Archive for December, 2013

Sirens news highlights – and lowlights – from 2013

Tuesday, December 31st, 2013

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

What might the next 12 months bring on the streets, the backroads and in the courtrooms of Lewis County?

Imagine a week with no drug arrests or domestic violence, a month with no thievery or assault and what about a year without any violent deaths? How about no house fires?

While sharing the details from the world of cops, courts and fire departments, I have to confess at least some of my motivation is perhaps so some of us can learn some small something so if we end up in the news, it is for something wondrous and inspiring instead of Sharyn’s Sirens Roundup.

Here is a look back at some of the stories that topped the Sirens news during the year. If any of them bring to mind words of wisdom to share with the rest of us, please offer your thoughts in the comment section.

If any prompt predictions of what 2014 could hold, those would be nice to hear as well.

JANUARY

The year 2013 began with first-degree theft charges filed against the owners of Birdwell Brothers Auto Sales, alleging the couple used various deceptions to avoid paying back the Centralia-based Security State Bank for loans for vehicles, with losses alleged in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Keith A. Birdwell, 47, and Lorrine D. Birdwell, 44, pleaded not guilty.

The Toledo residents who operated the used car business with sites in Centralia and Lacey are awaiting separate trials early in 2014. The “bad checks” issue against Lorrine Birdwell has been dismissed.

FEBRUARY

The following month, a 24-year-old rural Chehalis resident shot and injured a nighttime intruder inside his house and was highly praised by the sheriff, except for that he didn’t fire more shots, fire sooner and use better ammunition.

Brian L. Creed, 51, who was high on methamphetamine when he encountered the just-awakened young man in the home on Highway 603 subsequently pleaded guilty to first-degree burglary, and read aloud an apology before he was sentenced to just shy of three years in prison.

MARCH

Almost a year after losing her 2-year-old daughter to torturous sexual abuse of a new live-in boyfriend, Becky M. Heupel of Centralia faced a judge, accused of failing to protect the little girl.

The 31-year-old subsequently pleaded guilty to second-degree criminal mistreatment, agreeing to pay with one year and a day of prison time for not acting on clues something was amiss.

Two-year-old Koralynn Fister died from drowning and head trauma while in the care of James M. Reeder, who was convicted but denied he was responsible.

APRIL

A school bus carrying the Toledo-Winlock High School soccer team went airborne off Interstate 5 and came to rest wheels down at the bottom of a ravine on the night of April 9, with no serious injuries but conflicting reports as to whether its brakes failed.

Ronnie Withrow, the 53-year-old driver was praised by responders for guiding the 2009 Thomas full-sized yellow bus between a sign and a guard rail at the northbound exit to state Route 505.

An inspector with the Washington State Patrol found no mechanical failures although Withrow said the brakes went out. His ticket for failing to stop at the stop sign was eventually dismissed  replaced by an infraction for moving a defective vehicle.

MAY

Lewis County Superior Court Judge Richard Brosey blasted board members of the Lewis County Historical Museum when he sentenced its former executive director for stealing at least $124,000 during her time at the helm.

Deborah Sue Knapp, 53, was given 14 months after pleading guilty to multiple counts of first-degree theft, apparently having routinely issued herself extra salary through payroll draws and using the museum debit card for personal expenses.

Knapp was arrested at the end of 2011 after revelations the non-profit’s endowment fund of more than $460,000 was drained, attributed mostly to the museum living beyond its means.

JUNE

Some 25 law enforcement personnel took part in an operation in which numerous individuals in Randle were arrested following a months-long drug investigation.

The so-called Big Bottom Bust netted 10, seven of which were accused of selling mostly small amounts of methamphetamine with plea deals made in light of an unreliable informant with mental health issues.

JULY

A 48-year-old Chehalis area mother of two teenage daughters was beaten to death by her boyfriend, who initially told a story of wrecking his truck on a logging road near Morton, as they tried to escape three assailants.

Corey R. Morgan, 32, had been sentenced just two days earlier for a previous incident of domestic violence against Brenda Bail.

After Morgan pleaded guilty, his lawyer told the court both were bi-polar, both taking medication and both decided to go out drinking together. Then a judge sentenced him to just short of 23 years in prison.

