Lewis County Sirens.com

CENTRALIA GIRL FLEES WHEN SHE FINDS INTRUDER INSIDE HER HOME

• Police responded to a residence in north Centralia yesterday evening after a 12-year-old discovered a strange man inside her home. The girl said she came inside from playing with her dog, went to use the phone in the kitchen and heard a man’s voice talking on the phone in her parent’s bedroom, according to Centralia Officer Wayne Compton. She then saw him in the living room and he said something to the effect of “come here,” Compton said. The 12-year-old fled out the back door and ran first to a friend’s house, but the friend wasn’t home so she ended up at a store on North Pearl Street where the owner called 911 at about 6:35 p.m., according to police. There was no indication he tried to hurt her, Compton said. A police dog was summoned and attempted to track the intruder in the area of the 100 block of Cindy Road but was unsuccessful, according to the Centralia Police Department. He was described to officers as in his 30s, wearing a blue button up shirt and possibly Asian.

BUSTED

• More than a dozen young people were arrested when deputies broke up a Saturday night party on the 100 block of Troutman Drive in Winlock. Officers arriving about 12:40 a.m. found numerous juveniles sitting around a bonfire outside a large shop building, some drinking beer, some vomiting, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Inside was a large pyramid built with full cans of beer, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said. With the help of officers from Winlock and Morton, the youngsters ages 15 to 20 were rounded up, cited for MIP and either released to parents or taken home, according to Brown. At least one teen was disorderly, throwing items around and was taken to the Lewis County Juvenile Detention Center, Brown said. One 21-year-old is facing a potential charge of furnishing alcohol to minors, Brown said. A 17-year-old boy who lived there said his parents were out of town, Brown said.

SMASH AND GRAB IN CHEHALIS

• Someone broke into a business on the 1000 block of State Avenue in Chehalis about 2 o’clock this morning, making off with a cash box containing about $300. Police responding to an alarm at Outback Nail and Staple found the glass on the front door shattered and a large amount of tools near the door, according to Officer Linda Bailey. A witness had seen an older pickup truck with a loud exhaust in the area, Bailey said.

1,000 POUNDS OF SCRAP METAL STOLEN

• A 64-year-old man discovered his stockpile of about 1,000 pounds of copper pipe and other scrap metal missing from the 300 block of Little Hanaford Road outside Centralia on Saturday, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The victim told a deputy he had been accumulating it for about 30 years and took a piece of copper pipe to a Centralia recycling center to get a price, according to the sheriff’s office. He was going to use the money to build a fence, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said. He was told they had recently purchased the same type of metal from someone else, and when he went home to check, found his metal was missing, according to Brown. The sheriff’s office is continuing to investigate, Brown said.

BREAK-IN AT CENTRALIA RESIDENCE

• The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reported this morning that sometime between 5 a.m. and 4 p.m. last Thursday, someone broke into a residence on the 600 block of Roswell Road near Centralia. A window was broken but nothing appeared to be missing, according to the sheriff’s office.

STOLEN VEHICLE FOUND ON BLOCKS

• A Winlock man called the sheriff’s office yesterday when his stolen truck turned up on property near the 100 block of Sandy Lane in Centralia. A property owner contacted the victim after discovering the vehicle on blocks at the end of an old logging road, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The Winlock man had already been reimbursed by his insurer, so the truck was towed, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said.

DRUGS

• A 48-year-old Randle man was arrested for possession of methamphetamine and a warrant for driving with a suspended license after he was observed driving with no tail lights in the area of Kiona Road and U.S. Highway 12 about 9:40 p.m. on Friday, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Jon C. Knowles was booked into the Lewis County Jail, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said.

WRECK

• A 22-year-old Winlock woman possibly broke her hand when she rolled her vehicle on Saturday morning on the 200 block of Brim Road near Ethel, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The 2005 Kia Rio hydroplaned before it left the road, according to the sheriff’s office. It was described as totaled.

UP IN SMOKE

• Two men lost pretty much everything they owned in two separate vehicle fires over the weekend. A 53-year-old homeless man watched his belongings go up in smoke when his pickup truck caught fire overnight on Interstate 5 in Chehalis. And yesterday morning, an Alaska resident relocating to Arizona pulled over on southbound Interstate 5 near milepost 68 south of Chehalis when his travel trailer burst into flames.

The Chehalis Fire Department was called about 2:40 a.m. today to the parking lot at Denny’s restaurant off 13th Street where a canopied 1977 Ford 250 was burning. The driver had pulled into the middle of the lot and bystanders were trying to put it out with buckets of water and fire extinguisher’s Fire Capt. Casey Beck said. Firefighters saved several boxes of his belongings from the back of the truck, but they will never be the same, Beck said, noting smoke damage. Beck didn’t know where the driver was from, but said some of his friends arrived to help him out. He thought something might have gone wrong with the carburetor.

Yesterday just before 11 a.m., a man and his dog escaped injury when their trailer caught fire on the freeway. The trailer was fully engulfed in flames when the fire department arrived, according to Lewis County Fire District 5. A passerby from Napavine had stopped and helped get the dog out of the man’s SUV and tried to put the fire out, Lt. Laura Hanson said. It’s drivable, but the trailer and most of its contents were a complete loss, according to Hanson. Because he was moving to Arizona, the man’s savings – a significant amount of money – was tucked away inside the wreckage, but responders were able to retrieve it. “It was unharmed, pretty amazing,” Hanson said.

The Napavine man, Antonio Martinez, stayed with the victim, assisting him in salvaging what they could, according to Hanson. Hours later, firefighters were called back to the scene when the driver fell from the trailer injuring his arm. He was taken to Providence Centralia Hospital. Hanson said she did not know where the man would be staying.

Southbound Interstate 5 near milepost 68 / Courtesy photo by Kristal Tardiff

HIGH SPEED CHASE ENDS WITH WRECK AT HARRISON, I-5

• A 33-year-old Chehalis man was arrested last night after a police pursuit in Centralia in which he allegedly rammed a police car and subsequently struck at least one passenger vehicle when fleeing the scene. Just before 9 p.m., officers responded to a theft at the 1200 block of Harrison Avenue and found the suspect driving a white Jeep farther north, near Foron Road, according to the Centralia Police Department. The driver, later identified as Edison C. Church, turned around in a long driveway and reportedly rammed a police car before speeding back towards Interstate 5 on Harrison Avenue, police reported. Centralia police say he collided with several vehicles when he attempted to get on the freeway’s northbound ramp and then hopped out and fled on foot. He was quickly taken into custody, according to police. Riverside Fire Authority said it responded to a two-vehicle collision in which neither occupant wanted to go the hospital. Church was booked into the Lewis County Jail for to counts of assault and felony eluding, according to police.

NIGHT FIGHT

• Two individuals were arrested after a fight downtown Centralia around 2 o’clock this morning in which they slammed into a storefront window breaking it. It happened at the 300 block of North Tower Avenue, according to police. Desirae M. Lafferty, 33, and Larae H. Young, 30, both of Centralia were cited for fighting in public and malicious mischief and then released, according to the Centralia Police Department.

NOT A DUI

• A 69-year-old Centralia man who was intoxicated used a “designated driver” but was arrested for reckless endangerment when his driver – a mentally disabled person – caused a wreck, according to the Centralia Police Department. There were no injuries in the Friday night incident at the 1300 block of Harrison Avenue, according to police. The 36-year-old unnamed driver apparently lost control of the vehicle, hitting a fence and damaging a vehicle parked on the other side of the fence, according to police. Ronald W. Justice was cited and then released, according to police.

VANDALISM

• Police were called about 1:30 a.m. today to the 800 block of South Gold Street in Centralia where the back window of a canopy on a truck was broken. The victim saw a white truck fleeing the area, according to the Centralia Police Department.

SHERIFF: UNAUTHORIZED LOGGING FOILED

• A 32-year-old woman was arrested last night after employees of timber company found a pickup truck loaded with eight freshly cut logs on their property at the end of Hemenway Road in Winlock. A deputy was told the truck traveled around a locked gate onto  Port Blakely property and got stuck, according to the Lewis County Sheriff”s Office. Stacey L. McCarty, of Winlock, was booked into the Lewis County Jail for second-degree theft and second-degree burglary, detective Sgt. Dusty Breen said.  Deputies are looking for a 33-year-old Winlock man who they were told was with McCarty cutting the trees, Breen said. The 18-inch diameter pieces are valued at about $4,000, he said.

MEDS MISSING

• A deputy took a report yesterday of a burglary between 10 p.m. and midnight the night before at the 900 block of Koontz Road south of Chehalis. Missing was a quantity of oxycodone and hydrocodone, according to the Lewis County Sheriff”s Office. The loss is $30. There did not appear to be any forced entry into the home, according to detective Sgt. Dusty Breen.

TOOLS TAKEN

• A Stihl chainsaw, two cordless drills and their accessories were reported stolen yesterday from a shop building on the 2100 block of Young Road near Mossyrock. The theft occurred sometime between June 4 and yesterday, according to the Lewis County Sheriff”s Office.

SHED PROWLER

• Police called to the 1100 block of Crosby Avenue in Centralia about 2:20 p.m. yesterday arrested an 18-year-old for allegedly breaking into his father’s shed and trying to take items that did not belong to him. Alex M. Folden was booked into the Lewis County Jail for second-degree burglary, according to the Centralia Police Department.

RAINING FIRECRACKERS

• Chehalis police were called about 8:40 p.m. yesterday to a complaint at the 300 block of Northwest Chehalis Avenue that someone was throwing firecrackers from an apartment window down to where children were walking. A warning was given.

DRUGS

• A 27-year-old Centralia was arrested yesterday afternoon for possession of heroin in connection with a contact with Chehalis police in February at K-Mart in which suspected drugs were taken from her. Breann N. Woodring was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Chehalis Police Department.