Archive for April, 2013

Lewis County jury convicts Centralia gang member of assault on teen

Friday, April 26th, 2013

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A jury took less than an hour today to convict accused gang member Joshua Rhoades as charged, for a roughly 30 to 40 second fight earlier this year on a Centralia street in which a 17-year-old boy was knocked unconscious.

Rhoades, 32, told police he was the one who got jumped, after three young men rushed his car at South Tower Avenue and Cherry Street the night of Jan. 31.

The trial in Lewis County Superior Court began Wednesday. A panel of six men and six women began deliberations about 2:15 p.m. today.

Prosecutors said Rhoades jumped out of a car, flashing gang signs and asking the teen and his friends if they knew who he was and if they were  rival “Nortenos”. The teenager Dustin McLean testified on Wednesday that Rhoades held a closed knife in his fist as he struck him.

The brief brawl included two of Rhoades’ companions as well as at least two of the three boys. McLean said he was hit well over 20 times.

Rhoades was convicted of second-degree assault, with a deadly weapon enhancement and a so-called aggravator that the incident was intended to enhance Rhoades’ affiliation in a street gang. The finding means he faces the possibility of getting sentenced to the maximum of 10 years in prison.

Police say the Centralia resident belongs to the LVL and goes by the street name Spooker.

Defense attorney Chris Baum argued that at worst the conduct was misdemeanor assault, as he described in closing statements the mark or abrasion on the teen’s face didn’t amount to substantial bodily injury.

One of the other participants, Michael J. Daily, 25, was also charged with second-degree assault but has made a deal with prosecutors, according to Baum.

Judge James Lawler handled the case.

Rhoades will be back before a judge next Thursday to set a date for sentencing.

News brief: Clean out your medicine cabinet, maybe save a life

Friday, April 26th, 2013

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

After collecting more than 1,000 tons of expired and unwanted prescription medications at previous events over the past three years, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration will hold a national drug take back day tomorrow.

In Rochester, containers of old meds can be dropped off between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., according to the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office.

The idea is to prevent abuse, addiction and even death from theft, diversion, accidental ingestion and misuse, according to the DEA.

The number of people across the country abusing prescription drugs is higher than than those using cocaine, heroin and hallucinogens combined, officials say. The majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet, according to surveys of users.

They can be delivered tomorrow to the collection site at the ROOF Community Resource Center in Rochester on the corner of U.S. Highway 12 and Bend Street  SW, according to the sheriff’s office.

In Lewis County, four local drop off sites were established late in 2010.

Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Friday, April 26th, 2013

Updated at 7:34 p.m.

HIT AND RUN

• Just before 1 a.m. today, a Centralia police officer noticed a parked vehicle with significant damage that appeared fresh at the 300 block of Harrison Avenue. A suspect vehicle was located a few blocks away, but officers are still investigating to figure out who the driver was, according to the Centralia Police Department.

FUNNY MONEY

• An officer was called to Chehalis City Hall yesterday afternoon about the receipt of two counterfeit $20 bills. They were taken into evidence, according to police.

VEHICLE PROWL

• Police were called about 4:15 p.m. yesterday to the 700 block of South Pearl Street in Centralia regarding two tool boxes taken from a van in a carport there.

VANDALISM

• Police were called to a restroom at the Fairway Shopping Center on South Gold Street in Centralia yesterday for graffiti in which someone posted an individual’s name and phone number and suggesting folks call to tell that person to tell them to tell Obama to keep his filthy hands off other people’s guns.

WRECKS

• Centralia police and aid responded to a rear end collision at noon yesterday at the 700 block of West Main Street in which the rear window of one of the vehicles was broken out by its driver’s head. He was treated by medics, according to Riverside Fire Authority.

• A driver escaped without serious injuries when his vehicle left U.S. Highway 12 just east of the Mayfield Lake bridge, hit the ditch and rolled up onto its top yesterday, according to Lewis County Fire District 8. Firefighters called just before 5 p.m. said the lone occupant declined treatment.

