Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

January 11th, 2011

DEPUTIES FIND WANTED MAN HIDING IN BEDROOM

• Deputies ended up Tazing a man who allegedly punched them as he was being arrested yesterday afternoon in Onalaska. Deputies went to a home on the 100 block of Third Street East about 3:30 p.m. yesterday looking for a person wanted on several outstanding warrants, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. After a 44-year-old woman said he wasn’t there, but allowed them to look around, he was found in an upstairs bedroom, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said this morning. The 21-year-old Salkum man refused to cooperate and began assaulting the deputies, Brown said. His case is being referred for possible charges of third-degree assault and resisting arrest. The woman, Jacqueline L. Benard, was arrested and booked into the Lewis County Jail for obstruction.

MAN PULLS GUN ON PAIR AT PARK

• Chehalis police weren’t able to find anybody after a report on Friday night a man came out of some bushes at Penny Playground, began yelling at a pair of 20-year-old men in a car there and pulled a handgun out of his pants. Chehalis detective Sgt. Rick McNamara said the Chehalis men were making some phone calls when it happened. The man, who headed toward 13th Street, was described as being about 6 feet tall and in his mid-to late 20s, McNamara said.

THIEVES REPEATEDLY TAKING POWER CORDS FROM FREEWAY JOB SITE

• A deputy took a report yesterday of about 450 feet of power cord getting stolen from where it was being used in a work area along Interstate 5 in Centralia. Sometime between Friday and Monday, several lengths of the cord – connected to pumps – went missing, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The supervisor from Tri-State Construction said it has happened several times over the past few months, mostly on weekends. The sheriff’ office is asking anyone with information to contact Lewis County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-748-6422.

CAR PROWL

• A cell phone and a camera were taken from a vehicle on the 1400 block of South Tower Avenue in Centralia, according to a report made to police about 3:30 yesterday afternoon.

VANDALISM

• Police were called around noontime yesterday about a vehicle window smashed out on the 1600 block of South Gold Street in Centralia.

RACING CARS

• Centralia police issued a citation to a driver spotted racing another motorist northbound on Tower Avenue about 9 o’clock last night. Brandon J. Weber, 25, of Centralia, was ticketed, according to the Centralia Police Department. The other car wasn’t found, police reported.

DRUGS

• A 22-year-old Centralia resident was arrested for possession of methamphetamine and an outstanding warrant after contact with a police officer about 10:50 a.m. yesterday on the 1300 block of Lakeshore Drive in Centralia. Spencer R. Barney was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department.

CHEHALIS MAN BOOKED FOR TOUCHING 14-YEAR-OLD

• Chehalis police arrested a 51-year-old Chehalis man on Sunday night following a report he inappropriately touched a 14-year-old girl at a Chehalis church several days earlier. Kurt B. Hartman was booked into the Lewis County Jail for third-degree child molestation, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

CHIMNEY FIRE IN CENTRALIA

• Firefighters spent about an hour last night at a Centralia home putting out a chimney fire. Riverside Fire Authority called about 9:30 p.m. to the Eshom Road residence put water inside the fireplace insert but found it continued to burn higher inside the chimney. They then attacked it from the roof with their “chimney nozzle”, according to Fire Capt. Greg Schwartz.

BAD CIRCUIT BREAKER SPARKED WEDNESDAY ROCHESTER HOUSE FIRE

• A fire on Wednesday that burned part of a Rochester home and destroyed its garage as well as a travel trailer appeared to be caused by an electrical issue in the trailer, according to West Thurston Regional Fire Authority Chief Robert Scott. The chief said the early morning blaze on the 13,000 block of Southwest 188th Avenue was related to a bad circuit breaker. Four people were displaced by the fire that burned the upper part of the single-story house and left substantial smoke damage.

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Shared photos: Unsurvivable ball of fire

January 11th, 2011
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A 1981 Chevrolet pickup and a 1997 Mazda Protege collided in Winlock on Friday night. / Courtesy photo by Jay Eyestone

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

After 19-year-old Jay Eyestone called 911 and watched with two drivers as their wrecked vehicles begin to burn, he ran back into his grandparent’s Winlock home and grabbed a camera.

