Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

November 23rd, 2010

OFFICER ASSAULTED IN MORTON, PROSECUTORS SAY

• A woman was charged yesterday with assaulting a law enforcement officer following an incident that happened as she was being escorted from a Morton bar over the weekend. Melissa L. McLean was arrested and booked early Sunday morning after she she did some kind of “maneuver”  where she tangled her legs up with a deputy’s legs and they both went to the ground, according to the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office. McLean was charged with third-degree assault yesterday afternoon in Lewis County Superior Court. She was released by early evening on a $5,000 unsecured appearance bond pending further proceedings.

DRUG ARRESTS

• A man arrested by a trooper over the weekend was charged yesterday in Lewis County Superior Court with possession of heroin. Steven F. McKay was released from the Lewis County Jail yesterday afternoon pending further proceedings.

• A Thurston County man arrested by a trooper over the weekend was charged with possession of heroin, driving under the influence of drugs and third-degree driving while license suspended yesterday in Lewis County Superior Court. Martin J. Ferrell was released from the Lewis County Jail yesterday afternoon pending further proceedings.

• Jacob E. Hanson of Chehalis, was charged yesterday in Lewis County Superior Court with felony possession of marijuana after his arrest by Centralia police over the weekend. Hanson was booked Sunday into the Lewis County Jail where he remains on other lesser issues.

CHIMNEY FIRE CALL

• Riverside Fire Authority responded to a chimney fire yesterday evening on Hayward Avenue in Centralia. Fire Capt. Tim Adolphsen said there was no damage.

SIX PUPPIES STOLEN IN CENTRALIA

• Centralia police took a report yesterday morning that somebody stole six puppies from the 100 block of Virginia Drive. The dogs were described as mixed Chihuahua and “mini Pin”. A summary of the incident did not note the age of the animals or if it was an entire litter that went missing.

SEMI VERSUS VAN

• The Washington State Patrol reported the early morning accident near the Labree Road interchange on I-5 totaled the 1994 Dodge van which rolled after it was hit in the rear by a semi-truck. The van’s driver, David W. Wheeler, 34, of Olympia, was taken to Providence Centralia Hospital with arm and shoulder pain, according to the state patrol. The truck driver, from Harrisburg, Ore., was not injured but his 2008 Peterbilt sustained an estimated $6,000 damage and was towed, the investigating trooper reported.

FOURTH FELONY CASE FOR MAN GROWS OUT OF JAIL FURLOUGH

• A judge ordered $100,000 bail for an inmate who allegedly assaulted his cousin with a golf club while he was on a furlough from the Lewis County Jail. Gary Allen Lohr, 64, was charged with second-degree assault yesterday for the incident that was reported in Centralia last Friday. Senior Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher said the victim lost a tooth. Meagher described Lohr as a former worker at Maple Lane School in Grand Mound who has three pending felony drug cases in Lewis County Superior Court. Lohr was charged with second-degree assault.

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More freezing: Snow, ice, wind brings lots of spinouts, some power outages

November 23rd, 2010

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The sun may be shining right now and yesterday’s snow and chill might seem like a bad memory, but it’s not expected to get any better right away around Lewis County.

“We’re looking at cold, cold temperatures for the next two days,” a weather forecaster said this morning about the near term.

Freezing weather and wind last night on top of yesterday’s snowfall kept emergency responders busy, although no serious incidents were reported.

National Weather Service Meteorologist Dennis D’Amico acknowledged Monday was not pretty.

“We had that system come through yesterday that brought quite a bit of snow and Lewis County certainly was one of the hardest hit areas,” D’Amico said. “Not only snow, but colder temperatures than we were expecting.”

Today’s highs won’t be more than the mid to upper 20s and we might break some record lows, he said. The forecast tonight in Chehalis is for 12 degrees, he said.

Tomorrow, the area could see highs around freezing and then drop again down to about 20 degrees, according to D’Amico.

State highway workers didn’t face any significant problems in Lewis County yesterday, other than trees and power lines down across state Route 508 near Bear Canyon Road and a traffic backup on northbound Interstate 5 near Centralia about 8 p.m. because of a semi-truck and cars sliding off the road near the Thurston-Lewis county line, according to a DOT spokesperson.

“Actually we fared much better than the South Sound and Puget Sound area,” DOT spokesperson Heidi Sause said. “The main challenge was the snow on I-5, state Route 505 and state Route 6 yesterday morning, but it did get slick there last night.”

One firefighter described the many collision calls as people in their cars just bumping into each other.

The Napavine area saw several minor spinouts beginning about 9 p.m., according to Lewis County Fire District 5 Firefighter Brad Bozarth.

Crews were called to Rush and Somerville roads where he estimated 10 cars were involved and then to a smaller multiple vehicle collision on Sommerville near Highway 603, Bozarth said.

“It was almost as if the whole county froze at once and we all got busy,” rural Chehalis Firefighter-paramedic Jason Shepherd said.

Sheriff’s deputies parked their regular patrol cars and paired up in four-wheel drives last night. Only two collisions drew troopers around the county, according to a Washington State Patrol spokesperson.

Chehalis Firefighter Kevin Reynolds said they responded to two minor injury pileups at the same time yesterday evening. One on state Route 6 close to town and the other on the northbound off ramp at Mellen Street in Centralia.

In Centralia, firefighters were called to three accidents, all minor, including one at South Gold at Chestnut street where one car bumped into another coming the other way, according to Riverside Fire Authority Capt. Tim Adolphsen.

Chehalis-based Grants Towing said its three drivers were out most of the night.

In South Thurston County, the Tenino-area fire department was kept out about four hours yesterday morning at  scene where roughly a quarter mile of power lines came down on 184th Street Southwest near Crowder Road.

Pockets of customers from Pe Ell to Packwood lost power with an estimated 4,000 in the dark at the height of their busyness last night, said Jim Day of Lewis County PUD.

“About 3:30 in the afternoon, everything broke loose,” Day said, keeping some 30 field workers out until about 3 o’clock this morning.

The snow loading up on trees sent limbs onto power lines and some entire trees fell, according to Day. A small number of outages came from connectors switching off from high use, he said.

Bonneville Power lost its service affecting customers in Onalaska, Salkum and Ethel, and PUD had to reroute the connection.

In Randle: “There were some areas on Cline Road we’d get the power on, and another tree would fall and knock it out,” Morton PUD Manager Steve Young said.

Randle-area Fire Chief Jeff Jaques said he woke up to about nine inches of snow on the ground and a temperature of 17 degrees.

The emergency calls started back up this morning, according to area fire departments.

Rochester area firefighters were called this morning to a vehicle into the guard rail on southbound Interstate 5 near the Grand Mound interchange.

Around 5 a.m., a northbound vehicle rolled off Interstate 5 and down a hill near Harrison Avenue in Centralia. Firefighters had to use extrication tools to free the driver, who was taken to the hospital with a bump on his head, according to Riverside Fire Authority Firefighter Paul Bouchard.

About an hour later, in the southbound lanes near Labree Road, a semi-truck tapped a van and the van rolled over and into some water, according to Lewis County Fire District 6 Firefighter-paramedic Shepherd.

The driver was able to self-extricate, Shepherd said.

•••

Check the National Weather Service’s Forecast Office here for the forecast in your area

Note: a link for the weather forecast website can also always be found on the right-hand sidebar of Lewis County Sirens’ homepage. It’s labeled “Weather forecasts”

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Onalaska shooting: Charges upped from manslaughter to first-degree murder

November 22nd, 2010

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Charges have been increased to first-degree murder for the man who opened fire on two suspected burglars at his Onalaska house last April killing one of them.

2010.1012.mug.ronald.brady_2

Ronald A. Brady

Ronald A. Brady, 60, was initially charged with first-degree manslaughter for the death of Thomas McKenzie, 56, of Morton and first-degree assault of McKenzie’s estranged wife Joanna McKenzie, but an amended information has been filed in Lewis County Superior Court.

“Just based on the facts of the case,” Deputy Prosecutor Colin Hayes said today of the thinking behind the change.

According to charging documents, Brady admitted shooting at the pair outside his house he was renovating on the 2100 block of state Route 508, describing to deputies opening his garage door and finding two flashlights shined in his face.

He told sheriff’s detectives he was staying overnight at the unoccupied house in case burglars from earlier in the day returned. Brady resides in a nearby rental home.

Elected Lewis County Prosecutor Michael Golden wasn’t in today, but Senior Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher described the reason for the the upgraded charge this way:

“This guy laid in wait, based on what the deputies said, he throws the garage door open and, bam,” Meagher said.

The change brings to six the number of homicides this year in Lewis County which have brought first-degree murder charges. No one has been charged in a seventh homicide that occurred earlier this year.

While McKenzie’s death occurred April 19, Brady was not charged until almost the end of September.

Sheriff Steve Mansfield, after his office’s investigation was finished in mid-July, announced he concluded Brady’s use of deadly force was justified and that he would not arrest the homeowner. The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office, however, passed the case on to the prosecutor for his review.

Brady remains free on a $50,000 unsecured appearance bond.

First-degree murder is a class A felony with a possible penalty of life in prison and a $50,000 fine. Its elements include intent and premeditation.

The amended charge was filed last Thursday.

Brady, a retired bachelor who used to work as an electrical engineer at The Boeing Co. according to his landlord, is represented by Centralia defense attorney Don Blair.

He’s been renting from neighbors Jack and Sharon Tipping for about 15 years, following a fire at his nearby state Route 508 house.

A trial date was set for the week of Jan. 10. It is expected to last five days.

Brady’s defense is general denial and self defense, according to documents filed in his case.

Thomas McKenzie died from a gunshot wound to his chest and leaves behind nine children and other family members.

Joanna McKenzie, 32, escaped the gunfire on April 19 without injury, but she was charged with and made a so-called Alford plea to attempted burglary, not admitting guilt.

As a first-time offender, she was sentenced last month to 15 days in Lewis County Jail.

However, she was jailed last night after police say they found methamphetamine and stolen property from a shoplifting spree during a traffic stop in Centralia.

She hasn’t yet served her 15 days, according to Deputy Prosecutor Kjell Warner. She was charged today with possession of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia.

Joanna McKenzie’s bail was set at $20,000 today.
•••

Other homicides in Lewis County in 2010

• Morton teenager: Austin King, 16, of Morton, was found on a logging dead with a cracked skull on July 20 a month after he disappeared from his home. An acquaintance, Jack Arnold Silverthorne, 20, of Renton, was charged Nov. 10 with first-degree murder.

• Frost Road Trailer Park: Jackie Marie Lawyer, 64, of Winlock, was fatally shot the morning of Nov. 4 in the Frost Road Trailer Park where she lived. A neighbor Richard Joseph Frank Roth, 65, was arrested the same day and charged Nov. 5 with first-degree murder.

• Salkum-Onalaska triple slaying: David J. West Sr. 52, his son David J. West Jr., 16, and Tony E. Williams, 50, of Randle, were fatally shot at the West’s home on Aug. 21. Two men are charged in the case, that included a fourth gunshot victim who survived. John Allen Booth Jr., 31, Onalaska, was charged Aug 23 with three counts of first-degree murder but the charges were upgraded on Oct. 1 to aggravated first-degree murder for the deaths of the younger West and Williams. Ryan McCarthy, 29 of Redmond, was charged Sept 3 with three counts of first-degree felony murder.

• Randle homicide: Guy LaFontaine, 58, of Federal Way, died from injuries following an assault the evening of March 13 at the 11,000 block of U.S. Highway 12 in Randle. A relative was initially arrested and booked for second-degree murder, but was released and no charges have been filed.
•••

Read previous story on Ronald Brady for more details of what prosecutor’s believe occurred:

• “Onalaska man charged in April’s fatal shooting of suspected burglar” from Sept. 24, 2010 here

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Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

November 22nd, 2010

FELONY HARASSMENT

• A 32-year-old Toledo man was arrested after he reportedly jumped onto his ex-girlfriend’s vehicle, pounded on it with his fists and made threats of violence and bodily harm yesterday. A deputy called about 11:20 a.m. to the 400 block of Collins Road was told Martin J. Cossin Jr. had pulled in front of the vehicle and slammed on his brakes before attacking her vehicle, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Cossin was booked into the Lewis County Jail for felony harassment, domestic violence, according to Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown.

FELONY ASSAULT

• Centralia police took a report of a second-degree assault from the 2300 block of Sirkka Avenue at about noon on Friday. Police reported an individual lost two teeth and a cousin was being sought.

DRUGS AT MIDDLE SCHOOL

• Police were called to Chehalis Middle School about noon on Friday and arrested three students for possession of marijuana. Further details were not available this morning.

THEFTS

• Chehalis police were called to the community development building on the 1300 block of South Market Boulevard on Friday morning where money was missing from an unlocked safe. The amount was not disclosed.

• Centralia police took a report yesterday evening from the 300 block of North Oak Street where somebody entered through an unlocked door and took a jewelry case.

• Deputies called about 7 a.m. Sunday morning to a vacant home on the 800 block of Coal Creek Road in Chehalis about a suspicious vehicle located two individuals and arrested one of them, Nicole M. Thor, 23, of Fife, for a warrant. After a toolbox was discovered missing from the nearby barn deputies decided to refer for arrest for second-degree burglary Thor and her companion, Byron K. Sedrick, 31, of Centralia, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

• Deputies are looking for a an approximately 6-foot tall male who was seen running from the side door of a home in Packwood on Friday afternoon. A door jamb and window were broken. The victim, on the 100 block of Tatoosh Trail Road, said his son saw the man after getting off the school bus around 3:15 p.m. and subsequently, three checkbooks, a $20 bill and $6 in quarters were discovered missing, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The subject was wearing a green hoodie sweatshirt along with blue and white shorts.

• Chehalis police were called Saturday night and told somebody removed the lug nuts from the tire of a Jeep and they believed it occurred at the movie theater at the Lewis County Mall.

• Chehalis police were called to Safeway on South Market Boulevard on Friday afternoon to a report somebody stole a woman’s purse from her cart while she was loading groceries into her car.

• Approximately $80 of fuel was siphoned from a vehicle on the 200 block of West Oakview Avenue in Centralia, according to a report made to police on Thursday.

VANDALISM

• Somebody broke two vehicle’s windows out during the night at the 300 block of North Gold Street, according to a report made to Centralia police just before midnight on Saturday.

• Somebody broke the window out of a parked vehicle on East Main and Diamond streets, according to a report made to Centralia police about 4:35 p.m. on Friday.

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News brief: Roads are icy, more snow is expected today

November 22nd, 2010

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Northbound Interstate 5 near Maytown was the scene of three different two-vehicle accidents due to ice beginning about 3:30 this morning.

There were no injuries, according to Battalion Chief Jacob Yake of West Thurston Regional Fire Authority.

A winter storm warning issued this morning predicts heavy snow today affecting areas around Chehalis and Olympia and continuing into the evening.

Accumulations of 2 inches to 5 inches are expected, according to the National Weather Service.

The weather service expects:

Northerly winds of 15 to 25 mph will develop tonight in the Southwest Interior bringing overnight temperatures down into the mid-teens.

Today’s high in Chehalis is expected to reach only 32 degrees.

In Morton, the high is forecast at 26 degrees.

Seven to 12 inches of new snow are expected in the Morton area, with the higher amounts over the the Central Cascade Mountains.

Washington State Patrol Sgt. Jason Ashley said this morning while there is snow and ice on the roads in East Lewis County, motorist have been driving carefully and slowly and as of 9:30 a.m. troopers had encountered no problems.
•••

Read the winter storm warning here

Check the National Weather Service’s Forecast Office here for the forecast in your area

Note: a link for the weather forecast website can also always be found on the right-hand sidebar of Lewis County Sirens’ homepage. It’s labeled “Weather forecasts”

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News brief: Joanna McKenzie arrested for drugs in Centralia

November 22nd, 2010

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Joanna D. McKenzie was jailed overnight after police say they found methamphetamine and stolen property from a shoplifting spree during a traffic stop in Centralia last night.

The 32-year-old Morton woman was sentenced last month for attempted burglary in connection with the night in April when an Onalaska property owner opened fire on her and her husband after he discovered them outside his house.

McKenzie escaped uninjured but her husband Thomas McKenzie, 56, was fatally shot.

Police contacted Joanna McKenzie and Patricia R. Smathers, 33, also of Morton, about 11:20 p.m. last night on the 1000 block of Harrison Avenue, according to the Centralia Police Department.

The woman were allegedly in possession of stolen property from the Olympia area and drugs. They were arrested for possession of methamphetamine and booked into the Lewis County Jail about 2 a.m. today.

Centralia police are continuing to investigate and will be working with other agencies to return the stolen goods, police reported this morning.

A trial date is set for early next year for Ronald A. Brady, the Onalaska man charged in the death of Thomas McKenzie and assault of Joanna McKenzie.
•••

Read recent story about Ronald Brady here
Read  recent story about Joanna McKenzie here

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Read about ex-DOT worker gets jail time for theft …

November 22nd, 2010

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

The (Tacoma) News Tribune reports a Tenino woman has been sentenced after pleading guilty to stealing more than $74,000 in unearned income from her job with the state Department of Transportation.

Rachel Taylor was a secretary at a WSDOT Pierce County construction office and one of her responsibilities was entering the office’s time sheets into the timekeeping system, according to the Washington State Department of Transportation.

Read news reporter Stacey Mulick’s story here

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