By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – A 28-year-old man is sitting in jail after allegedly stealing the Centralia Police Department’s Humvee and then stalling it along Interstate 5 after traveling about four miles and being detained by passersby.
“These guys stopped to help him and learned he had stolen it, and called police,” Centralia Sgt. Dave Clary said.
It happened about 6 p.m. yesterday
Police say David L. Reser went into the city’s fenced compound on the 1400 block of Mellen Street and drove off with the vehicle, knocking down a light pole along the way.
He headed northbound on the freeway and came to stop just on the north side of the county line, according to police.
Clary said Reser was the one who told the men he’d stolen the Humvee.
The Washington State Patrol processed Reser for driving under the influence, according to Clary. The Centralia resident was booked into the Lewis County Jail for second-degree burglary and theft of motor vehicle.
It was just last week when the Chehalis police chief’s patrol car was stolen [1], allegedly by a 17-year-old who tried to outrun a trooper on the freeway and left his car at a Chehalis golf course, jumping into the unmarked Chevrolet Impala as law enforcement searched for him.
Clary said the gate was not fully closed to the city’s fenced compound yesterday evening.
“The compound is not quite as secure as we’d like,” he said.