• A collision around 6:15 a.m. on southbound Interstate 5 near the Napavine interchange blocked the left lane and shoulder for a period of time this morning, according to the Washington State Department of Transportation. A Toyota pickup ran into the median causing minor damage to the truck, something that seemed to have followed the driver suffering a medical problem, according to Lewis County Fire District 5. A trooper started CPR which medics continued all the way to Providence Centralia Hospital, District 5 Firefighter Brad Bozarth said. The Washington State Patrol reported that Michael E. Seifert, 61, of Onalaska, died. His truck scraped along the jersey barrier for approximately 600 feet before coming to a stop, according to the state patrol.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for misdemeanor assault, warrant; reports of misdemeanor theft, parking lot fender benders; responses for burglar alarms, suspicious circumstances … an individual who called to report a threatening note found on her car while she was inside Wal-Mart regarding leaving her dog in the vehicle … and more. (Looks like it’s nearly the end of a practically drama-free week around Lewis County.)

Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Thursday, April 25th, 2013

Updated at 7:04 p.m.

SKILLET ATTACK REPORTED

• Centralia police were called just after 11 p.m. yesterday to the 3000 block of Borst Avenue where a woman said her 18-year-old daughter hit her with a frying pan. The daughter was not located and the investigation continues, according to the Centralia Police Department. Sgt. Kurt Reichert said the victim had a minor bruise on her cheek.

ALLEGED BONG-SMOKING BABY’S MOTHER IN TROUBLE

• Centralia police yesterday arrested the mother accused of giving her toddler a hit off a bong for violating a protection order. Rachelle L. Braaten, 24, is free on bail pending trial in the case that caught the attention of a worldwide audience with a cell phone video last month that prosecutors claim shows her allowing her 2-year-old to smoke marijuana from a water pipe. Braaten is prohibited by court order from contacting the boy, but officers were tipped off about 9 p.m. yesterday she was at the home on the 1400 block of Delaware Avenue in north Centralia, according to the Centralia Police Department. She was discovered hiding in a closet, Sgt. Kurt Reichert said. Braaten was arrested and then released.

ATTEMPTED BREAK-IN

• A deputy was called about 8:15 p.m. yesterday to the 100 block of Pinkerton Road in Ethel following the discovery someone had pried a lock off a door to a garage-shop building. The person taking care of the property for its owner thought it had occurred sometime after April 13 and didn’t believe anything had been stolen, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

‘SURVIVORMAN’ IN LEWIS COUNTY WILDERNESS AREA

• The missing survivalist thought to be lost in  the Capitol Forest is alive and well in a wilderness area near Morton, according to the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office. The Lacey man was dropped off in the woods last Thursday by his wife, according to kirotv.com, and a search was conducted when he didn’t return home on Monday. The sheriff’s office notes via Twitter, that Scott Garrow said he left of his own free will.

SUPER FIRE DEPARTMENT GAINING TRACTION

• Effective immediately, Riverside Fire Authority Chief Jim Walkowski will oversee the Chehalis Fire Department as well as his own in Centralia. Walkowski said his board of commissioners last night approved the agreement, already given the thumbs up by officials in Chehalis. Chehalis’s Chief Kelvin Johnson retired this week after five years at the helm.

ANOTHER ARREST MADE IN ADNA SHOTGUN CASE

• The Raymond woman who authorities say concocted the plan that led to a shotgun incident in an Adna parking lot last week has been arrested. Amalia L. Copp was booked into the Lewis County Jail yesterday afternoon after she was apprehended in Pacific County. Prosecutors allege an acquaintance of hers fired at a car being driven by her ex-boyfriend outside at the 76 station on state Route 6 the morning of April 16. Gilbert Borquez, 36, was arrested two days later and then charged with first-degree assault, drive by shooting, second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm and possession of an illegal firearm. Copp, 43, faces identical charges. Court documents state she was trying to get back her rental car from her ex-boyfriend who stole it. A judge this afternoon ordered her held on $100,000 bail. Lewis County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Will Halstead said she masterminded the plans, and that even though Gilbert Borquez fired the sawed off shotgun, Copp is charged as an accomplice. Halstead  declined to say if the alleged victim and vehicle have been located, answering this afternoon with a “maybe.”

ALSO FROM THE COURTHOUSE

• Prosecutors have made an offer for a plea arrangement to the pair of brothers arrested in January after a marijuana growing operation was discovered in their Seminary Hill Road home. Zeshawn H. Hasnani, 27, and Sohail Hasnani, 24, allegedly sold their product to medical marijuana dispensaries and have been jailed since their Jan. 10 arrest. Defense attorney Douglas Hiatt told a judge today the offer was conveyed to the men and they’d be contemplating it over the next week. The brothers and their lawyers were in Lewis County Superior Court this afternoon for a review hearing. They are scheduled to appear before a judge again next Thursday afternoon.