AUGUST

A 39-year-old woman died eight days after she suffered burns in a fire in a Vader house fire, which had no electricity or running water.

Jeannette Dunivan-Spain told a deputy she tried to knock down flames from a knocked over candle that woke her up.

The one-time May Day queen from Vader suffered second-degree burns that led to an infection which killed her.

SEPTEMBER

A 59-year-old motorcyclist who was struck by a bolt of lightning managed to pull off Interstate 5 into a Chehalis gas station and then delay his ambulance ride to the hospital while he arranged safekeeping for his bike.

Medics found minor burns on the side of the Tenino resident’s head and inside his helmet.

OCTOBER

A huge news story from 1985 resurfaced last year and then dominated the local news scene with the six-week trial regarding the abduction and slayings of an elderly Ethel couple, Ed and Minnie Maurin.

Prosecutors persuaded a jury that former Mossyrock resident Ricky A. Riffe at the very least was an accomplice to their other longtime suspect who was deceased, the defendant’s younger brother John Gregory Riffe.

With no DNA evidence or fingerprints, but with nearly 100 individuals testifying, Riffe was convicted as charged in the case in which the Maurin’s were apparently forced to drive to their Chehalis bank and withdraw a sizable amount of cash before being shot in their backs and dumped on a logging road.

NOVEMBER

The Riffe trial ran into November and the 55-year-old, through his attorney, continued to deny he was responsible when he was sentenced to 103 years in prison.

DECEMBER

Two brothers were charged after a raid of a Chehalis area home on Jackson Highway turned up freezer bags containing about $200,000 worth of methamphetamine, with crystals as long as a Sharpie felt pen.

The arrests of Randall D. Mauel, 42, and Ryan G. Mauel, 37, came out of fast-moving investigation by narcotics detectives in Thurston County within 24 hours of the local arrival of the drugs, which included  two baggies filled with heroin.

JANUARY 2014

Fill in the blank. Please feel free to offer your predictions for what’s possible during the coming calendar year.

Read about confrontation at Westport Winery draws law enforcement …

Tuesday, December 31st, 2013
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Courtesy photo by Rickie Lehto

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

The (Aberdeen) Daily World reports an investigation is underway in connection with an incident in which a Rochester man tangled with the owner of the Westport Winery, beginning possibly with his son urinating behind the building and ending with a pistol drawn.

News reporter Brionna Friedrich writes Derek Johnson of Rochester, his son, Drew Johnson of Tumwater, and the son’s girlfriend Rickie Lehto stopped at the winery after clam digging on Sunday afternoon; that deputies were called by its owners, one of whom displayed a firearm.

Kim Roberts in a prepared statement claimed they were trespassers who tried to run Blain Roberts over prompting the former Spokane County Sheriff’s Office reserve deputy to raise his firearm in self defense, but none of the parties wanted to pursue charges, according to Friedrich.

The Grays Harbor County Sheriff’s Office is investigating.
•••

Read about it here

Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Tuesday, December 31st, 2013

ARMED VICTIM FOILS CARJACKING

• A Chehalis man thwarted an attempted car jacking yesterday evening by pulling a pistol from his hip, scaring the would-be robber away. Police said the 22-year-old was parked behind the library on Northeast Washington Avenue looking at his phone when just after 6 p.m., a male pretending to have a weapon in his jacket, reached through the partially open window of the Jeep Cherokee and said “Surprise n*****, give me your car,” according to police. The subject saw the weapon come up and ran, according to the Chehalis Police Department. Officers checked the area but did not find their suspect, Officer Linda Bailey said. He is described as about 5-feet 8-inches tall, with dark hair wearing a dark jacket and blue jeans, according to Bailey. Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call police or Lewis County Crime Stoppers, Bailey said.

CAR PROWL

• Centralia police took a report yesterday of a vehicle prowl from the 3200 block of Galvin Road in which a bag containing an iPad was taken. The vehicle had been unlocked, according to the Centralia Police Department.

VANDALISM

• Someone slashed two tires on a vehicle parked outside a residence on the 400 block of North Ash Street in Centralia, according to a report made to police just after 8 p.m. yesterday.

