NEW TWIST TO ‘DINE AND DITCH’ HITS TWO LOCAL EATERIES THURSDAY
• A group of people from Oregon were reportedly involved in the theft of cash from a Chehalis restaurant yesterday afternoon and within about a half hour, police in Centralia were called when a cafe owner caught a man trying to steal cash from his register. Officers responded about 3:10 p.m. to the 200 block of North Tower Avenue in downtown Centralia where they found the owner holding the suspect down, according to the Centralia Police Department. Michael A. Monk, 43, of Salem, Ore., was arrested and booked into the Lewis County Jail for second-degree robbery, according to police. Chehalis Police Department Deputy Chief Randy Kaut said this morning his officers arrested three of the group for the earlier incident at Once Upon a Thyme Deli on the 1000 block of Northwest State Avenue. Arrested for third-degree theft were Monk, Heather K. Spinks, 21, of Salem, Ore. and Kiefer K. Kettonton, 22, of Keizer, Ore. Kaut said his officers were called about 2:40 p.m. after a deli employee decided some customers who got a sandwich were acting suspicious. One of the males kept standing near the cash register, he said. When they left, she got a description of their van and saw it had Oregon license plates, Kaut said. Missing from One Upon a Thyme was nearly $500 that came from either the cash register or a bank bag, Kaut said. The Chehalis Police Department seized the van, Kaut said.
HONDA CAR STOLEN FROM CENTRALIA
• A gray 1994 Honda Civic was discovered stolen from the 200 block of North Ash Street in Centralia just before 5 o’clock this morning, according to Centralia police. The owner told an officer the car had been locked.
VEHICLE PROWL
• Centralia police took a report about 7:40 a.m. on Thursday that somebody took the registration out of a vehicle on the 200 block of Tilley Avenue in Centralia.
MAN BRANDISHES KNIFE, STEALS ‘FRIEND’S’ CASH IN TOLEDO, POLICE SAY
• The 19-year-old man arrested for allegedly wielding a knife and robbing an 18-year-old Toledo man told police the victim wanted to buy pills, like Ecstasy or Oxycontin, authorities reported on Thursday. Richard R. Viers was charged on Thursday with first-degree robbery, following his Wednesday arrest at his sister’s home in Toledo, according to charging documents. Viers’ address is listed as in Glenoma. The victim told the police it happened about 4 p.m. on Tuesday after the former classmates met up at the IGA grocery and decided to walk around town, according to the documents. The 18-year-old told Police Chief John Brockmueller they were near the public fishing area at South First Street when Viers presented a knife in a threatening manner, pointed it at him and demanded all his money, the documents report. He handed over $215 because he was afraid, he told the police chief.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter