Posts Tagged ‘By Sharyn L. Decker’

Experts share: “Defending your home against wildfire”

Wednesday, July 12th, 2017

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Members of the public concerned about protecting their homes from wildfire can attend a free informational session on the topic.

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The event is hosted by the Fords Prairie Grange #33, located at 2640 Reynolds Road in Centralia and will be held on Monday July 24 at 6:30 p.m.

The program will be presented by Riverside Fire Authority, Chehalis Fire Department and Washington State Department of Natural Resources.

The idea is to assist citizens in learning more about wildfires, according to RFA Chief Mike Kytta.

Expect to hear from fire service personnel about prevention, what to do if it happens and how to get connected to the Lewis County Alert system.

Kytta expects the evening to last one and a half to two hours.

Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Wednesday, July 12th, 2017
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Updated at 3:04 p.m.

SHORT TERM VEHICLE THEFT

• Chehalis police were called at 11:59 p.m. yesterday to take a report that a red Toyota pickup truck had just been been stolen from the 400 block of Southwest 18th Street. A few minutes later another caller to 911 reported a red Toyota hit a utility pole at North Market Boulevard and Boistfort Street, and an officer subsequently made a traffic stop on the suspected stolen vehicle at the 700 block of South Market Boulevard, according to the Chehalis Police Department. It turned out to not be the missing truck, according to police. Shortly after 4:15 a.m., Chehalis police got word that a deputy had located the missing truck near state Route 6 and Scheuber Road, according to police.

GUN CRIMES

• Centralia police say two children shot several windows out of vehicles parked in the area of the 600 block of West Main Street with a pellet gun yesterday. Officers responding about 2:45 p.m. did not take the boys, ages 13 and 9, into custody, but are referring a case to prosecutors for second-degree malicious mischief, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• Deputies were called yesterday to take a report of a firearm stolen from the 200 block of Bellicum Road near Morton. The $2,600 gun and some tools were taken from beneath a collapsed outbuilding sometime since January, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Missing is a nickel-plated .45 caliber Colt Combat Commander 1911, according to the sheriff’s office.

GARAGE CRIME

• Chehalis police were called to the 100 block of Southwest Fourth Street about 11:15 a.m. yesterday following the discovery a garage had been burglarized. Missing was a red and black 4000-watt Generac generator, two five-gallon plastic gas cans and a toolbox containing heavy duty Craftsman sockets, according to the Chehalis Police Department. The loss is estimated at $1,130, according to police.

PETTY THEFT

• Centralia police were called just before 10 o’clock yesterday morning about the front tire being stolen from a child’s bicycle at the 300 block of N Street.

DRUGS

• Two people were arrested about 4:15 a.m. today at the 1400 block of Alexander Street in Centralia. Jessica R. Gladue, 38, of Centralia, was arrested and booked for several outstanding warrants as well as possession of heroin and methamphetamine, according to the Centralia Police Department. James L. Allen, 50, of Winlock, was also arrested for providing false information to a public servant, according to police.

• Chehalis police were called about 1:25 p.m. yesterday to a store at the 1600 block of Northwest Louisiana Avenue where some suspected methamphetamine had been found. It was turned over for destruction, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

AND MORE

• And, as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, obstructing, resisting arrest, probation violation, misdemeanor assault, no contact order violation, driving under the influence, third-degree malicious mischief; responses for alarm, dispute, civil issue, vehicle collision, third-degree theft, suspicious circumstances … and more among 160 calls for local law enforcement and / or fire-emergency medical services in the 24-hour period ending about 7 a.m. today.

News brief: Coroner reveals name, info on man killed near Randle

Tuesday, July 11th, 2017

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The man fatally shot in the woods south of Randle last week died from a gunshot wound to the head, the Lewis County Coroner’s Office said today.

Dusty Phelps, 51, encountered a 63-year-old Glenoma man and his wife in their vehicle in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest on July 4. The man, whose name has not been released, said he fired one round in self defense.

Phelps was camping on Forest Service Road 2801 off Cispus Road and the couple drove into his camp site to contact him about discharging firearms in an unsafe manner, the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office has said.

The sheriff’s office said the Glenoma man called 911 and described what preceded him using his weapon this way:

“(T)he decedent approached the driver side door of their vehicle and produced a firearm, firing multiple shots, to include one round into their interior of the vehicle.”

The sheriff’s office has not revealed what types of guns were involved.

Coroner Warren McLeod has concluded the death is a homicide, but no arrest has been made. The sheriff’s office has said once the investigation is complete, they will forward it to the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office for review.
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For background, read “Randle homicide: Glenoma man says he fired one round after camper shot into his vehicle” from Friday July 7, 2017, here

News brief: Child porn sentence handed down to Chehalis resident

Tuesday, July 11th, 2017

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A 33-year-old Chehalis man was sentenced in federal court for production of child pornography, getting more than 20 years and then supervised release for the rest of his life.

Brandon K. Phelps was arrested in January 2015 following an investigation that began months earlier with a cyber-tip concerning his online exchange of child porn with others, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

At the hearing late yesterday afternoon in U.S. District Court in Tacoma, Judge Benjamin H. Settle imposed a 228-month sentence on top of an 18-month sentence Phelps has already served in state custody, saying, “Deterrence is very important … word must be out there for others like you that, if you engage in these crimes (child sex offenses), you will receive very long sentences,” according to a press release from prosecutors.

According to records filed in the case, during 2014 Phelps babysat three children, one of whom was a 9-year-old girl he forced to engage in sexually explicit conduct and made photos with his phone.

He made additional sexually explicit photos of another young girl while she slept, according to the press release.

Phelps was sentenced in February of this year in Lewis County Superior Court for a 2009 incident of child molestation and for raping his adult girlfriend while she was incapacitated, according to U.S. Attorney’s Office spokesperson Emily Langlie.

He was already serving more than 15 years for those cases, and his time will be served at the same time as the sentence handed down yesterday, according to Langlie.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Grady Leupold in coordination with the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office.

Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Tuesday, July 11th, 2017
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ATTEMPT TO ELUDE

• A 37-year-old Chehalis man was arrested after a long pursuit that reached speeds upwards of 110 mph last night through rural Chehalis. It began 10:35 p.m. when a deputy spotted a vehicle traveling 18 mph over the speed limit in the area of Forest-Napavine Road and Jackson Highway, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. As the deputy turned, the vehicle abruptly took off, skidding around a corner and driving down the center of the roadway, according to the sheriff’s office. The chase led up to near Kirkland Road, to the end of North Fork Road and then up a logging road, Chief Deputy Dusty Breen said. The vehicle then traveled in reverse down a second road and eventually stopped when it struck the front of a deputy’s vehicle, Breen said. Andrew T. Bradley was taken into custody and booked into the Lewis County Jail for attempting to elude and for second-degree assault, according to Breen. The damage to the patrol car was slight, Breen said.

AUTO THEFT

• Chehalis police were called just after 7 a.m. today about the theft of a Honda Accord from the 200 block of Southwest 13th Street. The car went missing sometime after 2 a.m., according to the Chehalis Police Department. Officers located the vehicle in the area missing all four of its wheels and tires, according to police.

TEEN TAKES WALLET, FAILS AT ATM

• A 17-year-old boy seen trying to get cash from an ATM yesterday at a business on the 100 block of Foster Creek Road, with several bank cards and receipts in his hand, allegedly admitted he’d stolen a wallet when he got a ride to the area from a Winlock man. The Longview teen spoke to a deputy just after 1 p.m. at the business and handed over the wallet, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. He was arrested for six counts of second-degree theft and booked at the Lewis County Juvenile Detention Center, Chief Deputy Dusty Breen said today.

BURGLARY CENTRALIA

• Centralia police were called about 3:10 p.m. yesterday for a second-degree burglary at the 1400 block of Mellen Street. “Items” had been stolen during the night, according to the Centralia Police Department.

MISSING MUSICAL INSTRUMENT

• A business on the 100 block of South Tower Avenue in Centralia reported the theft of a musical instrument yesterday afternoon. A summons was issued for the person who leased the viola, according to the Centralia Police Department.

CAR PROWL

• Centralia police were called about 11:50 a.m. yesterday to a business at the 800 block of B Street where someone had cut through a fence and then unbolted and stole a 48-inch LED off-road light bar from a vehicle.

• Centralia police were called about 10:20 a.m. yesterday about a vehicle prowl at the 500 block of Hemlock Street in which a flashlight was taken. It happened last Thursday night, according to the Centralia Police Department.

OTHER THEFT

• Chehalis police were called to an apartment on North National Avenue about 6:30 p.m. yesterday to take a report of the theft of a metal bowl out of a bathroom.

AND MORE

• And, as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, shoplifting; responses for alarm, dispute, civil issue, vehicle collision, misdemeanor theft, suspicious circumstances … and more among 163 calls for local law enforcement and / or fire-emergency medical services in the 24-hour period ending about 7 a.m. today.

News brief: Jail chemical exposure incident was ‘mild’

Tuesday, July 11th, 2017

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Some of the victims complained of itchy skin and burning eyes but nobody had to be hospitalized following the cleaning chemical accident that caused a portion of the Lewis County Jail to be evacuated over the weekend.

The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office said today an inmate working in the kitchen inadvertently mixed together a mild bleach solution and a de-limer.

The instant reaction involved an odor and concerns about fumes, Chief Deputy Dusty Breen said.

Two staff members and approximately eight inmates were removed from the kitchen area and evaluated by jail medical personnel. The sheriff’s office said it happened shortly after 3:30 p.m. on Saturday and the main jail population was unaffected.

The Chehalis Fire Department responded to ventilate the area. Personnel from the state Department of Ecology disposed of the bucket of material, Undersheriff Wes Rethwill said today.

“They said it was a mild reaction,” Rethwill said of DOE.

Rethwill called it an unfortunate situation in which the inmate was trying to do the right thing, but grabbed the wrong solution.

“We’re still trying to figure out how we can do better,” he said.

The kitchen was cleared for use by 5 p.m., according to Rethwill.
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For background, read “News brief: Jail kitchen emptied out because of chemical exposure” from Saturday July 8, 2017, here

News brief: Tenino motorcyclist dies at Harborview

Tuesday, July 11th, 2017

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The Tenino motorcyclist who was in critical condition yesterday morning from a Friday evening wreck passed away yesterday, according to authorities.

Sky M. Lelo, 38, was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle following the collision on state Route 507 near O’Connor Road in south Thurston County.

The Washington State Patrol has only said that he was traveling on a Harley Davidson XL1200 when he attempted to avoid traffic and was ejected. He was wearing a helmet and its unknown if drugs or alcohol played a role, according to the investigating trooper.

The state patrol initially said Lelo was headed northbound but in information released yesterday evening said the Harley was headed southbound.
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For background, read “News brief: Tenino motorcyclist in critical condition” from Monday July 10, 2017, here