Updated at 2:32 p.m.
THREE-CAR WRECK INVOLVES TWO POLICE CARS
• A Winlock resident reportedly escaped any injury when his car was hit early this morning by a police car in Longview. Troopers were called just after 5 a.m. to the 300 block of Oregon Way when a Longview police officer responding to a call was following too closely behind another responding police officer, according to the Washington State Patrol. Officer Brian M. Nevels, 28, ran into Leslie C. Auman’s Volkswagen Jetta and then into the rear of the other police car, according to the state patrol. No one was hurt and the damage to Nevel’s and Auman’s vehicles was described simply as “reportable” by the state patrol. The cause was determined to be following too closely.
POSSIBLE MOTEL ROOM STABBING
• Centralia police responded to a report of a possible stabbing at a motel the 1300 block of Lakeshore Drive at about 4:40 p.m. on Saturday and found a 22-year-old man with an approximately 2-inch gash on his forearm. The motel guest said he fell and cut himself on a broken liquor bottle in his room but officers were seeking his 56-year-old girlfriend to confirm the story, according to the Centralia Police Department. The 22-year-old was taken to Providence Centralia Hospital, according to police.
TRUCK REPORTED STOLEN TURNS UP NEAR HIT AND RUN ACCIDENT
• Centralia police took a report of a truck stolen from Orton Street in Centralia this morning at about the same time troopers were called about a hit and run south of Tumwater. The truck’s owner, found at his brother’s house on 143rd Avenue near Tenino, said he called 911 after he asked his brother to pick him up and take him to work, according to the Centralia Police Department. Since the description of the owner was similar to the description of the truck driver in the hit and run, and the truck was discovered in the brother’s back yard, the 29-year-old Centralia man is being questioned further, Sgt. Carl Buster said. The 29-year-old was booked by the state patrol for hit and run and may be charged in Centralia with making a false statement to an officer, according to police. His 31-year-old brother faces the same possible charge for statements he allegedly made, police said.
FOUND STOLEN HONDA, MINUS STEREO
• The owner of a car that vanished early Thursday from in front of a Centralia home spotted it yesterday parked at South King Street and Centralia College Boulevard, according to police. An officer called just after 5 p.m. noted the silver 1997 Honda Civic was filthy, had been rummaged through and its stereo was gone, according to the Centralia Police Department. The vehicle started right up and was turned over the victim, according to police. Sgt. Carl Buster said he wasn’t certain, but believed it was found parked in the driveway of an uninhabited residence.
MAN ARRESTED FOR PROWLING AROUND
• Police responding to an alarm about 6 a.m. yesterday found a 28-year-old Centralia man inside a fenced compound at the 1200 block of North Tower Avenue. Ryan E. Morehouse old officers he had gone there to smoke pot out of view of the public but a laptop computer taken from inside one of the nearby parked trucks was discovered hidden under a pallet by the fence, according to Sgt. Carl Buster. Morehouse was arrested for second-degree burglary and booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department.
STOLEN CREDIT CARD LANDS MOTEL GUEST IN JAIL
• Police following up on a report of someone using a stolen credit to check into a motel on the 1000 block of Eckerson Road on Friday arrested a 49-year-old Olympia man for credit card fraud. Jeffrey Marchell was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department.
MOM REPORTS HANDSY TEEN
• A mother called Centralia police about 3:30 p.m. yesterday to say a 15-year-old boy grabbed her 14-year-old daughter’s behind while at Fort Borst Park. Police are following up.
VANDALISM
• Centralia police took three reports of graffiti discovered over the weekend: yesterday morning on the side of a business on the 800 block of North Tower Avenue; on Saturday blue and yellow spray paint found on the side of a garage on the 600 block of North Tower Avenue; and earlier on Saturday on a fence and street sign near the 100 block of Roanoke Street.
PACKWOOD HOUSE LOST TO FIRE
• A fire investigator is looking into the cause of Packwood blaze that destroyed a two-story home on Friday afternoon. The wood-frame house is a total loss, according to Fire Investigator Jay Birley. When crews arrived, flames were shooting 20 to 30 feet above the roof, and the rear of the structure was in danger of collapsing, according to Lewis County Fire District 10 “pretty much, we took a defensive stance,” Chief Lonnie Goble said. The owner of the home on the 100 block of Timberline Drive was out of town when it happened, he said.
CENTRALIAN FROM DRIVE-BY SHOOTING BACK IN LEWIS COUNTY JAIL
• A Centralia teenager sentenced to nearly 93 years in prison for a downtown Centralia drive-by shooting five years ago is scheduled to appear in Lewis County Superior this week after an appeals court decision ordered him to be re-sentenced. Guadalupe Solis-Diaz Jr. was 16 in the summer of 2007 when he sprayed gunfire along the east side of South Tower Avenue missing six bar patrons. He maintained he was innocent but was convicted. He challenged [1] his virtual life sentence in light of a 2010 U.S. Supreme Court decision that held a sentence of life without parole is forbidden for a juvenile who did not commit homicide. Solis-Diaz was returned to the Lewis County Jail on Friday. The appearance is scheduled Thursday to set a date for re-sentencing.
JAMES REEDER SET TO BE SENTENCED IN MARCH
• A judge has set a date of March 6 for the sentencing of the Centralia man convicted earlier this month of the sexual abuse and death of his girlfriend’s 2-year-old daughter. Koralynn Fister died May 24 in Centralia. James M. Reeder, 26, made a so-called Alford plea on Jan. 9 in Lewis County Superior Court in which he did not admit guilt but acknowledged a jury hearing the evidence would likely find him guilty. Under the terms of the plea deal, the attorneys will recommend the judge give Reeder a minimum of around three decades in prison and possibly remain incarcerated for the rest of his life. Sentencing hearings generally offer an opportunity for family of victims to tell the judge what they think the sentence should be and why. Defendants are also given a chance to speak. Court hearings are open to the public. The session is set for 10:30 a.m.