It was about 11:45 p.m. on Friday night when a pickup truck lost control on state Route 505 near Harkins Road and was struck by an oncoming passenger car.

Troy A. Criscola, 19, of Centralia, and Travis M. Thompson, 26, of Winlock, had both gotten out of their vehicles and were standing on the road by the time Eyestone first got outside.

Eyestone said he loaned his phone to one of the drivers so they could call their family and began shooting photos as the fire roared and the tires on the truck exploded one by one.

Though both the Chevrolet pickup and the Mazda Protege were totaled, Criscola was uninjured and Thompson had only a knee injury and a cut on his hand, according to the Washington State Patrol.

One of the two firefighters arriving from Lewis County Fire District 15 described it as a ball of fire with two vehicles fully involved.

Firefighter Patrick Jacobson said he wasn’t sure what caused the vehicles to ignite, but said it was a “pretty good (bad) wreck.”

After the flames were knocked down, Jacobson scanned the interiors to see if they were occupied. They wouldn’t have survived, Jacobson said.

“When I pulled up, there were flames 30 feet in the air,” he said. “There wasn’t much we could have done to save them, if there were people in the cars.”

A trooper cited Criscola, the pickup’s driver, for going too fast.

Eyestone shared these photographs yesterday after returning to school at George Fox University in Newberg, Ore.

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The pickup and car were both destroyed in Friday night's crash in Winlock. / Courtesy photo by Jay Eyestone

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Former equestrian center developer sentenced for illegally filling wetlands

January 10th, 2011

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

The would-be developer of property near Toledo that many hoped would become home to a $70 million regional equestrian center was sentenced this morning for criminal violations of the Clean Water Act, to include four months of home confinement with electronic monitoring.

Philip A. Smith, 53, of Chehalis, pleaded guilty in September to the federal charges related to clearing 98 acres of wetlands without the required permits.

Smith was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Tacoma also to three years of probation, 100 hours of community service and $20,000 restitution payable to the Environmental Protection Agency for investigative costs, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jim Oesterle said in a written statement Smith undertook the widespread land clearing operation with full knowledge of what was required and deliberately chose to ignore the rules, likely hoping authorities would never discover his violations, or would merely impose limited corrective action and a nominal fine.

Inspectors discovered the activity in October 2007.

“Mr. Smith gambled and lost,” said Tyler Amon, special agent-in-charge for EPA”s criminal investigation division in Seattle said in a news release. “Unfortunately he was destroying valuable forested wetlands in the process.

“We will vigorously peruse and prosecute anyone who unlawfully damages natural resources for personal gain.”

Smith had sought to strike a deal with promoters of what was dubbed the Southwest Regional Equestrian Center and conducted land clearing over a period of two years ending in late 2007 on property he owned off the southeast quadrant of Interstate 5 at the Toledo-Winlock interchange.

He had a permit to log part of the 190 acres he owed, but had no state or federal permit to disturb the wetlands, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Much of the property is covered in wetlands and small streams that drain into Lacamas Creek, which flows into the Cowlitz River and ultimately the Columbia  River. Neither Smith or anyone associated with the project ever applied for the required permits, according to the news release.

He was indicted by a federal grand jury in Seattle for allegedly dumping fill material onto wetlands without a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. He admitted in September when he pleaded guilty, to excavating wetlands and stream channels and redepositing or discharging the materials into waters of the United States, according to the news release.

The equestrian center deal fell through after he was fined by the state Department of Ecology.

Smith was ordered in early 2008 by the Environmental Protection Agency to restore the disturbed wetland, but did not comply, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. A separate civil case has been filed requiring the restoration.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Oesterle noted in the news release that Smith had run afoul of the same laws in 1998 on a different parcel of property.

“Mr. Smith miscalculated the government’s interests in this case,” Oesterle wrote in his sentencing memo. “Rather than simply seek voluntary compliance as was sought in 1998, the government pursued criminal sanctions.”

