Updated at 7:23 p.m.
THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS MISSING FROM NAPAVINE BAR
• Police were called to Frosty’s Saloon and Grill in Napavine yesterday morning where someone broke in overnight, got access to a safe and stole thousands of dollars. Police said an employee arriving to the business on West Front Street about 6:30 a.m. noticed an interior office door was open and called 911. The last person had left about 1 a.m., according to Napavine Police Department Officer Silas Elwood. Forced entry was made through an exterior door and the office door, Elwood said. The intruder didn’t take any food, or liquor. He’s still waiting for a final tally from the owner, but they’ve estimated it’s a fairly sizable amount of cash, he said. Elwood is asking anyone with any tips, even if they want to remain anonymous, to call the police department at 360-262-9888 or the 911 non-emergency number at 360-740-1105.
THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS MISSING FROM VADER TRUCK STOP
• Deputies are reviewing surveillance video after $8,000 cash went missing from a Vader-area truck stop restroom yesterday. A Gee Cees employee on their way to the bank with a bank bag filled with checks and cash accidentally left it sitting on the counter in the mens’ room, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. The bag was retrieved 35 minutes later and everything seemed to be there, but when the employee got to the bank, he discovered an internal bag was unzipped, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said. Brown said numerous men went into the bathroom between 1:15 p.m. and 1:50 p.m. and deputies will be looking for their suspect. Gee Cees is along Interstate 5, on the 100 block of Foster Creek Road.
FRY PAN ASSAULT
• Chehalis police arrested a 14-year-old by yesterday afternoon after he allegedly took a swing a is father with a frying pan. He missed, but officers called to the home on Southwest William Avenue booked the teen into the Lewis County Juvenile Detention Center for second-degree assault, detective Sgt. Gary WIlson said.
DOMESTIC ASSAULT
• A 35-year-old Chehalis man was arrested for second-degree assault yesterday because he allegedly pinned a woman to a bed, covered her mouth and nose with his hands and threatened her. It happened at an apartment he shares with the 24-year-old victim on the 300 block of Northwest Chehalis Avenue, according to police. The woman fought back, went to the police department about 5 p.m. to report what happened, detective Sgt. Gary Wilson said. David P. Salas was booked into the Lewis County Jail, Wilson said.
ASSAULT AT SCHOOL
• A deputy was called to Toledo High School yesterday morning after a 15-year-old girl allegedly attacked a class mate in the library. The teen, who was said to be upset about what she thought the 16-year-old girl had been saying about her, reportedly walked into the room, punched the victim in the side of the head as she sat at a table, knocking her to the floor, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Witnesses pulled her away, according to the sheriff’s office. The girl was expelled and the case referred for a possible charge of misdemeanor assault, according to the sheriff’s office.
POLICE: WEED EXCHANGE IN THE BOYS ROOM
• A teacher walked into the boys bathroom today at Mossyrock Middle School and interrupted a “transaction” involving an exchange of marijuana. A 13-year-old student was arrested for delivery of marijuana and booked into the Lewis County Juvenile Detention Center, according to police. The other eighth grade who just turned 15 wasn’t arrested but Police Chief Jeremy Stamper is recommending a charge of misdemeanor possession for him. Stamper said he was really surprised in talking with students today just how ordinary smoking marijuana has become, before school, after school and even at school like in the locker room earlier this week. The boys were suspended, he said. Stamper confiscated a zip lock sandwich bag with 10 rolled joints and some loose marijuana; less than 40 grams, he said.
VANDALISM
• Centralia police yesterday morning found at least 11 instances of gang graffiti spray painted in blue around the 600 block of North Tower Avenue, including buildings, fences and power boxes. Sgt. Kurt Reichert said he believes the taggings are the work of the so-called Tiny Dukes.
WRECKS
• A 48-year-old woman was taken to Providence Centralia Hospital after a rear-end collision yesterday evening at West Main and Yew streets in Centralia. Her injuries were non-life threatening, according to Riverside Fire Authority. Police also responded to another two-vehicle accident about two hours earlier at West Main and North Pearl streets in which nobody was injured, according to the Centralia Police Department.
NO TICKET FOR DRIVER WHO ROLLED AMBULANCE
• The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office concluded its investigation of the March 29 Adna-area accident in which an ambulance carrying a patient slid off the roadway and rolled and concluded it won’t issue the driver any infraction. Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said today the decision is because the 26-year-old driver is being disciplined by her employer, American Medical Response. The ambulance was traveling with three medics when it ran off the road in the dark at Twin Oaks and Cousins roads. An AMR spokesperson said the patient was not hurt, as he was strapped in and said the others escaped with just bumps and bruises. A District 6 firefighter-paramedic suffered a slight concussion. Brown explained the distinction by saying when the average citizen in a similar situation gets a citation, they’re not getting “double jeopardy per se” through their employer.”
WALL HEATER OFFICIAL CAUSE OF COUNTY SHOP FIRE
• Fire investigator Jay Birley said the cause of the blaze that destroyed the Kiona Road County Shop last month was the Cadet heater, although he couldn’t tell if it was one of the models which had been previously recalled for safety reasons. A private investigator for the insurer is taking a closer look at it, he said. The March 22 fire east of Glenoma destroyed the building, dump trucks and other heavy equipment used by the Lewis County roads department. Birley said he found the unit was left set on “high”. He concluded that over time it dried out the wood around it, lowering the wood’s ignition temperature. “It was probably running full bore,” he said. “It had been in the same spot on the wall for 10 years, with no insulation between the heater and the wall. Nothing to take the heat.” Although nobody knew how long it was set to high, the fire could have been avoided by not affixing a Cadet heater into the wall without insulation, Birley said.
AND MORE
• And as usual, other incidents such calls for family and neighborhood disputes, found bicycle, suspicious people … and more.