COLLISION

• A stretch of roadway in Centralia was closed this morning after a motorist ran onto a fire hydrant at about 6:30 a.m. Police and aid called to the area where West Main Street turns into Harrison Avenue found the Chehalis man was not injured but the “leaking” flooded the street for a period of time, according to the Centralia Police Department.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants;
responses for alarm, shoplifting, violation of no contact order, trespassing, inquiry about a protection order, subject digging through a dumpster … and more.

Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Monday, December 30th, 2013
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The driver escaped before his car went up in smoke. / Courtesy image by Carl Weiks

DRIVER ESCAPES CAR FIRE

• A column of smoke rising from Interstate 5 north of Centralia yesterday was a burning passenger car. Firefighters called about 3:30 p.m. to the southbound shoulder near the Lewis-Thurston county line extinguished the fire, according to Riverside Fire Authority. “From what I understand, the operator was just driving along, noticed smoke coming from under the hood and pulled over,” Capt. Greg Schwartz said. The driver began to remove some of his belongings from the vehicle and had to be checked by medics, but was okay, Schwartz said. An electrical issue was suspected, the car was destroyed, he said.

BURGLARY

• Chehalis police were called about 9:30 p.m. yesterday about medication stolen from the 1100 block of Southeast Washington Avenue from an unlocked residence.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, driving under the influence, driving with suspended license, shoplifting; responses for alarm, disputes, suspicious circumstances, runaway teen, series of loud booms, individual threatening suicide, child playing on phone and dialing 911, delusional neighbor without medicine, suspected theft of a can of “chew” that subsequently turned up, intoxicated guy pounding on the door of a residence with his pants around his ankles … and more.

Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Sunday, December 29th, 2013
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Police apprehend a man who ran off from them at the AM/PM gas station on 13th Street in Chehalis. / Courtesy photo by Angie Denney

Updated

MAN FLEES POLICE, ONTO FREEWAY

• Traffic came to a halt as police chased a detainee who slipped away from them at a gas station on 13th Street in Chehalis and ran onto Interstate 5 crossing nearly to the opposite shoulder before he was taken into custody yesterday. It began about 10:20 a.m. when Chehalis police got a call from Green Hill School giving them a heads up about an employee acting strangely and being made to leave the juvenile detention facility, according to police. Less than an hour later, a 911 caller said the man was behind the counter at the AM/PM across the street and wouldn’t leave, according to Sgt. Rick McNamara. The approximately 6-foot 7-inch tall individual was acting as though he worked there and was scaring people, Sgt. Gary Wilson said. Arriving officers attempted to Tase him, but he jumped over the counter and ran off, police said. He headed northbound on foot, crossed the center barrier and was trying to stop cars. “He was non-compliant and not completely with it,” Wilson said. Finally, as an officer pointed a bean bag shotgun at him in the center of the freeway, he did what he was told, according to Wilson. Wellington M. Waggener, 24, of Centralia, was taken to the hospital to be cleared and then was booked into the Lewis County Jail for obstructing and resisting arrest, according to police.

TRUCK SWITCH INVESTIGATED

• Centralia police took a report yesterday afternoon of a blue 2003 Ford F-350 pickup stolen from where it was parked on Caveness near the 1200 block of Harrison Avenue. Nearby, they found an abandoned white Ford pickup which turned out to be stolen from Portland, Ore., leading them to suspect a connection, according to the Centralia Police Department.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for driving under the influence, driving with suspended license, misdemeanor assault; responses for collision, protection order violation, possible burglary and misdemeanor theft including a three-wheeled, pedal-powered Green Machine from a yard on the 300 block of Wilding Street in Centralia  … and more.

•••

CORRECTION: The item about the 24-year-old man chased onto the freeway has been updated to reflect the correct timing of events.

Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Saturday, December 28th, 2013

Updated at 10:40 a.m.

