News Brief: Glenoma man hospitalized after Kawasaki misses a turn

June 6th, 2010

Saturday’ sunshine brought out multitudes of motorcycle riders, and one of them crashed in Glenoma when his bike slid into a ditch and struck a culvert.

James K. Nelson, 39, of Glenoma, was thrown about 20 feet and his Kawasaki KX250 went airborne, according to the area’s fire chief and the Washington State Patrol.

Nelson was taken by aid car to Morton General Hospital with back pain after the approximately 2:20 p.m. wreck, according to authorities.

He was reportedly not wearing a helmet.

“He was very lucky,” said Chief Ed Lowe of Lewis County Fire District 18.

It happened on the 100 block of Martin Road as Nelson attempted to negotiate a curve to the left, according to the state patrol. The responding trooper estimated about $500 damage to the 2009 off-road motorcycle.

The state patrol reported Nelson was to be cited for no helmet, no motorcycle endorsement and operating an off-road vehicle on a road. Information about his condition was not available from the hospital this morning.

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Subject of search warrants charged with having five different kinds of drugs

June 4th, 2010

CHEHALIS – One of the men Centralia police say is connected to multiple search warrants served today related to stolen property is now facing drug charges involving methamphetamine, three different prescription narcotics and a misdemeanor amount of marijuana.

Daniel J. Miller Sr., 49, of Chehalis, went before a judge this afternoon in Lewis County Superior Court.

He was charged with possession of methamphetamine with the intent to deliver, according to Deputy Prosecutor Sara Beigh. While police and his jail booking suggested Miller’s Thursday arrest also included manufacture of the drug, Beigh said that was not the case.

Miller was also charged with possession of oxycodone, methadone and hydrocodone. Information about the quantities in question were not immediately available.

Miller was not charged with any crimes related to stolen property. Beigh said she could not comment on Centralia police’s investigation.

Judge Richard Brosey set bail at $25,000. Miller was released from custody later Friday afternoon.

He is scheduled to appear in the Chehalis courtroom again next Thursday morning for arraignment – to make his plea.

Centralia Police Officer John Panco said earlier today detectives were pursuing a variety of stolen property at more than one location, but didn’t disclose details. Panco said Russell L. Lamb, 42, of Centralia, was picked up shortly after Miller on Thursday, in connection with the case.

Lamb was booked into the Lewis County Jail for being a felon in possession of a firearm, but was let out at mid-day Friday without being charged with any crime. Beigh described Lamb’s status as released pending further investigation.

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Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

June 4th, 2010

INTRUDER LEAVES GRAFFITI

• Police called it a “kind of scary set of circumstances” when a Centralia man returned home after being gone for just one hour yesterday to discover somebody had entered his basement and left what he described to an officer as gang-style graffiti – the words “brown pride”. Police Sgt. Stacy Denham said it happened just before 10 a.m. yesterday on the 400 block of N. Rock Street. The resident, in his 40s, had been working in the basement of his new residence and left to get something to eat, Denham said. Upon his return, he founds the words scrawled on a support beam with a felt tipped marker, the sergeant said. The phrase is something Denham said he’s seen before as graffiti, usually associated with Hispanic gangs. He has also seen tattoos with the same words, he said.

OFFICERS SUMMONED TO BAR

• Centralia police were called about 9:20 p.m. last night to a downtown drinking establishment after a customer allegedly got angry and punched out a bathroom window. Anthony C. Elkins, 59, of Centralia, was cited for third-degree malicious mischief and then released, according to police. The incident occurred at an unspecified bar on the 100 block of South Tower Avenue. Police Sgt. Stacy Denham indicated Elkins’ injuries from the glass were not overly serious.

BOOKED FOR DOMESTIC INCIDENT; SHOVING

• Alcohol and an argument over not taking the dogs out for a bathroom break led to a shove and a man arrested for fourth-degree assault; domestic violence yesterday evening from a home on Southwest McFadden Avenue in Chehalis, according to a report made to police. William A. Johnson, 49, was booked into the Lewis County Jail after the 7 p.m. call from the woman who lives at the house, according to Chehalis police Sgt. Rick McNamara. Johnson was released from jail this morning, according to the Lewis County Jail.

ARGUMENT OVER WEAPON IN HOME LEADS TO ARREST

• Chehalis police called to a verbal dispute at a residence on the 100 block of Fifth Street in Chehalis yesterday ended up arresting a man for being a felon in possession of a firearm. Sgt. Rick McNamara said the couple had been arguing about him having a handgun in the house. Colin A. McCalmon, 50, was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to McNamara.

THEFT FROM BARN

• Deputies are investigating the theft of more than $14,000 of power tools and other items from a barn outside Chehalis, including a green ATV. Lewis County Sheriff’s Office Cmdr. Steve Aust said this morning the break in took place almost two weeks ago on the 1400 block of N.W. Airport Road. Among the items missing sometime between 4 p.m. on May 21 and 2 p.m. the following day were were a compressor, a jack hammer, a planer and three drills, Aust said. Also taken was a four-wheeler – an Arctic Cat 650, he said.