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Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

January 10th, 2011

UNZIPPING IN ALGEBRA CLASS GETS STUDENTS IN TROUBLE

• A pair of 17-year-old boys found themselves in trouble on Friday after reportedly exposing themselves during an algebra class at Toledo High School. A deputy called to the school on Friday was told by three individuals the boys called out their names and when they looked, they saw the boys private parts out of their pants, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The incident is to be referred to the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office for possible charges of indecent exposure, according to Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown.

MAN JAILED FOLLOWING KNIFE THREAT

• A 40-year-old Winlock man was arrested after allegedly threatening his wife with a kitchen knife, telling her he would kill her or she would have to kill him during a dispute involving his concern she might take his children away, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. A deputy called about 10 p.m. on Friday to the 100 block of Nelson Road outside Winlock arrested Miguel Jorge Sanchez Cisneros. He was booked into the Lewis County Jail for second-degree assault, domestic violence.

HONDA REPORTED STOLEN

• Centralia police were called yesterday about another stolen Honda, this one from the 300 block of North Diamond Street. The green 1995 car went missing sometime between midnight and about 1 p.m., according to police. Its license plate reads 609 TWD.

OTHER STUFF STOLEN

• Centralia police were called Saturday morning to a store on the 1300 block of Lum Road after an arriving employee discovered the front window smashed out and “items” stolen.

• A Still chainsaw was taken from the bed of a truck on the 3000 block of Russell Road in Centralia, according to a report made to police yesterday. It occurred sometime in the night, according to police.

• Police took a report yesterday of a vehicle prowl on the 200 block of West Oakview Avenue in Centralia which reportedly occurred sometime on Friday night.

• Items were stolen from a “front loader” along Beach Road off U.S. Highway 12 near Mossyrock according to a report made Friday to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Batteries, cable and diesel fuel were among the missing items, according to the sheriff’s office.

VANDALISM

• A deputy was called to Onalaska Saturday to a report somebody slashed four ties on a vehicle and “keyed” both sides and its hood. It happened at the 300 block of Second Avenue West, leaving an estimated $1,400 damage, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

• Four tires were slashed on a vehicle on the 100 block of North Iron Street, according to a report made to Centralia police on Saturday afternoon.

DRUGS

• Centralia police arrested a 24-year-old man about 8 p.m. on Saturday at the Shell station on the 1000 block of Ellsbury Street for possession of methamphetamine. Matthew L. Emery, of Centralia, was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department.

ICY ROAD CRASH

• The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reported this morning that two vehicles were totaled in a wreck on Friday night at the 200 block of Twin Oaks Road outside Chehalis related to extremely icy and rainy conditions. A deputy called about 11:45 p.m. to the scene cited one driver for third-degree driving with a suspended license and not having insurance, according to Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown. Neither driver was injured, the sheriff’s office said.

CHICKENS SURVIVE STRUCTURE FIRE

• An outbuilding that was home to several chickens north of Napavine was destroyed by a fire last night, but all the poultry survived, according to Lewis County Fire District 5. Firefighters were called about 5:20 p.m. to the 500 block of Newaukum Valley Road, according to Lt. Laura Hanson. The 12-foot by 24-foot structure contained tools and other type-items, she said. Hanson said she didn’t know exactly how, but she understood the 10 chickens escaped. The cause is under investigation, she said.

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Child alerts family to fire, eight escape burning home

January 9th, 2011
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A fire investigator is looking at a possible electrical issue as a cause to last night's blaze on Harms Road. / Courtesy photo by Ted McCarty

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

A 4-year-old boy is being credited with alerting family members to a fire last night in the Ethel area that destroyed the upper level of a home.

Eight people were in the house on the 100 block of Harms Road and Kurt Mullins had just put his two little grandchildren, ages 4 and 5, to bed upstairs, Fire Investigator Ted McCarty said this morning.

“Shortly after, the kids yelled they could smell smoke in the bedroom,” McCarty said. “He went in, found fire in a storage space, and at that point he gathered up the kids, and a couple older kids and they all got outside,” McCarty said.

Lewis County Fire District 8 Assistant Chief Don Taylor today called Byron Wilson “our local hero”. Taylor didn’t have the name of the other child.

A smoke alarm also went off and everyone escaped unhurt, Taylor said.

McCarty described the occupants as Mullins. his wife, three children and three grandchildren.

The 9 p.m. call to Lewis County Fire District 8 drew some 35 firefighters from four districts.

McCarty called it a stubborn fire.

When the second crew to enter the 1920s wood-frame house attempted to get upstairs, the stairwell was too hot and there was fire overhead so they had be pulled out, responders said.

Taylor, the incident commander, said they sprayed about 25,000 gallons of water on the fire.

The upper story was burned off and parts of it it collapsed down into the first floor.

McCarty said it appeared to start in the storage area under the roof’s eves and he’s looking at an electrical issue for the cause, but has nothing concrete yet.

The house is insured, he said. The Red Cross was contacted to assist the residents.

Taylor said it was knocked down by 3 a.m. and the last firefighters didn’t depart until about 6:30 this morning.

It’s been a record-breaking year for the Salkum area fire district as far as structure fires, Taylor said.

Last month, a Christmas Day fire chased six people out of a burning mobile home on Maple Crest Drive, and the month before, firefighters spent Thanksgiving night extinguishing a blaze at Misty Morning Dairy.

“Five, maybe six, would be a busy year,” Taylor said. “This past year, I think we’ve had somewhere in the neighborhood of 15.”

The assistant fire chief didn’t have a good idea of why so many fires, but he is concerned it won’t slow down anytime soon.

“We had that earthquake and it’s guaranteed it damaged several fireplaces or chimneys” he said. “And I don’t know if people realize this.”

As winter continues and folks use their fireplaces more, the creosote can be expected to keep building up, he said, and damaged masonry is vulnerable.

While he isn’t pointing to that as a cause of the Harms Road blaze, Taylor said the bricks in portions of the chimney there were packed with the flammable material.

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Toledo man ordered back to mental hospital

January 9th, 2011
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Rodney Wallace and his mother Darlene Wallace wait for an elevator in the Lewis County Law and Justice Center after his hearing on Thursday.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Toledo resident Rodney Wallace won his freedom from a state mental hospital this summer but found himself back in court last week after the hospital review board found signs he was slipping back into his mental illness.

The farm mechanic was 37 when he was found not guilty by reason of temporary insanity of second-degree assault and felony eluding for a July 2005 incident in which he was accused of trying to run down his father and two deputies with a tractor near the family’s Toledo home. He had a diagnosis of bipolar disorder.

Under state law, the hospital could hold Wallace as long as the maximum time he would have gotten if convicted, which is 10 years, but in August his attorney persuaded a judge Wallace was stabilized and should be allowed to live with his parents, Ralland and Darlene Wallace.

Lewis County Superior Court Judge Nelson Hunt granted Wallace a release with conditions; among the requirements: that he take his medications, refrain from consuming alcohol, and meet regularly with both a community mental health professional and Western State Hospital’s community nurse.

But, Wallace was returned to the hospital in October after a meeting with the hospital’s therapist in which he described talking to his grandparents in heaven, complaining the FBI was following him and that his face was red, literally painted red, according to Senior Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher.

On Thursday, Wallace, his lawyer, his private psychologist, family and friends went before Judge Hunt in an attempt to convince him the hospital was overreacting in claiming he should remain locked up.

Meagher argued for the hospital.

“What the review board concluded was there were signs of decompensation, and that’s one of the conditions of his orders,” Meagher told the judge.

Wallace’s lawyer Zenon Olbertz suggested it was unreasonable to revoke the conditional release, especially since the hospital’s gradual recovery program means a minimum of a 13-month stay.

Olbertz said his client has followed the court’s requirements, taking his medications, seeing his therapists, and “there’s not one sentence in the record, since 2005, that he’ ever been a danger to anybody.”

He downplayed the report of delusional thinking.

“If everybody who has these kinds of thoughts were swept off the street, we wouldn’t have enough places to put them,” Olbertz said.

Hunt said the present situation was “almost predicted” before Wallace was allowed to return to the family farm in August. He revoked Wallace’s conditional release.

“I give a great deal of deference to Western State Hospital,” Hunt said. “I’m unwilling to subject the community to that risk.”

•••

Read “Toledo man released from Western State Hospital” from Thursday Aug. 19, 2010 here

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Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

January 8th, 2011

STRING OF CAR PROWLS

• Centralia police have been getting hammered with car prowls, according to Sgt. Carl Buster. Officers took eight reports of vehicle prowls between 6:30 a.m. yesterday and 6 o’clock this morning. Four occurred on Eureka Avenue, three happened on the 200 block of West Oakview Avenue and one on the 1900 block of Ahlers Avenue. Among the stolen goods were items like CD players, a checkbook, credit cards , loose change, a GPS unit and a winch. Some cars were simply rummaged through and nothing appeared to be missing. Buster strongly advises people to lock their cars and not to entice prowlers by leaving valuables inside, especially where they are visible. Most of the break-ins appeared to have occurred during the night.

• On Thursday morning, an officer was called to the 1500 block of View Avenue where a chain saw and tow straps were missing from a vehicle. And on Wednesday, police took a report of several items missing from a vehicle on the 600 block of F Street.

VEHICLES CATCH FIRE AFTER COLLISION IN WINLOCK

• Two vehicles heading in opposite directions crashed and burned on state Route 505 in Winlock last night. Both were totaled and neither driver was seriously hurt, according to the Washington State Patrol. A trooper was called just before midnight to the scene near Harkins Road about one mile east of town. A 1981 Chevrolet pickup  was southbound when its Centralia driver lost control, his truck rotated and it was struck on its right side by a northbound Mazda Protege, according to the state patrol. The occupants exited the vehicles before they caught fire, the state patrol reported. Travis M. Thompson, 26, of Winlock, sustained an injury to his left knee and hand but declined to go to the hospital, the investigating trooper reported. Troy A. Criscola, 19, of Centralia, was to be cited for going too fast. He was reportedly uninjured.

MOM AND BABY OK AFTER ROLLOVER CRASH

• A 25-year-old woman and a 9-week-old baby were left uninjured after a vehicle rolled outside Centralia overnight coming to rest on its top, according to responders. Riverside Fire Authority was called just after midnight to the wreck on Centralia-Alpha Road near Widgeon Hill Road. Both the driver and infant had been securely buckled in and even though the mini van was upside down, she had gotten herself out and gone to a nearby home for help, according to Fire Capt. Ken Colombo. “It was icy up there,” Colombo said. Medics checked them out and neither needed to be taken to the hospital, he said.

SINGLE-VEHICLE WRECK

• The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reported on Thursday a 1995 Honda Civic was totaled the day before when a 19-year-old driver lost traction on gravel laid down on the road for ice and traveled down a steep embankment. it happened about 1 p.m. on Wednesday on the 1800 block of South Schueber Road.

ANOTHER HONDA STOLEN IN CENTRALIA

• A blue 1991 Honda Honda Accord was reported missing about 5:30 a.m. on Thursday from the 2800 block of Russell Road in Centralia, according to police.

THEFT

• Centralia police took a report yesterday from an individual on the 200 block of Aurora Street about fraudulent activity on the victim’s credit card occurring in Texas.

• Centralia police were called about the theft of money from a hamburger stand Thursday morning on the 2300 block of North Pearl Street.

DRUGS

• A 39-year-old Centralia man was arrested for possession of methamphetamine after contact with an officer on M Street about 3:40 a.m. today. Shawn E. Owre was booked into the Lewis County jail. The case of a 42-year-old woman with him will be referred for possible charges of possession of meth, according to Centralia police.

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