Archive for February, 2013

News brief: Two alleged taggers arrested in Centralia

Wednesday, February 27th, 2013

Updated

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Centralia police announced they arrested two individuals in their ongoing investigation of an increase in gang-related graffiti in the downtown corridor.

One of them reportedly told officers he was spray painting over existing graffiti not because he was a rival gang member, but because he “.. hate(s) gangs, because they bring the city down and give it a bad name,” according to a news release from the Centralia Police Department.

The department earlier this month began offering cash rewards for tips as they began to see a more graffiti they attributed to the presence of an emerging gang. Graffiti posted by one gang can be a challenge to rival groups, who will then cross out each other’s graffiti as a sign of disrespect, according to police. Chief Bob Berg’s concern is that leads to retaliation, which often leads to violence.

Last Friday, off-duty officers came across two of their suspects and arrested them, according to police.

Officers had identified several suspects based on inquiries with local merchants about purchases of spray paint and also viewing private businesses’ security video in the course of their investigation, according to police.

Arrested for one count each of third-degree malicious mischief were Jeremy M. Barron, 21, and Jalab L. Browning, 18, both Centralia residents, according to Officer John Panco. Panco said he expects additional instances of tagging will be pinned to the young men.

They two were released pending their appearance in Centralia Municipal Court on March 5.

The hunt for other taggers continues.

News brief: Annual report; local troopers traffic stops detailed

Wednesday, February 27th, 2013

Updated

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – In their efforts to reduce fatality and serious injury collisions, troopers in Lewis County last year removed 288 impaired drivers from local roadways.

The numbers come from a year-end break down of state patrol activities.

The troopers’ work efforts during 2012 contributed to a reduction in the number of fatal collisions by 15 percent, injury collisions by 12 percent and total collisions by 2 percent on state routes and Interstate highways in the five county area known as the Washington State Patrol’s District 5 compared with 2011, according to state patrol spokesperson Trooper Will Finn.

Other numbers tallied up for last year in Lewis County that came from 30,296 contacts with motorists by troopers include:

• Stopped 12,692 speeders.
• Stopped 1,041 aggressive drivers
• Contacted 883 vehicle occupants for not wearing or improperly wearing seat belts.
• Investigated 637 collisions

Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Tuesday, February 26th, 2013

HERD OF SHEEP ATTACKED BY BLACK LAB

• A 12-year-old black lab suspected of killing nine sheep and injuring as many as a half dozen others in rural Chehalis won’t be in trouble criminally, but still faces county “dangerous dog” sanctions. A deputy was called yesterday afternoon to the 200 block of Pattee Road southeast of Chehalis where the owner of a special conservation breed of sheep said he saw the dog chasing and killing them inside their fenced pasture, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The 40-year-old chased the dog away, according to the sheriff’s office. He said he didn’t want the owner, his neighbor, cited because he wanted to be neighborly, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said. The canine, named Cora, was taken home and her owner told while no criminal citation would be given, the case would be turned over to the code enforcement office for follow up, according to Brown.

BURGLAR TAKES CIGARETTES

• Centralia police responded just before 5 o’clock this morning to the 1300 block of South Gold Street where someone had broken through the glass door of a gas station business and left with three packs of cigarettes. They used a large rock, according to police. The case is under investigation.

TOOLS VANISH

• A deputy was called yesterday morning by an Ethel-based tree company that said sometime between Saturday afternoon and early Monday morning – a week earlier – someone stole a chainsaw’s chain, bar and a small toolbox from where it had been left at a job site in Vader on Sierra Pacific’s Tree Farm, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

WORKPLACE THEFT

• Police were called about 10:20 a.m. yesterday to the 900 block of South Schueber Road in Centralia where they were told by an individual a wallet was stolen while they were at work. Inside it was $60, according to the Centralia Police Department.

FRAUD

• Centralia police were called yesterday to the 1000 block of North Schueber Road in Centralia to a complaint someone tried to open a credit account in someone else’s name.

VANDALISM

• Police were called about 9:45 a.m. yesterday when a hole was discovered in the glass door to a business at the Centralia Outlet Mall at the 1200 block of Lum Road.

WRECK

• Police were called about 9:15 p.m. yesterday after a car and a pickup truck collided at the intersection of Kresky Avenue and Summa Street in Centralia. Two individuals with what police called minor injuries were taken to Providence Centralia Hospital, according to the Centralia Police Department.

BURNING VEHICLE

• Firefighters were called yesterday morning to a car fire at Haywire and Pleasant Valley Road west of Napavine. It was burning in the engine compartment, it was extinguished, the driver got out with no injuries, according to Lewis County Fire District 5.

AND MORE …

• And, as usual, some misdemeanor domestic assaults, warrant arrests, violation of a no-contact order, neighbors arguing loudly, sighting of a runaway juvenile … and more

 

2013.0225.dist5carfire.trimmed-2.jpg

Courtesy photo by Lewis County Fire District 5

Read about 45-year-old man convicted of stealing from Rochester employer …

Monday, February 25th, 2013

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

The Olympian reports a now-former employee of VJs Bargain Barn in Rochester pleaded guilty today to eight counts of theft in connection with an investigation he stole more than $200,000 from his employer over a three-year period.

News reporter Jeremy Pawloski writes that the Thurston County Prosecutor’s Office will recommend  Larry Ledl, 45, spend two years in prison.

Ledl was arrested on Sept. 28 and released on bail.

Thurston County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Greg Elwin said at the time Ledl opened a similar business in Chehalis following the alleged theft; Builders Surplus Northwest. However, an employee there said the owner was someone who was not Ledl.

Read about it here

Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Monday, February 25th, 2013

ANGRY ABOUT SMOKES

• A 66-year-old Toledo man was arrested yesterday for second-degree assault after he allegedly choked his wife following an argument about hidden cigarettes. A deputy responding about 11:45 a.m. to an address on state Route 505 was told Ronald G. Kipperman had also ripped the phone from his wife’s hands when she tried to dial 911, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The victim showed redness on her neck, according to the sheriff’s office. He was booked into the Lewis County Jail.

ALLEGED HEAD BUTTER CAUGHT

• A 27-year-old Winlock man was arrested last night for fourth-degree assault and then driving under the influence after the sheriff’s office was called to his father’s home where the son allegedly pushed his dad to the ground and head butted him because he was upset, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. A deputy subsequently located Kibling R.K. Placer driving near Front and Alder streets in Winlock where he was arrested, according to the sheriff’s office. Placer was booked into the Lewis County Jail.

NO PERMISSION TO GET BELONGINGS FROM HOME

• A 49-year-old Toledo man was arrested for burglary on Saturday after he reportedly forcibly entered a vacant residence on the 1500 block of state Route 505 in Toledo where he removed a wooden bookshelf and put it on the porch to pick up later. Lewis County Sheriff’s Office Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said Daniel W. Fultz, had permission to remove his belongings from a shed, but only if a representative was present as the occupants had recently been evicted. Fultz was booked into the Lewis County Jail. His companion Gregory W. Merzoin, 50, of Toledo, was arrested for trespass and then released, according to Brown.

WANTED MAN FOUND IN  LEWIS COUNTY JAIL

• The “John Doe” arrested on Saturday night in Centralia for allegedly giving a fake name to get care at Providence Centralia Hospital turned out to be a 45-year-old man wanted for escape out of Alabama, according to the Centralia Police Department. Police booked David W. Foster, who they described as transient, into the Lewis County Jail on Saturday for forgery in connection with his visit to the hospital, Sgt. Stacy Denham said. Foster got treatment for an ulcer, or something similar, and was given medication but gave another name, Denham said. Denham didn’t have specific details about where Foster escaped from, but said authorities in Alabama confirmed the warrant and want him back.

WORKERS ARRESTED FOR THEFT AT JUVENILE FACILITY

• A security officer at Green Hill was arrested on Friday afternoon for allegedly stealing $100 bill from a co-worker’s purse. A Chehalis police officer called about 2:40 p.m. to the juvenile detention facility on Southwest 11th Street was told he was the only one in the area, according to the Chehalis Police Department. Kenneth E. Sutherland, 40, of Castle Rock, was cited for third-degree theft and then released, Officer Linda Bailey said.

BURGLARY IN CENTRALIA

• Centralia police were called about 11:40 a.m. yesterday to the 100 block of Virginia Drive where a woman said she returned home from work to discover items missing to include shoes, a broken cell phone and some makeup. She said she had left the front door unlocked, according to the Centralia Police Department.

SHOPLIFTING ALCOHOL

• Police were called about 12:45 a.m. on Saturday to the 1100 block of South Market Boulevard in Chehalis after an employee said a 17 or 18-year-old boy walked out of Safeway with two 24-packs of Coors beer. He was told he needed to pay but kept going and got in to a car that drove away, according to police. No suspect was located but an officer will review store security tapes, Officer Linda Bailey said. The loss is $34.98.

MAIL THEFT TOLEDO AREA

• Someone driving a newer pinkish-beige SUV was observed removing an envelope from a mailbox on the 100 block of Smokey Valley Road southwest of Toledo on Friday at about 2:20 p.m., the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reported this morning.

DRUGS

• Jason F. Hooker was arrested for possession of methamphetamine when he was picked up on a warrant at about 10 p.m. on Friday on the 200 block of Silverbrook Road in Randle, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. A glass pipe with suspected drug residue was found when he was searched, according to the sheriff’s office. Hooker was booked into the Lewis County Jail.

OUTBREAK OF GRAFFITI

• A Chehalis police officer on patrol yesterday took numerous reports of graffiti spray painted on garages, beginning on the 700 block of Southwest McFadden Avenue. Noted were various letters in black such as TDG as well as least one using green and orange paint, according to the Chehalis Police Department. Other locations included the 700 block of Southwest Pacific Avenue, the 500 block of Southwest Chehalis Avenue, the 600 and 700 blocks of Southwest William Avenue and also Southwest Sixth Street, according to police.

• Centralia police took two reports yesterday of gang-style graffiti, the first on a garage door on the 300 block of South Buckner Street and the other on a building at the 300 block of South Diamond Street.

Vader man off the hook for father’s death

Monday, February 25th, 2013

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Prosecutors will be notifying a 27-year-old Vader man they’ve decided not to charge him in his father’s November death, a death that occurred two days after Travis M. Myers shoved his 52-year-old father who fell and hit his head on a concrete sidewalk.

It’s just not clear if the injury killed him.

Michael K. Myers, 52, passed away on Thanksgiving Day at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle where he had been airlifted following his injury outside a Morton motel.

Police at the time said the son had stepped in between his parents during a fight. The mother had just gotten arrested for allegedly being drunk behind the wheel of a car and the father was described as stumbling down drunk.

Lewis County Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher said the autopsy report came back and indicated Michael K. Myers died from a brain aneurysm, a burst blood vessel in his head.

“We can’t link it for sure,” Meagher said this morning.

The King County Medical Examiner’s Office concluded the senior Myers died from a brain hemorrhage. It’s unknown if the external events contributed to a rupture of the aneurysm, according to the death certificate.

The death certificate was finalized late last month; Meagher notified the Morton Police Department on Friday he is declining to charge a crime in the case.

The family is from Vader and the two men had gone to the Seasons Motel to pick up the mother who had taken a room there after her arrest by a trooper.

Travis Myers was arrested for second-degree assault the day after the incident, and the prosecutor’s office asked a judge to release him on a $25,000 unsecured bond as they contemplated a possible charge of  second-degree manslaughter.

Meagher said part of his decision involved the issue of self defense and defense of others. Police reports indicated the father shoved the mother and then the son shoved the father. And, the father had also fallen down twice earlier that night, Meagher said.

“That, combined with the forensic problem, we can’t justify charging the kid,” Meagher said.

Meagher said this morning he will be contacting the young man with the news.

The underlying cause of death is listed as a probable cerebral artery aneurysm; the manner of death will remain listed as undetermined, according to the KCME Office.

According to the National Institutes of Health, it’s not clear exactly what causes aneurysms; some are present at birth.
•••

For background, read “Vader man released from jail as prosecutor ponders charges in father’s death” from Tuesday November 27, 2012, here

News brief: Human remains found three years ago finally ID’d as Toledo man

Monday, February 25th, 2013

Updated at 11:35 a.m.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The skeletal remains found in a Toledo-area field in February 2010 have been positively identified as Travis Seeber, 35, of Toledo, the Lewis County Coroner announced this morning.

DNA was used to figure out who they belonged to, according to Coroner Warren McLeod.

The cause and manner of Seeber’s death are still undetermined, McLeod said in a news release.

The remains were found on Feb. 18, 2010 by a child playing on property near the 100 block of Cougar Lane. At the time, the sheriff’s office said there did not appear to be any foul play.

Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said deputies had been looking for Seeber since 2008 when they responded to a felony assault in which he was a suspect south of Winlock and soon after found his truck abandoned off Cougar Lane.

Seeber had allegedly groped an 18-year-old babysitter and waved a pistol when she awoke, but then apologized and fled. His driver’s license was found on the seat of his vehicle and a tracking dog did not find him.

The coroner, the sheriff’s office and a forensic anthropologist from the King County Medical Examiner’s Office are working together to come up with answers about the cause and manner of death, according to McLeod.

The sheriff’s office still don’t believe any foul play was involved in his death, Brown said this morning.

McLeod said he doesn’t know when the death occurred because of the skeletal condition of the remains.

DNA samples were sent to a lab at the University of North Texas, a lab that handles only non criminal cases and conducts the analysis free of charge, according to McLeod.