SMOOTH TALKER NEARLY WINS LOCAL WOMAN’S TRUST
• A male posing as an IRS agent threatened a Chehalis area woman by phone yesterday, telling her if she didn’t pay up, in cash, she faced five years in prison. The individual who identified himself as Jose told her he was from the investigation bureau of the Internal Revenue Service, that she needed to pay him $15,000 and if she hung up on him he would call the sheriff, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. A deputy was dispatched after the 2:45 p.m. 911 call by the woman’s husband, who couldn’t talk his wife out of heading to the bank, according to Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown. The deputy called her cell phone and called her financial institution in Castle Rock and upon meeting her there, convinced the 63-year-old near-victim it was not a legitimate phone call and not to send any money, according to Brown. The call, a scam, appeared to have been placed from a 202 area code, Brown said. Brown said the IRS will never ask for cash or threaten to lock people up, over the telephone. Anyone who gets a phone call they’re not sure about is always welcome to contact the sheriff’s office for advice, she said.
BURGLARY TOLEDO
• The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reported this morning someone stole more than $5,000 worth of valuables when they broke into a Toledo area home, making off with flat screen TVs, a computer, a printer, an Xbox and games, $300 cash, two kinds of cologne, a black Puma soccer backpack and many other of the 42-year-old resident’s belongings. It happened on Tuesday between 11 a.m. and noon at the 900 block of state Route 505, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said someone had seen a silver or gray Hyundai in the driveway.
DOMESTIC ASSAULT
• A 22-year-old Centralia man was arrested last night for second-degree assault in connection with an incident at the 1100 block of South Tower Avenue. Joseph M. Hart, who allegedly choked and kicked his girlfriend, was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to the Centralia Police Department.
THE HONDA CAR BEAT
• A white 1991 Honda Civic was reported missing yesterday from the 1100 block of E Street in Centralia. It was taken sometime in the previous two days, according to the Centralia Police Department.
CAR PROWL
• Centralia police took a report about 12:45 p.m. yesterday of a purse stolen out of a vehicle at the 1200 block of South Gold Street.
VEHICLE VERSUS PEDESTRIAN
• A 79-year-old pedestrian was hit by a slow moving pickup truck yesterday morning as he crossed the street near Northwest Pacific Avenue and Prindle Street in Chehalis. Police and aid responding just after 11 a.m. found the man had been knocked to the ground but was conscious and alert, according to the Chehalis Fire Department. The victim had injuries to his head and an arm, Capt. Kevin Curfman said. The truck had front end damage, he said.
IT’S SAD AND IT’S SWEET
• It’s 9 o’clock on a Wednesday night, the regular traffic passes by. There’s a young man standing in the middle of the street … urinating. Centralia police say when they found Aaron M. Perez at Reynolds Avenue and North Pearl Street last night, he was highly intoxicated. Perez, 22, was arrested for disorderly conduct and then released, according to the Centralia Police Department.
AND MORE
• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, driving with suspended license; responses for alarms, injured deer, hit and run, abandoned vehicle, protection order violation, found friendly golden retriever, someone drawing on the door to a stall in a public bathroom … barking dogs … and more