[1]Honda CRX rests off the roadway along Salzer Valley Road. / Courtesy photo by Aaron Towman
Updated at 6:54 p.m.
MOTORIST CRITICAL AFTER CENTRALIA WRECK
• A 25-year-old driver was seriously injured when he was thrown from his car last night east of Centralia. Firefighters and deputies responding about 7:40 p.m. to the 1900 block of Salzer Valley Road found the 1991 Honda CRX was destroyed in the single-vehicle wreck, according to Riverside Fire Authority. A passenger had been seat belted in and suffered only minor cuts and bruises, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. But Blake S. Cohoon, 25, from Arizona, wasn’t using his seat belt and suffered life-threatening injuries, according to responders. He was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. A spokesperson from the hospital said he was in surgery at noontime, and listed in critical condition. The sheriff’s office suspects Cohoon had been drinking and that speed contributed to the crash. The case will be referred to prosecutors for a charge of first-degree negligent driving, Cmdr. Dusty Breen said.
DRUGS
• A 37-year-old Centralia man was arrested for possession of methamphetamine yesterday afternoon following a traffic stop at the 1200 block of Alder Avenue in Centralia. Dennis A Johnston was found to be driving with a suspected license and suspected meth was found during the contact, according to the Centralia Police Department. He was booked into the Lewis County Jail, according to police.
LOST AND FOUND
• Centralia police were called to 1300 block of Kayu Lane in Centralia yesterday morning about 10-speed bike someone had taken from the carport area of a home. The bicycle was subsequently found in some bushes off Reynolds Road and returned to its owner, according to the Centralia Police Department.
FIRE ALONG TRACKS FOLLOWS BACKFIRING LOCOMOTIVE
• Rail traffic was stopped this afternoon after an older locomotive backfired and presumably was what ignited a pile of old and rotting railroad ties next to the track near Reynolds and Blair roads in Centralia. Employees of Puget Sound and Pacific Rail who called 911 about 3:10 p.m. said they saw a four-foot flame come from the top of the engine, according to Riverside Fire Authority. They tried to put it out with fire extinguishers and arriving firefighters finished the job without complication, according to a summary of the incident. It was a roughly 10 foot by 30 foot pile of ties, and flames had spread slowly into light vegetation, according to the fire department.
DEPUTY MISSES ELK, RUNS INTO TREE
• The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office revealed today that one of its deputies on routine patrol swerved to miss an elk on the roadway and struck a tree, totaling a 2013 Ford Explorer Interceptor SUV. The deputy was transported by ambulance to St. Joseph Hospital in Tacoma to be treated for minor injuries and has been released, according to the sheriff’s office. It happened about 11 p.m. last Sunday night on state Route 706 near Ashford, according to Chief Deputy Stacy Brown. The accident is being investigated by the Washington State Patrol, Brown indicated.
AND MORE
• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrants, disorderly conduct, driving under the influence, driving with suspended license; responses for dispute, misdemeanor assault, suspicious circumstances … and more.