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News Brief: Prosecutor’s staff shrinking

June 4th, 2010

CHEHALIS – After laying off four employees and eliminating a top position, Lewis County Prosecutor Michael Golden is now facing the departure of two more of his deputy prosecutors.

Elected prosecutor Golden announced Thursday the men will be will be leaving his office in the next two weeks to take positions with other local governments.

“There is never a good time to lose good people, but even when the economy isn’t cooperating, people have to pursue their dreams,” Golden said in a news release. “Good people do it every day, but we will miss them, just the same.”

Senior Civil Deputy Prosecutor Douglas Ruth has represented the county in nearly every facet of the civil division in an exemplary fashion over the past eight years, Golden stated. Ruth resigned with much sadness, according to Golden, to take a job with the city of Auburn so he can be closer to his Seattle-area family.

Deputy Prosecutor Jonathan Richardson has been working for Golden in a position funded by grant money which is set to run out this month, according to Golden.

Richardson has been with the office almost three years, assigned to drug court, juvenile cases and then since last July in superior court. Richardson will move to the Whatcom County Prosecutor’s Office in Bellingham, and is anxious to return to the community where he attended college, Golden said.

The prosecutor noted his previously announced intention to retain at least one position by using money from a new fund created from money seized from illegal online gambling in Lewis County. He stated that money can be used for prosecution and abatement of fraud and gambling.

The money to replace the civil deputy position does not exist, he said. It’s not clear from the news release if Golden will use the new fund to replace Richardson. Golden didn’t return requests for comment.

One of the cut backs was the elimination of his chief criminal deputy position. The time range of when that and the lay offs occurred wasn’t noted in the news release.

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News Brief: Centralia police search for stolen goods

June 4th, 2010

CENTRALIA – Centralia police detectives are conducting searches this afternoon in connection with stolen property and and yesterday’s arrest of a 49-year-old man for manufacture, delivery and possession of drugs.

Centralia Police Officer John Panco said the search warrants were being served at more than one location, but didn’t disclose details as police were still “knee deep in the middle of everything.”

Daniel J. Miller Sr., 49, of Chehalis, was arrested without incident after he was found was driving in a south Centralia neighborhood yesterday afternoon, Panco said. Miller was booked into the Lewis County Jail about 9:30 p.m. last night.

The drug involved was methamphetamine and the stolen goods included “a little bit of everything” including  tools, Panco said. He didn’t know how large of quantities were involved, he said.

Russell L. Lamb, 42, of Centralia, was picked up shortly after Miller, in connection with the case, Panco said. Lamb was arrested and booked into the jail for being a felon in possession of a firearm, Panco said.

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New local news source coming soon

April 15th, 2010

Watch for a new local news source coming soon in Lewis County, Wash.

Lewis County Sirens will feature news daily and when it happens of crime, police, fire and courts in greater Lewis County.

Readers will find news stories reported and written by award-winning journalist Sharyn L. Decker at www.lewiscountysirens.com

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Jury finds coroner erred in ruling former trooper’s death a suicide

April 15th, 2010

For those who visit Lewis County Sirens before it’s launched, we’ve posted one news story you’re sure to find interesting.

The following is a comprehensive account, previously unpublished, of last November’s unprecedented judicial review of a county coroner’s decision in Washington state.

It’s the case involving the suspicious death of former trooper Ronda Reynolds in Toledo in 1998.

I have been following the case since I first broke the story in The (Centralia) Chronicle in early 2002. I covered last autumn’s  proceedings in Lewis County Superior Court for The (Longview) Daily News.

The story below was written in November, at the conclusion of the proceedings in Chehalis, which took place over several days.

In the future, you’re unlikely to find stories at Lewis County Sirens as lengthy as this. However, enjoy reading about this still unresolved case while you wait for us to begin covering news daily and when it happens of crime, police, fire and courts in greater Lewis County, Washington.

–Lewis County Sirens reporter Sharyn Decker

Sunday Nov. 15, 2009

By Sharyn L. Decker

CHEHALIS — Ronda Reynolds, a former state trooper, was preparing to leave her marriage of less than a year to Ron Reynolds, principal of Toledo Elementary School, when she was found fatally shot in the head, on the floor of their walk-in closet, with a turned-on electric blanket covering her.

Ronda Reynolds

He told authorities he did not hear the gunshot and said he did not know if his 33-year-old wife was right or left handed.

A badly torn fingernail on otherwise neatly manicured hands and a message written with lipstick on the master bathroom mirror, which read, “I love you, please call me,” followed by her grandmother’s phone number in Spokane, were among the “oddities” that moved the lead investigator Jerry Berry to work the case vigorously for five months.

The Dec. 16, 1998 death was closed as suicide despite protests from Lewis County Sheriff’s Office detective Berry, and within a week after Ron Reynolds’ attorney had threatened to file a lawsuit against the sheriff’s office if they didn’t cease the investigation. Read the rest of this entry »

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