Tenino couple’s arraignments for Chehalis drive-by shooting set for today

August 12th, 2010

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Bail was set at $1 million for the individual prosecutors say is identified as the gun man in the drive-by shooting on Southwest William Street in Chehalis over the weekend.

The 25-year-old Tenino resident is listed as Ruben Alberto Palomares G. in court papers; Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Steve Scott said he doesn’t know what the “G” stands for.

Palomares turned himself in to authorities Tuesday night, three days after police were called to a residential neighborhood when one of several individuals in a red Chevrolet Blazer stuck a pistol out the window and fired a round that struck an unoccupied vehicle.

The intended target is named as Rolando Carrillo Cruz, who was standing next to the car, according to charging documents.

Palomares was charged yesterday in Lewis County Superior Court with first-degree assault and drive-by shooting.

His 24-year-old wife Christina Palomares is in custody, having been arrested for being the driver. A Chehalis man and a Centralia man police believe were also in the Blazer remain at large.

Authorities describe the shooting as related to a debt owed to somebody called “Candy man” and perpetrated by the LVL gang.

Defense attorney Bob Schroeter yesterday told the judge his client is a former Rochester High School student who has lived in the area since he was six years old.

Three jail guards stood by during the brief hearing in the Chehalis courtroom. Ruben Palomares, dressed in red jail garb and shackled at his waist and feet, wore a bullet proof vest.

Deputy Prosecutor Scott asked for $1 million bail because the suspect is identified in the probable cause statement as the shooter, because of the threat to the community and the possibility he might flee. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has a “hold” on him as well, Scott told Judge Nelson Hunt.

Witnesses in the case implicate two different individuals as the shooter, according to charging documents. Cruz told a police detective he was certain it was Andrew Morales-Loberg; and Christina Palomares points to her husband, according to the documents.

First-degree assault carries a maximum possible penalty of life in prison.

Both Palomares’s are expected back in court today to make their pleas. Both qualified for court appointed attorneys.

Attorney Schroeter said the couple’s three children are being cared for by family.

Five hundred thousand dollar warrants were issued yesterday for the other suspects, Morales-Loberg, 19, of Chehalis; and Juan Valentino Vasquez, also known by his street name “Grover”, 24, of Centralia.

2010.0811.mug.andrew.morales.loberg

Andrew Morales-Loberg

2010.0811.mug.juan.vasquez2

Juan Valentino Vasquez

•••
To read yesterday’s news story, “Mother of three charged in Chehalis drive-by shooting, husband turns self in ” click here.

To read Monday’s news brief, “Suspected gang members sought after drive-by shooting in Chehalis” click here.

Tenino slaying update: Prosecutors initially charged first-degree aggravated murder and rape, but amended the charges downward this afternoon

August 11th, 2010

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Prosecutors charged Bernard K. Howell III with first-degree murder today, in connection with Sunday’s slaying of a 60-year-old woman he said he found dead on the bicycle path known as the Yelm to Tenino Trail.

Bernard K. Howell III

The 26-year-old Tenino man is expected back in Thurston County Superior Court tomorrow afternoon where a judge will likely be asked to order him evaluated at Western State Hospital. A deputy prosecuting attorney has already told a judge Howell has a history of mental health problems.

The victim, Vanda Skau Boone, who recently moved to Yelm died Sunday from a cut throat and blunt force injuries to her head and neck.

Howell, whose family calls him Keith, was arrested Sunday night in Tenino when law enforcement officers pulled him over near the elementary school and found Boone’s body wrapped in a sleeping bag in the passenger compartment of his Nissan pickup truck. He said he was going to bury her and save the family the cost of a funeral.

Thurston County Deputy Prosecutor Jim Powers this afternoon initially filed charges of aggravated first-degree murder and first-degree rape. Shortly before 5 p.m. Powers said the office amended the charges down.

They decided to go the more conservative route and wait for more definite and clear medical evidence, Powers said.

Howell, who operates the Tenino Meat Co. has no criminal history.

His father, Bernard Howell Jr. says his son has lived with him off and on and most recently for the past two or three months. Before that he lived in Lakewood.

Howell Jr. said he is hoping his only son gets some mental health help.

•••

To read previous stories, see below.
• “Tenino body update: Yelm, New York woman’s throat cut, coroner says” click here
• “Man found with dead body in truck in Tenino has history of mental health problems, attorney says” click here
• “News brief: Man pulled over in Tenino with dead woman inside his truck” click here

Mother of three charged in Chehalis drive-by shooting, husband turns self in

August 11th, 2010

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A Tenino mother of three wore a bullet-proof vest in court on Tuesday in Chehalis when she was charged with drive-by shooting.

Christina Palomares, 24, was arrested early Saturday morning shortly after the incident in a Chehalis neighborhood.

The Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office alleges that Palomares was driving a red Chevrolet Blazer when one of three male passengers stuck a pistol out the window and fired a round that missed several people standing outside but struck an unoccupied parked vehicle. It happened about 12:15 a.m. on Saturday at the 400 block of Southwest William Street.

Authorities describe the shooting as related to a debt owed to somebody called “Candy man” and perpetrated by the LVL gang.

“I’m very concerned about my client’s well being right now,” defense attorney Bob Schroeter said following the brief hearing in in Lewis County Superior Court on Tuesday afternoon.

Judge Nelson Hunt ordered her held on $250,000 bail.

Court papers describe several stories that Palomares told police detectives after she was picked up in Thurston County; each version slightly different.

In one interview, Palomares said a passenger told her husband to “shoot them or he would kill her (Christina) and he would not become an LVL,” charging papers allege.

LVL stands for Little Valley Locos or Little Valley Lokotes a gang locally made up mostly of individuals who grew up in Centralia when it was particularly active in the summer of 2007.

The Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office planned to issue warrants today for the arrests of others they believe are involved. Witnesses implicate two different men as the shooter.

Chehalis police describe those at the house as reluctant to give information out of fear of retaliation. A .45 caliber shell casing was found at the scene.

According to charging documents, one man who thinks he might have been a target was arrested last month in connection with drug dealing and the LVL gang had taken over his business while he was in custody.

Chehalis police officers, along with the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office SWAT team executed a search warrant at the home where Palomares lives with her husband on the 200 block of 171st Avenue Southeast in Tenino on Monday evening. They didn’t find the gun they were looking for or any of the suspects, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

The did find indications Palomares’s husband had gathered up his clothes and fled. They also found a bullet proof vest, a pistol box with bullets inside, a shoulder holster and some other ammunition, according to charging documents.

Chehalis police this morning reported that he turned himself in to the jail. Ruben Palomares, 25, was booked about 7 p.m. last night, according to the Lewis County Jail inmate booking roster.

A half dozen individuals who described themselves as family and friends of Christina Palomares were in the courtroom Tuesday afternoon.

Defense attorney Schroeter requested Christina Palomares be held on $20,000 bail. He said she has children and a stable job; she has worked at the AM/PM in Rochester for the past three years.

Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Steve Scott argued for $500,000 bail. Christina Palomares has a juvenile drug conviction and two misdemeanor assaults in her past, according to attorneys.

Drive-by shooting is a class B felony, with a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine. She was initially arrested for first-degree assault, a crime with a possible penalty of life in prison.

She is scheduled to return to Lewis County Superior Court on Thursday morning to make her plea.

Chehalis police this morning are asking anyone with any information on the whereabouts of the remaining two suspects to call them or call Lewis County CrimeStoppers.

They are: Andrew Morales Loberg, 19, of Chehalis; and Juan Valentino Vasquez, also known by his street name “Grover”, 24, of Centralia.
•••
This news story was updated at 11:55 a.m.

Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

August 10th, 2010

INJURIES AND VIOLENCE

• A 30-year-old man who brought a friend and her friend to his travel trailer home in between Napavine and Winlock yesterday found himself hit in the head with a flashlight after two males showed up, began yelling at him, and then stole his fire safe, the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reported this morning. A deputy was called to the home on the 100 block of Wilson Road at about 7:15 a.m. yesterday, according to Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown. The victim hit one of the suspects in the back with the flashlight before they fled in a blue or gray vehicle, Brown said. She did not report what the safe contained.

• A 26-year-old Tenino man was arrested for second-degree assault after police were called to a Chehalis drinking establishment just before closing time over the weekend. The 1:34 a.m. call on Saturday to Paradise Teriyaki on Northwest Chehalis Avenue ended with Colt C. Johnson booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Chehalis Police Department. Detective Sgt. Rick McNamara said another patron was taking a drink from a beer bottle when Johnson hit the bottom of the bottle, breaking the individual’s tooth.

• Cory R. Aldrich, 23, was arrested and jailed Sunday night for felony harassment, domestic violence, from the 2500 block of North Pearl Street outside Centralia after he allegedly made a comment about using his belt to snap his mother’s neck, the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reported yesterday.

• Chehalis police were called to what was described as a large fight in a parking lot at the 2100 block of North National Avenue about 1:45 a.m. on Sunday. When officers arrived, most everybody was gone, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

• Firefighters expected a Chehalis toddler would be sent to  the burn unit at Seattle’s Harborview Medical Center after they treated him for second-degree burns when a Cup of Noodles soup fell off a kitchen counter and scalded his chest and stomach yesterday. Firefighter Derrick Paul said the 20-month-old boy was taken to Providence Centralia Hospital after the afternoon call to Northwest Maryland Avenue.

FIRE BEHIND WENDY’S RESTAURANT IN CENTRALIA

• Firefighters called to extinguish several tall landscape shrubs behind Wendys restaurant in Centralia over the weekend had to air out the building as the air conditioning had pulled smoke inside. The cause of the approximately 10:15 a.m. Saturday fire at the building on the 800 block of Harrison Avenue wasn’t  known, Riverside Fire Authority Capt. Casey McCarthy said yesterday.

MOTOR VEHICLE THEFTS

• A black 1998 Honda Civic that went missing from the 7000 block of 183rd Avenue Southwest in Rochester sometime on Monday turned up abandoned about 12:45 a.m. today at the park and ride near Interstate 5 and Toledo. The ignition was punched out, according to the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office.

• The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office was called Saturday night to the 500 block of Eadon Road outside Toledo where somebody had stolen a blue and white 2006 Yamaha YZ125 motorcycle, the sheriff’s office reported yesterday. The Yamaha was taken sometime between August 1 and Saturday, according to Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown.

BURGLARIES OF ELECTRONICS AND OTHER THINGS

• An estimated $2,225 of electronics including a 42-inch television valued at $900 vanished from a Rochester area home in a weekend burglary, the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office reported this morning. Somebody broke a window at a residence on the 17,800 block of Iris Place Southwest sometime between 8 p.m. on Friday and 4:15 p.m. on Saturday, sheriff’s Lt. Chris Mealy said. Some of the other valuables taken included a Sony Blu-ray, an X-Box, a Wii game and a Toshiba notebook, according to Mealy.

• Centralia police took a report Monday morning that somebody broke into a building on the 1000 block of Mellen Street and stole electronics.

• Centralia police were called Sunday to a residence on the 1100 block of South Tower Avenue where somebody had forced their way into the home and stole electronics.

• Centralia police reported the discovery early Sunday morning that somebody had broken the front window at a business on the 100 block of West First Street and stole cases of beer.

• Centralia police were called about 4:20 p.m. on Saturday to a residence on the 600 block of F Street where someone had forced their way inside and stole prescription medication.

• Somebody broke through a child’s bedroom window at a Centralia-area home on Friday and stole two hats and a backpack, after the dumping the child’s toys from the backpack onto a couch, the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office reported today.  It happened sometime during the day on the 20,100 block of Shamon Court Southwest, according to the sheriff’s Lt. Chris Mealy.

FORGERY OF BUSINESS CHECKS

• Centralia police took a report on Monday about the forgery of business checks connected with the 2000 block of Borst Avenue. A person of interest was identified, according to the Centralia Police Department.

CAR PROWLERS SOMETIMES TAKE NOTHING

• Chehalis police were called Sunday afternoon to the 200 block of Northwest Chehalis Avenue where a man said he left vehicle parked there overnight and then discovered somebody had gone through it, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

• Chehalis police were called to a vehicle prowl at the Holiday Inn Express at Liberty Place on Friday morning.

• The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reported on Monday that a woman on the 900 block of Cowlitz Road outside Centralia discovered that sometime between last Wednesday and Thursday somebody prowled around in her vehicle, leaving a door and the glove box open. Nothing was missing. On Thursday, a man on the 1600 block of Windsor Avenue outside Centralia reported somebody damaged a window to get inside his van but took nothing.

NAILS STUCK IN TIRE ON PURPOSE

• Centralia police were called on Monday afternoon to the 400 block of West Third Street where somebody had driven a number of nails into a tire.

WRECKS IN THE CITY

• Centralia police said a driver may have blacked out before she crossed the center online on West Main Street yesterday and struck a car coming the other way. The relatively minor collision happened about 2:40 p.m. near North Ash Street. A 37-year-old female driver was taken to Providence Centralia Hospital with a medical issue, according to responders.

• A 20-year-old man was arrested for driving under the influence after a collision on Saturday into a fire fire hydrant at Johnson Road and West Reynolds Avenue in Centralia. Luke C. Steelhammer of Rochester was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to Centralia police.

Tenino body update: Yelm, New York woman’s throat cut, coroner says

August 10th, 2010
2010.0810.search.trail.tenino_2

Volunteers search the area along the Tenino to Yelm bicycle trail adjacent to state Route 507 near Churchill Road Southeast on Tuesday where the sheriff's office thinks Vanda Boone was attacked.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

TENINO – The woman whose body was found in the passenger compartment of a Tenino man’s pickup truck Sunday night has been identified as Vanda Skau Boone, a 60-year-old who moved to Yelm from New York this past March.

2010.0810.Vanda Boone

Vanda Skau Boone, from her MySpace

She died because her throat was cut and from blunt force injuries to her head and neck, according to the Thurston County Coroner.

The manner of death is homicide, Coroner Gary Warnock said this afternoon.

It’s a sad story, according to Warnock.

“On her way moving out here, her moving van caught fire and she lost everything,” Warnock said. “She has no family. Her only brother died a month ago in Brazil.”

Warnock said he concluded she died on Sunday, not so long before law enforcement officers pulled over the truck, because she was still warm.

Significant other conditions that contributed to her death were probable asphyxia due to strangulation or smothering, the coroner said.

About 30 volunteers from search and rescue groups in Thurston and Pierce counties scoured the area on the Tenino to Yelm bicycle trail today where the sheriff’s office thinks she was attacked on Sunday.

Thurston County sheriff’s Lt. Chris Mealy said they found a pair of shoes they think belong to the victim.

To read more on this news story, either scroll down or click here.

Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

August 10th, 2010

Check back later for sirens.

To read the latest on Toledo meth trafficking suspects …

August 10th, 2010

The (Longview) Daily News published an update on the group – including a pair from Toledo, Anthony W. Reisbeck, 43, and Erica Deann Lewis, 34 – facing federal charges in connection with what authorities describe as a major methamphetamine-trafficking organization in Southwest Washington.

You can read reporter Leslie Slape’s news story at www.tdn.com