CAT SURVIVES TWO-STORY FALL DOWN CHIMNEY

• The sound of prancing and pawing on the roof was not reindeer and the one dressed all in fur from his head to his foot who dropped down the chimney was not Santa. Firefighters were called yesterday afternoon to a two-story house on the 300 block of South Gold Street in Centralia, asked to help remove a family pet from inside a chimney. “I was a little hesitant because it was kind of out of the scope of what we normally do,” Riverside Fire Authority Capt. Scott Snyder said. But after talking with the young woman, he knew they could probably help, he said this morning. On Christmas Day, they heard meowing inside the flu, Snyder said. The cat apparently sleeps on top of the chimney and had fallen about 25 feet, he said. The teenage owner of the 9-year-old kitty was ready for them to tear apart the fireplace and chimney, but it was hand built with river rock and volcanic rock, and was something that could not easily be repaired, according to Snyder. “We did a little detective work, dismantled the propane heater fireplace insert, removed some flashing and fished the cat out,” he said. The feline had been resting on a shelf inside the flu, miraculously keeping warm but not succumbing to carbon monoxide poisoning as the heater had been run, according to Snyder. The cat was a little sooty, a little scared, but otherwise fine, Snyder said. “He managed to come out in pretty good condition,” he said. “That family was very happy.”

THEFT

• Centralia police were called about 10:30 a.m. yesterday to the parking lot of a motel on the 1000 block of Eckerson Road following the discovery someone had broken into a Schwan’s frozen food delivery truck. The prowler had forced open the doors and left with $300 worth of product, according to the Centralia Police Department.

• A 6-foot by 10-foot utility trailer was reported stolen yesterday from the 800 block of E Street in Centralia.

• Police took a report about 6:30 p.m. from the 100 block of Benjamin Street in Centralia regarding a package containing gifts which had been stolen off a porch.

DRUGS

• A 23-year-old Centralia man was arrested for possession of methamphetamine and an outstanding warrant following contact with an officer about 10:40 p.m. yesterday at the 800 block of Harrison Avenue in Centralia, according to the Centralia Police Department. Jacob D. Holmgren was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to police.

PEDESTRIAN HIT ON FREEWAY NEAR VADER

• A Longview man is listed in good condition after he was struck by a van on Interstate 5 near Vader this morning. Troopers called about 7:10 a.m. to the area near milepost 58 report a 31-year-old Winlock man driving a 2005 Ford work van southbound moved to the right when he saw the pedestrian come out from the center median area. The pedestrian ran to the westside ditch and then back into the lane where he was hit, according to the Washington State Patrol. John R. Church, 38, of Longview, was transported to Providence Centralia Hospital, according to the state patrol. The investigating trooper reports it’s unknown if drugs or alcohol may have been involved. No citation or charges are expected for the driver.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, driving under the influence, driving with suspended license; responses for collisions … and more.

Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup

Friday, December 27th, 2013

CAR STOLEN FROM U.S. TREASURY STOPPED IN CHEHALIS

• Police descended upon the Chehalis Industrial Park area last night after a teenager fled a stolen car pulled over on Interstate 5. Trooper Tara Hicks said it was around 6:20 p.m. when she stopped the northbound vehicle near milepost 73 for failing to keep right except for passing. There were four occupants, but one of them ran away, according to Hicks. A Chehalis police dog and its partner subsequently located the 18-year-old suspect – from Antioch, Calif. – in the area of Jackson Highway and Rush Road, police said. He was taken to the hospital to be treated and was booked into the Lewis County Jail along with two others. A juvenile male was booked at the Lewis County Juvenile Detention Center. Hicks said the 2007 Buick Lucerne belonged to the U.S. Department of the Treasury, and was listed stolen out of Pittburg, Calif. Prosecutors declined to file charges and the three adults were scheduled to be released from jail this afternoon. Hicks said the investigation is ongoing.

DRUGS

• A 33-year-old Centralia resident was arrested for possession of methamphetamine and an outstanding warrant following contact with an officer about 5 o’clock this morning at the 600 block of Harrison Avenue in Centralia, according to the Centralia Police Department. Jesse T. Anderson was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to police.

VEHICLE PROWL

• Centralia police took a report yesterday from the 1400 block of Logan Street regarding a car prowl that occurred sometime during the night on Monday. A purse was stolen, according to the Centralia Police Department.

VANDALISM

• Someone poured antifreeze into the gas tank of a car at the 100 block of Mayfield Court near Mossyrock sometime between 5:30 p.m. on Sunday and 6 a.m. yesterday, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The damage is estimated at $4,000, according to the sheriff’s office.

• Someone broke out the rear window of a car at the 1800 block of North Pearl Street in Centralia, according to a report made to police yesterday morning.

AND MORE

• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, driving under the influence; responses for alarm, disorderliness, protection order violation, misdemeanor theft, suspicious circumstances … and more.