Centralia mom pleads guilty to exposing children to meth smoke

July 27th, 2017

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The 25-year-old Centralia mother who admitted exposing her two children to meth smoke is off to prison with a sentence of a year and a day.

Sabrina L. Sumter pleaded guilty in Lewis County Superior Court to two counts of endangerment with a controlled substance and one count of possession of methamphetamine.

2017.0629.sabrina.sumter9601.smaller

Sabrina L. Sumter / File photo

When she went before a judge on Friday, the judge agreed to the sentence that was within the standard range, according to Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer.

Sumter had been arrested at the end of June, the same day Centralia police learned a test result had come back showing positive for the presence of the drug in Sumter’s 3-month-old baby girl.

The only reason the discovery was made, was the infant died unexpectedly in May and the coroner’s office conducted an autopsy and tests to figure out why.

It turned out to have been an accidental death, the baby suffocated while sharing a bed with her mother, according to authorities.

After she was arrested, Sumter admitted that she and others smoked meth in her home, exposing the children, according to prosecutors.

Meyer said two issues were unrelated, in his expert’s opinion.

“The meth in the child’s system was not the cause of death,” he said this week.

Had he been able to link them and show criminality, he would have pursued the case differently, he said.
•••

For background, read “Centralia infant exposed to meth smoke died of something different” from Friday July 7, 2017, here

Tags: ,
Posted in Top story of the day | 3 Comments »

Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

July 27th, 2017
2017.0726.haybalefireRhianonHull‎

Firefighters in Napavine put water on burning hay. / Courtesy photo by Rhianon Hull‎

Updated at 2:56 p.m.

HEY, HEY, HAY ON FIRE

• A neighbor’s large hedge and fence caught fire after the driver of a pickup truck pulling a trailer loaded with bales of hay looked in his mirror and saw the hay was burning in Napavine yesterday. Firefighters were called just before 6 p.m. to the scene at East Stella Street and Forest-Napavine Road, according to Lewis County Fire District 5. Lt. Laura Hanson said they were joined by members of District 15 and managed to stop the fire before the back of the pickup. The pickup sustained moderate damage but the trailer was destroyed, she said.

RESIDENTIAL BURGLARY

• A 47-year-old Centralia man returned home to discover upwards of $50,000 worth of valuables missing contacted the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office yesterday. A deputy responding to the home on the 100 block of Northridge Drive learned the victim had been away for an extended period of time and nobody had permission to be there, according to the sheriff’s office. Among the missing property are paintings, a television and car tires, Chief Deputy Dusty Breen said. The time frame of the break-in is as long as one year, but has not yet been narrowed down, according to Breen.

BAIT BIKE

• A fairly expensive bicycle parked in a public area was taken within less than an hour yesterday, leading to an arrest for second-degree theft. The “bait bike” at West Main Street and Washington Avenue belonged to the Centralia Police Department, according to police. David W. Normand, 24 of Centralia, was contacted just before 3 p.m. by police who had been watching and was booked into the Lewis County Jail.

GARDENING IMPLEMENT MISSING

• A a David-Bradley tiller was stolen from the 3100 block of Borst Avenue in Centralia, according to a report made to police about 8:25 a.m. yesterday.

UNRULY RESIDENT

• A 36-year-old Centralia man detained by police about 9:15 p.m. yesterday in the area of the 100 block of South Silver Street allegedly attempted to bite an officer. Glen T. Smith was arrested and booked into the Lewis County Jail for third-degree assault and the case is being referred for possible charges also of felony harassment, resisting arrest and obstructing, according to the Centralia Police Department.

DRUGS

• Patrick E. B. Ashley, 39, of Chehalis, was arrested on an outstanding warrant and possession of methamphetamine after contact with police about 3:10 p.m. yesterday at the 100 block of South Silver Street in Centralia. He was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department.

ON THE ROAD, OFF THE ROAD

• Cooks Hill Road was closed and traffic re-routed after a passenger vehicle struck a utility pole sheering it off at the base and leaving the threat of power lines coming down yesterday in Centralia. Responders called to the 2600 block at 12:35 p.m. evaluated the driver who was transported to Providence Centralia Hospital with what appeared to be non-life threatening injuries, according to Riverside Fire Authority. The sport utility vehicle was severely damaged, Fire Capt Erik Olson stated. The accident is under investigation by the Centralia Police Department.

AND MORE

• And, as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, hit and run, driving under the influence, driving with suspended license; responses for alarm, dispute, civil issue, vandalism, vehicle collision, misdemeanor theft, disorderly person, suspicious circumstances; complaint a person on a sidewalk with children was asking for money … 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.

Tags: ,
Posted in Sharyn's sirens roundup | 1 Comment »

News brief: Vacant house, shop burn separately overnight in rural Centralia

July 27th, 2017

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Two Centralia structure fires that were extinguished simultaneously during the night are under investigation, according to authorities.

The first was a shop building on the 3000 block of Graf Road which responders report was intentionally set afire and the other a vacant residence in Galvin.

No injuries have been reported.

Riverside Fire Authority reports it was 2:57 a.m. when they were dispatched to Graf Road where they found a shop building which had been burning for some time unnoticed.

The roof on the approximately 25-foot by 25-foot shop had already collapsed and flames had spread to light brush, according to Riverside Fire Authority. They were able to contain the fire from spreading further, according to Fire Capt. Erik Olson.

The specific cause is undetermined but it is suspicious, according to Olson.

While enroute, at 3:08 a.m., the fire department was called to the 100 block of Sheridan Street in Galvin where arriving units found a home fully involved in fire, Capt. Tim Adolphsen stated in a press release.

They were joined by three other fire departments, according to Adolphsen. It had been vacant for some time and was a complete loss, he stated.

County records show the one and a half story house built in 1920 has an assessed value of $87,000.

The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office responded to both fires.

Tags: ,
Posted in News briefs | Comments Closed

News brief: Centralia pedestrian injured in crosswalk

July 27th, 2017
2017.0726.pedvehiclecentralia

Airlift responds directly to the scene at West Main and Iron streets. / Courtesy photo by Riverside Fire Authority

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A 77-year-old woman was seriously injured when she was walking in a cross walk and was struck by a passenger vehicle in Centralia last night.

Police and firefighters were called to the intersection of West Main Street at Iron Street just before 8:30 p.m.

Centralia Police Department Sgt. Kurt Reichert said the driver of the vehicle, a Centralia man in his late 60s, indicated the sun was in his eyes. He had been headed westbound, Reichert said.

A medical helicopter responded to the scene and flew the Centralia woman to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, according to authorities. Riverside Fire Authority described her condition as serious.

The Washington State Patrol is investigating.

Tags: ,
Posted in News briefs | Comments Closed

Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

July 26th, 2017
2015.0518.2013.1113.sirenslights5860.secondone

•••

ASSAULT ARRESTS

• A 67-year-old man was arrested yesterday after he allegedly grabbed and scratched two female staff members at a nursing home on the 1500 block of Harrison Avenue. Officers called just after 2 p.m. yesterday booked Robert S. Bold into the Lewis County Jail for third-degree assault, according to the Centralia Police Department. Prosecutors declined today to file the felony charge.

• A 27-year-old Chehalis resident detained for a warrant yesterday was arrested for third-degree assault after he allegedly kicked a sheriff’s detective in the leg. The detective responded to a call at the 600 block of Northwest Hawthorne Place in Chehalis after an approximately 10:45 a.m. call that Drake A. Lorber was trespassing at a relative’s house, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Chief Deputy Dusty Breen said Lorber screamed, pulled away, slammed his head against the patrol vehicle causing an abrasion across his forehead and was “escorted to the ground” until he agreed to calm down. Breen said the kick caused the detective brief pain. He said Lorber spit bloody saliva around the back of the patrol vehicle, causing it to taken out of service for cleaning, which led to an additional count of second-degree malicious mischief. Lorber was booked into the Lewis County Jail.

BRANDISHING BB GUN

• Centralia police called just before 9 p.m. yesterday to the 200 block of East Oakview Avenue in the area of the elementary school dealt with an incident involving a 14-year-old and a 15-year-old and a BB gun. Charges will be referred to prosecutors in the case of brandishing a weapon for one teen and making a false statement for the other teen, according to the Centralia Police Department.

