LONG BEACH – The Long Beach Police Department experienced a bit of holiday spirit last week, in between chasing the bad guys. After a story in last week’s Chinook Observer about an LBPD officer (Paul Jacobson) paying for a motel room for a homeless family on Dec. 12, an Ilwaco couple sent the department a check for $50 to repay the officer. LBPD Chief David Sexton said the money will be used to start an indigent aid fund at the department.

Sexton also reported that his department is conducting a holiday emphasis campaign and will be especially vigilant for drinking drivers, speeders and people not wearing their seatbelts.

“We urge people to drive carefully and observe the laws during the holiday season,” he said. “We have extra patrol cars out on the streets.”

The department is conducting the emphasis with funds provided by the Washington Highway Traffic Safety Commission.

In other LBPD news last week:

A 13-year-old runaway was reported at 8:30 p.m. Dec. 10 in Long Beach. The girl allegedly left her home with a 16-year-old female and a 12-year-old male.

At 10:20 a.m., Dec. 11, a report was received of a woman screaming at the Port of Ilwaco. Officers investigated the incident as a possible domestic violence case but the argument was verbal and the couple was separated.

Also on Dec. 11, a report was received at 11:50 a.m. of the theft of a can of beer from a Long Beach business. A 14-year-old male was apprehended after the theft was recorded on videotape at the store and he confessed to the theft. His 48-year-old mother was fined $1,000 under the parental responsibility ordinance. She had been warned by officers Nov. 26 that she would be fined the next time her son was picked up for breaking the law. At that time, he was cited for possession of a “butterfly knife,” an illegal dangerous weapon.

At 6:45 p.m. Dec. 11, officers received a report that a man had entered a residence and was taking off his clothes. They contacted Cameron Gilchriest, 18, who said he had been walking from New Mexico and entered the house because he was cold. The owners of the residence didn’t press charges and gave Gilchriest a dry coat. He was transported to the mission in Astoria.

After a driver was stopped for not wearing a seatbelt at 9:45 a.m. Dec. 12, David Kochis, 25, was also cited for driving with no insurance and driving while his license was suspended. He also had an outstanding misdemeanor warrant but, since the jail was full, was asked to take care of the warrant.

A Long Beach man was transported to Pacific County Jail at noon Dec. 12 after a report of a violation of a protection order.

A domestic violence case was reported at 5 p.m. Dec. 12 after a woman reported that she and her husband were in a verbal argument while driving. After her husband took their 1-year-old child and left her in town, she told officers she was afraid of him and didn’t want to return to their home. Officers served a temporary protection order on the husband and took custody of the child. The woman and child were taken to a motel.

A two-car non-injury motor vehicle accident was reported at 8 p.m. Dec. 12 in Ilwaco. Officers said 20-year-old Matthew C. Garner was allegedly at fault in the accident and he had been involved in another accident earlier in the day.

A driver was cited at 12:15 p.m. Dec. 13 for failure to use a safety belt and for third-degree driving with a suspended license.

The runaways reported Dec. 10 were found Dec. 13 at 2:30 p.m. at a downtown Long Beach apartment and were returned to their parents.

Eighteen-year-old Tyler Pederson of Chinook was cited for minor in possession of alcohol at 1:40 a.m. Dec. 14 after he drove his four-wheeler from Chinook to Ilwaco.

A Seattle man reported at 10 p.m. Dec. 14 that a tire on his vehicle had been slashed in the parking lot of a local motel.

At 10:43 p.m. the same day, officers received a report of a vehicle damaged with a key in the same parking lot.

A Kelso driver was cited at 4:30 p.m. Dec. 14 for not wearing his seatbelt and for possible domestic violence in progress. Alan Sanders, 44, also from Kelso, was arrested for fourth-degree domestic violence assault and also for two outstanding misdemeanor warrants.

On Dec. 16 at 3 p.m., a 10-year-old was contacted about the theft of a trombone mouthpiece from the Ilwaco High School band room the previous Friday.

A 47-year-old Long Beach woman contacted the department at 10:30 p.m., Dec. 16, saying people were chasing her with guns. Officers searched her residence, found no guns and told her to stay home. Sexton said she would be cited for false reporting of a crime.