BONUS QUOTE OF THE DAY

• “You’ll see me in court.” – Angry parting words to a judge from a woman unhappy with his ruling on her request this afternoon in Lewis County Superior Court.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, driving with suspended licenses; reports of stolen bicycles; responses for burglar alarms, reports of misdemeanor assault, landlord-tenant issues … and more.

Trial in Centralia gang beating opens with testimony from teen victim

Wednesday, April 24th, 2013

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A 17-year-old Rochester boy testified today he was fighting for his life when he was jumped by purported gang member Joshua Rhoades and two others in Centralia in late January.

Dustin McLean said he saw a 4-inch closed knife in Rhoades’ fist, was pulled to the ground by a female, punched by a taller white guy and then beaten and kicked.

“I was hit well over 20 times,” McLean said.

The Centralia College student was the first witness in the trial that began today in Lewis County Superior Court in Chehalis. Rhoades, 32, is charged with second-degree assault.

Deputy Prosecutor Joely O’Rourke contended in opening statements the teen was minding his own business walking to the store at night with friends when a car carrying a trio of strangers stopped near them at Fuller’s Market on South Tower Avenue looking for trouble.

O’Rourke told jurors the reason for the attack was to further Rhoades’ (aka Spooker) affiliation in the street gang, LVL.

Prosecutors have alleged in charging documents that Rhoades jumped out of a green Ford Taurus flashing gang signs, asking the teen and his friends if they were  rival “Nortenos” as he held a knife; and that he initiated a fight in which the 17-year-old was knocked unconscious.

Defense attorney Chris Baum cross examined McLean, questioning how he could possibly positively identify a knife in the dark that was held in a closed hand, why he told police he didn’t want aid and why he told a doctor he wasn’t knocked out.

Twelve jurors plus one alternate, comprised of six men and seven women, are hearing the case that is set to continue into the end of the week. Judge James Lawler is presiding.

•••

For background, read “Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup – ALLEGED GANG MEMBER DENIES BEATING TEEN” from Thursday February 7, 2013, here

Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Wednesday, April 24th, 2013

FRAUD ATTEMPT ON ELDERLY WOMAN

• Chehalis police were called yesterday afternoon by a woman who said her mother went to Western Union at Shop ‘N Kart to wire money to an impostor who had phoned and said he was her grandson being held at a police department until he could pay the repair bill following a rear end collision he caused. “Her children were able to catch it before the transaction, thank goodness,” detective Sgt. Gary WIlson said. Wilson called it a typical scam, which is widespread and nearly cost the woman who is in her 80s $1,885.

THEFT FROM FRONT PORCH

• Two old wooden bar stools were removed from a front porch at the 200 block of North Diamond Street in Centralia, according to a report made to police at mid-morning yesterday.

OTHER THEFT

• A tool box was reported stolen yesterday afternoon from the 500 block of South Silver Street in Centralia.

• Centralia police took a report about 12:40 a.m. today of a wallet stolen from a locker at a health club at the 2000 block of Borst Avenue.

VANDALISM

• Centralia police were called again yesterday morning to the 100 block of Virginia Drive regarding vehicle tire issues. This time a subject reported their tire was slashed.

NOT AN ASSAULT

• Chehalis police were called just before 7 p.m. yesterday to an alley off of Southwest Lewis Street where a witness thought they saw a male hit a female with a car, knocking her down. The female told an arriving officer he tried to drive away, she got her hand hung up in the car and fell in a mud puddle, according to the Chehalis Police Department. Nobody was arrested.

NO ROOM AT THE INN, OR THE POLICE DEPARTMENT

• Chehalis police were called about 3 o’clock this morning from a  registered sex offender at a downtown bus shelter who said he was kicked out of where he had been staying, was very cold and inquired if he could sleep at the police station. Detective Sgt. Gary WIlson said he didn’t know how this particular call turned out but said officers commonly attempt to find a shelter or organization which can assist in those cases.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, misdemeanor assault, misdemeanor theft; responses for disputes, burglar alarms; complaints of harassment; vehicle tire punctured, barking neighbor dogs … and more.

Read about man playing “Survivorman” missing in Capitol Forest …

Wednesday, April 24th, 2013

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Kirotv.com reports search efforts are expected to resume this morning for a 47-year-old man who didn’t return home from testing his “Survivorman” skills in the Capitol Forest.

Scott Garrow, of Lacey, was dropped off on Thursday morning and due home Monday morning, according to Kirotv.com

Read more here

Update at 8:19 a.m.: Search suspended