THEFT

• Centralia police were called to the 1800 block of Cooks Hill Road about 1:30 p.m. yesterday to take a report of the theft of cash from an office.

• Chehalis police were called about 1:35 p.m. yesterday by an individual who reported their bank statement showed they had purchased gas at the 1300 block of Northwest State Avenue a few days earlier and right after they left, someone else somehow used their debit card number to buy fuel there as well.

LOST AND FOUND

• A weed eater discovered in some bushes near a residence on the 800 block of E Street in Centralia was taken for safekeeping by the Centralia Police Department yesterday evening.

AND MORE

• And, as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, shoplifting, driving under the influence, driving with suspended license, driving with no license, misdemeanor domestic assault; responses for alarm, dispute, civil issue, hit and run, vandalism, vehicle collision, misdemeanor theft, suspicious circumstances, dog alone in parked vehicle … and more among 164 calls for local law enforcement and / or fire-emergency medical services in the 24-hour period ending about 7 a.m. today.

Posted in Sharyn's sirens roundup | Comments Closed

News brief: Mossyrock woman, son drowned after wreck

July 26th, 2017
2017.0725.lorraine.eric.sprague2-001

•••

Updated

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The Lewis County Coroner’s Office determined today the man and his mother whose car ended up submerged in Mayfield Lake died from drowning.

The incident in which the sport utility vehicle traveled off U.S. Highway 12 and sheered off several trees down an embankment before landing in the water on Sunday night was witnessed by boaters, according to authorities.

Life-saving efforts for Eric T. Sprague, 44, of Olympia and his mother Lorraine J. Sprague, 60, of Mossyrock, were unsuccessful.

It happened just before the west end of the bridge. They had been heading eastbound.

Their 2013 AUDI Q7 sport utility vehicle was recovered on Monday.

The Washington State Patrol is investigating the cause of the wreck. However, state patrol spokesperson Trooper Will Finn said initial observations suggest speed as a factor in the incident, given the length of the path the vehicle traveled.

It will likely be many weeks before the investigation is finished, according to Finn.
•••
CORRECTION: This news item has been updated to reflect the correct age of the passenger.

•••

For background, read “News brief: Two dead after SUV goes into Mayfield Lake” from Monday July 24, 2017, here

•

2017.0724.auditowedoutoflakecrop

The car is pulled from Mayfield Lake. / Courtesy photo

Tags:
Posted in News briefs | 14 Comments »

Wildfire ignites east of Randle

July 26th, 2017
2017.0725.carrroadfirerobin.hylton

Looking north from the Cascade Peaks Campground. / Courtesy photo by Robin Hylton

Updated at 4:35 p.m.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Crews are on the scene this morning improving fire lines in the Carr Road area between Randle and Packwood.

No structures have been damaged, none are threatened and nobody has been injured, according to Lewis County Fire District 14.

Firefighters from Randle, Packwood and the state Department of Natural Resources were fighting what was described early yesterday evening as a five-plus-acre brush fire.

Photos and video shared by observers showed a helicopter making water drops yesterday.

Fire Chief Jeff Jaques said it was mostly brush and stumps in a clear cut area about one mile up from U.S. Highway 12. He believed it ended up covering about 10 acres.

“It got into the trees a little bit,” he said.

Crews are in the mop up stage now, Jaques said just before 1 p.m. today. The fire was reported just after 2 o’clock yesterday afternoon.

The Board of (Lewis) County Commissioners put outdoor burning restrictions in place nine days ago due to the current and extended weather forecast and substantial fire dangers.

Meanwhile, the cause of a fire that destroyed a Randle residence several miles to the west over the weekend remains under investigation.

Firefighters responding to approximately 3:10 a.m. call on Sunday on the 600 block of Silverbrook Road found a double-wide mobile home and adjacent shop building fully involved in flames, according to Jaques.

Nobody was home as it turns out but they couldn’t be sure, spending a lot of time checking, said Fire Investigator Derrick Paul.

Paul said he understood a family consisting of seven people, five of them children, lived there.

There were two cars inside the shop that were destroyed as well, he said.

•

2017.0725.carrroadfire

Bringing water to the Carr Road fire. / Courtesy photo by Lewis County Fire District 14

Tags: ,
Posted in Top story of the day | Comments Closed

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »