Lewis County Sirens.com

BRANDISHING A FIREARM

• Police arrested a Centralia resident yesterday for pointing a gun at 36-year-old man who who came to his door. Officers were called about 6:30 p.m. about the incident that reportedly occurred at the 1500 block of Lewis Street. Officer John Panco said Christopher L. Spencer, 34, and his wife were home when the man showed up to tell him some information that Spencer didn’t like hearing. Spencer reportedly retrieved a handgun, pointed it at the visitor and told him to leave, according to Panco. Spencer was arrested and booked into the Lewis County Jail for unlawful display of a firearm. Panco didn’t reveal what the information was, suggesting it was personal. Spencer’s actions didn’t rise as it sometimes would to level of assault for pointing the gun because the victim told police the behavior didn’t leave him fearing he was in serious danger, Panco said.

THEFT

• For the fourth time in the recent past, Lewis County PUD reported yesterday someone stole copper ground wire from multiple utility poles, leaving the public at risk for getting electrocuted. A deputy was called to state Route 7 in Morton to the latest report, where some 70 feet of wire had been taken from power poles, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. That apparently occurred in May and cost PUD about $2,500, according to the sheriff’s office. On Friday, a deputy took a report that someone had taken stole six-foot lengths of copper ground wire from 21 utility poles along Lincoln Creek Road outside Centralia. PUD Superintendent Greg Hart said today it’s happened four times around the county lately and a missing ground wire leaves the risk for someone getting electrocuted. Not to mention the person cutting the wire, Hart said. He recently learned there were 29 fatalities last year around the country connected with such attempts, he said.

WANTED MAN FOUND IN CENTRALIA

• Centralia police arrested Ricardo Martinez-Hernandez about 1 p.m. yesterday at the 300 block of East Magnolia Street for  second-degree assault in connection with an incident the day before in which he allegedly hit his wife with an aluminum chair and punched her in the face. The 25-year-old man was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department.

COLLISION WITH AMBULANCE

• Centralia police were summoned about 10:45 a.m. yesterday to East Summa and South Gold streets where a vehicle bumped into the back of an ambulance. No injuries were reported, according to the Centralia Police Department.

FRAUD

• A 91-year-old Lewis County woman was tricked into handing over $1,400 purported to be a fee she needed to pay to collect millions of dollars she won in a lottery, the sheriff’s office revealed on Monday. The sheriff’s office reports she is one of at least three recent victims – in Toledo, Winlock and Vader – of a scam that has targeted older residents locally. Detectives have found victims are contacted by phone and told they won a “huge lottery” but need to wire money or mail a money order for the “winning fee”, according to a news release from the sheriff’s office. The sheriff’s office thinks the scammers are working out of Jamaica, the news release notes. Further details about the crimes or when they occurred was not released. Sheriff Steve Mansfield stated in the news release that real lotteries don’t ask for money in order to pay out winnings and anyone who is unsure if they are dealing with a legitimate organization can call the sheriff’s office.

OOPS

• Centralia police say a 19-year-old driving without his headlights turned on, on the wrong side of the road, toward a patrol car overnight was arrested for driving under the influence. Joshua J. Lemhouse, of Vader, pulled to to the correct side of Harrison Avenue once he saw the officer, but was then booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department.

TOLEDO MAN FOUND BY K-9 AFTER FLEEING TRAFFIC STOP

• The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office said this morning that their K-9 Leko tracked down a man overnight who had fled a traffic stop by the Washington State Patrol. Leko and his handler were requested just after 10 p.m. to the area near U.S. Highway 12 and Larmon Road in Ethel, according to the sheriff’s office. The driver, Christopher A. Drummheller, 31, of Toledo, was found hiding in some brush nearby, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said.

ASSAULT

• A 48-year-old Morton man was arrested last night after deputies were told he hit his 24-year-old girlfriend in the head with a stick and choked her. A deputy who responded about 7:30 p.m. to a 911 hang up call from the 5300 block of state Route 508 was told the assault occurred because she took too long at the store buying him beer, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Colen W. Corey, 48, reportedly also pulled the cord from the telephone when she tried to call for help, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said. He was booked into the Lewis County Jail for second-degree assault, unlawful imprisonment and interfering with domestic violence reporting.

• Centralia police were called about 3:30 p.m. yesterday to the 300 block of East Magnolia Street where a 22-year-old woman had been struck with an aluminum chair and punched in the face. Her nose appeared to be broken, according to Centralia police. Officers are looking for her husband, Ricardo Martinez-Hernandez, seeking to arrest him for second-degree assault, according to the Centralia Police Department.

THEFT

• Somebody broke into a Mossyrock-area store and stole boxes of candy, cans of Monster energy drinks, lighters and matches, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. A deputy called yesterday morning to the 200 block of Ajlune Road was told it occurred sometime between Sunday and Monday, according to the sheriff’s office. Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said there was some evidence left at the scene.

• Coins, jewelry and other items were reported stolen yesterday from a residence on the 600 block of West Seventh Street in Centralia. Police were told it happened during the past month.

• Centralia police were called just before 7 p.m. yesterday to a car prowl at Rotary Riverside Park on the 700 block of Harrison Avenue. Medication was stolen, according to police.

VANDALISM

• Chehalis police were called yesterday to a complaint of “tagging” on a garage on the 600 block of Southwest Cascade Avenue.

FIRES

• Firefighters were called to extinguish a smoldering stump in the Seminary Hill nature area in Centralia about 6 o’clock last night.

• Riverside Fire Authority was called yesterday afternoon to Green Gables Drive on Seminary Hill to a burning truck. Its owner said it was running rough so he popped the hood, went to get a wrench and when he came out it was on fire, according to Capt. Ken Colombo. The cab was fully engulfed in flames and then it was extinguished.

• A shed and its contents were destroyed by a fire on Friday evening at the 3100 block of Harrison Avenue in Centralia, according to Riverside Fire Authority. The cause is undetermined, although it is seemed to have started near the floor, according to Assistant Chief Rick Mack.