME BURNS

• A double-wide mobile home was destroyed when fire broke out yesterday morning at the 2200 block of Salsbury Avenue south of Chehalis. Lewis County Fire Districts 6, 5 and the Chehalis Fire Department responding to the approximately 5 a.m. call found flames coming out the roof of the unoccupied home, according to responders. District 6 Fire Chief Tim Kinder stated in a news release it appeared to have begun on the exterior of the roof and spread from there. Firefighters had to pull down most of the ceiling to get at the flames in the insulation, spending more than three hours at the scene, Firefighter-EMT Greg Folewell said. The cause is under investigation.

WEYERHAEUSER LAND BURNING NEAR BOISTFORT

• The wild land fire on Baw Faw Peak in the Boistfort area that began on Friday is still burning and consumed as much as 15 to 20 acres on a very steep, rocky hillside by yesterday, according to Lewis County Fire District 13 Chief Gregg Peterson. The chief went out there yesterday afternoon where firefighters from the state Department of Natural Resources and from Weyerhaeuser were working to put it out. “What they ended up doing was back burning up to the edges,” Gregg Peterson said. The terrain was too dangerous to put people on the hillside, he said. The fire is on land clear cut some time ago, according to Peterson. The cause is unknown, he said.

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CORRECTION: A news item above has been corrected to reflect that Rafael M. Pantoja was released after his arrest and not booked into jail.

TAVERN DISPUTE ERUPTS WITH “BEAR SPRAY”

• A 23-year-old Chehalis man was arrested last night after he allegedly used bear spray inside a Chehalis drinking establishment. It’s like pepper spray, but for use on bears and several people were affected by it, Deputy Police Chief Randy Kaut said. It happened at Garbe’s Tavern on the 300 block of Northwest Chehalis Avenue just before 11:20 p.m. An arriving officer saw a suspect running down the street with people chasing him and arrested him for disorderly conduct, according to police. Kaut said he didn’t know the details of whatever dispute led to the discharge of the chemical. The individuals affected by the spray declined aid, he said. Jeremy D. Barnes was released after getting his citation, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

MACHINERY STRIPPED OF WIRING

• A deputy was called about 7 a.m. yesterday to the 800 block of state Route 507 in Centralia where someone had done about $30,000 damage to heavy equipment by cutting wiring. The 70-year-old man who called 911 said he thought his Ford Ranger was stolen as well, but he found it elsewhere on the property with its steering column broken and a screwdriver jammed in the ignition, according to the  Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

CAR MISSING

• The owner of a white 1993 Mazda MX3 reported yesterday their car was stolen from the 1900 block of South Market Boulevard in Chehalis. It had been loaned to someone and was left in the parking lot at the Chehalis Eagles when that someone was arrested in a drug incident the other day, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

PROWLING OUTSIDE WAL-MART

• Police called to the north end of the Wal-Mart parking lot about 11 p.m. yesterday found two vehicles had been prowled. Someone stole cologne, a GPS device and collectible sports cars from a car and took an electrical cord and the stereo faceplate from a Jeep, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

SLASHING SPREE LEAVES NUMEROUS VICTIMS

• By the time the day ended yesterday, the number of victims of the tire slashing spree in the south end of Centralia grew to more than 30. Centralia officers got their first call about 5:15 a.m. to the 600 block of Hamilton Avenue and continued responding to similar complaints all day long, according to Officer John Panco. The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office, which patrols a portion of the area, were dispatched about 8:30 a.m. for a report of tire slashing and were greeted by eight victims on South Street. Panco said yesterday most likely a pocket knife was used to flatten the tires. Deputies will be reviewing surveillance video to look for clues, but are asking anyone with information to please call Lewis County Crime Stoppers, according to Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown.

SUDDEN SWERVE, CULVERT, LEAD TO CRITICAL INJURIES

• The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reports the Honda that wrecked yesterday morning on the 3000 block of Jackson Highway struck a culvert. The driver was northbound when the car suddenly swerved to the left for unknown reasons, according to the sheriff’s office. Firefighters had to cut the roof off the car to extricate the driver, who was severely injured, responders. said The 33-year-old Centralia woman was taken to Legacy Emanuel Medical Center in Portland, according to the sheriff’s office. Information about her current condition was unavailable. Her passenger, a 26-year-old Centralia man, was transported to Providence Centralia Hospital with a leg injury, and has been released, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said.

Responders cut the roof from a 1997 Honda Accord to get the injured driver out on Jackson Highway.

Updated

SERIOUS INJURY CRASH JACKSON HIGHWAY

• A 33-year-old Centralia woman was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries after a single vehicle collision this morning south of Chehalis. Aid was called about 7:45 a.m. to Jackson Highway at Panorama Drive for a vehicle accident with entrapment, according to Lewis County Fire District 5. The woman who was driving was taken to to Providence Centralia Hospital for transport to a trauma facility in Oregon, Fire Lt. Laura Hanson said in a news release. The male passenger, age unknown, was taken to Providence for with a possible broken leg, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The Honda Accord was northbound when it drifted into the oncoming lane and ran into the ditch, according to the sheriff’s office. The car was totaled

TRAIN VERSUS CAMARO

• Centralia police were called about 6:45 a.m. today after an individual’s car left their driveway without them and shortly after was found struck by a train at North Washington Avenue. They turned on their car, went inside briefly and went back outside when they heard something, Officer John Panco said. Whoever stole the Camaro may have gotten stuck on the tracks and abandoned it there or fled the scene after it was hit, Panco said.

ROCK CRUSHER IDLED

• Someone stole as much as 200 feet of copper wiring from the main unit at a rock crushing business in Centralia, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Employees arriving about 7:30 a.m. yesterday to Dulin Construction on the 3000 block of Foron Road told a deputy they found the door open on the control shack and the lock cut, the sheriff’ office reported. The loss is estimated at $8,000 to $12,000, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said. She is asking anyone with information on the theft to consider calling Lewis County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-748-6422.

SLASHING SPREE

• Centralia police responded to four incidents of slashed tires this morning before 7 a.m. and the calls just kept coming, according to Officer John Panco. Panco had lost track the number, but said they were predominantly in the south end of town and seemed random. “The size of the punctures indicates it was probably a pocket knife,” he said. Some of the victims also found rocks tossed through their vehicle windows, according to Panco.

CAR PROWL

• Someone stole the face plate from a stereo inside a vehicle parked on the 200 block of North Pearl Street in Centralia, according to a report made to police about 4:45 p.m. yesterday.

• Police were called about 2:15 p.m. yesterday to a car prowl on the 1100 block of Harrison Avenue in Centralia. A cell phone was taken, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• Someone stole a woman’s sweatshirt and her WIC checks from her vehicle while it was at the Wal-Mart parking lot between 8:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday, according to a report made to the Chehalis Police Department yesterday.