CHEHALIS WOMAN OUT $5,500 IN SCAM
• The sheriff’s office this morning reported a 71-year-old Chehalis woman was tricked into wiring thousands of dollars to a stranger who convinced her that her grandson was in jail in Mexico and needed bail money. A deputy who contacted the victim yesterday was told she sent $5,500 via Western Union, over a three-day period ending on Saturday, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The Bishop Road resident subsequently learned her grandson had not even been in Mexico, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said. Brown said it’s unlikely the money can be recovered as the woman did not know where the call even originated from.
THEFT
• Officers were called just before 2 o’clock this morning to an attempted break-in at a store in north Centralia. When police arrived at the 200 block of Downing Road, pry marks were found on a door and surveillance video showed several subjects must have been scared off when an alarm sounded, according to Officer John Panco.
• Centralia police were called about 7:40 a.m. today to a car prowl on the 500 block of Woodland Avenue. A checkbook was taken, according to the Centralia Police Department.
• Mail was stolen from a vehicle when its windows were broken out overnight, according to a report made to police yesterday from the 100 block of Jalyn Street in Centralia.
UNRULY CITIZENS
• Three people were arrested for misdemeanor possession of marijuana and one of them for resisting arrest about 1:30 p.m. yesterday at the 700 block of Harrison Avenue in Centralia, according to police. Niko J. Wilson, 19, of Centralia, would not exit the vehicle when told to do so and after he was pulled out continued to try to avoid being handcuffed, according to Officer John Panco. Wilson was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to police. A 21-year-old from Olympia and the 20-year-old driver from Centralia were released after being cited, according to the Centralia Police Department.
• After police were called to the 1200 block of Alder Street in Centralia yesterday morning to a report of someone possibly trying to hurt themselves, officers arrested a 43-year-old Centralia woman for obstruction. Officers had ordered her to leave the home because they wanted to get inside and she was in their way, Officer John Panco said.
UNWANTED HOUSE GUEST
• A Chehalis resident called police when she discovered someone might be living in her basement. An officer responding to the home on Northeast Franklin Avenue on Saturday was told the woman found items there that did not belong to her, such as a sleeping bag and bedding, according to police Sgt. Gary Wilson.
WRECK
• A 31-year-old driver was arrested for driving under the influence last night after he drove off the road and into a power pole in Winlock. The approximately 8 p.m. wreck on the 1400 block of Ferrier Road left the vehicle with only minor damage, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Jesse L. Peppers, of Winlock, told a deputy he was reaching for something in his glove box and when he looked up, he was hitting the pole, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown.
WINLOCK GARAGE CATCHES FIRE
• It was likely spontaneous combustion amongst items left on a floor that ignited a fire inside a Winlock garage yesterday. Lewis County Fire District 15 was alerted by a police officer on patrol to smoke and flames coming from a structure on the 300 block of Northwest Benton Avenue at about 2:40 p.m., according to Assistant Fire Chief Kevin Anderson. It was extinguished with one hose and did not spread to the rest of the house, according to Anderson. Nobody was injured and the garage’s contents sustained just minor heat damage, Anderson wrote in a news release.