Two deputies saved the life of an 84-year-old man who suffered a heart attack Thursday, the Spokane County Sheriff's Office said Friday.

Deputy Ray Miller was patrolling near the area of Thorpe and Assembly roads in southwest Spokane County when he saw the man's car blocking 37th Street.

As Miller approached, Deputy Matt Gould, who was off duty, stopped at the truck and told Miller he thought the man needed medical attention.

The man was in the driver's seat and said he'd eaten oatmeal and coffee at a restaurant and didn't feel well, according to a news release. He couldn't stop vomiting but refused medical assistance. Miller noted the man was sweaty and pale and called medics.

Medics confirmed the man was having heart problems; they later contacted Miller and said the man had just completed open heart surgery and had been suffering a heart attack when deputies contacted him.

A man who died after being shocked with a Taser by a sheriff’s deputy in North Idaho in May suffered a heart attack, officials said Friday.

Daniel L. Mittelstadt, 56, of Mount Shasta, Calif., had a pre-existing heart condition and a long history of mental health issues when Boundary County sheriff’s Cpl. Clint Randall responded to a report of a naked man blocking a road with his car about 1 a.m. on May 16.

Read the rest of my story here.

A north Spokane man who was injured in June by a hit-and-run driver died of a heart attack Wednesday

Dennis Widener was struck while out exercising on his bicycle at Division Street and Garland Avenue about 5:45 a.m. on June 23.

He was hospitalized at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center with broken ribs and other injuries and then transferred to St. Luke’s Rehabilitation Institute.

The collision was the subject of a story in Wednesday's edition of The Spokesman-Review.

Spokane police said they had little evidence to solve the felony case other than a vague vehicle description, possibly a brown Toyota Avalon.

Anyone with information should call Crime Check at (509) 456-2233.
  

A Spokane woman faked a heart attack during her son's first court appearance on a drug charge Monday, court officials said.

An ambulance rushed to the Spokane County Courthouse but did not transport the woman, who had fallen to the floor after Judge Michael Price imposed $1,000 bond for her 29-year-old son on a drug possession charge.

“She fell into the aisle and was yelling 'I'm having a heart attack,'” Price said.

Though suspicious, court officials immediately called 911, and a transport deputy tended to the woman outside the courtroom.

The woman's son told court officials there was a 10 percent chance his mother wasn't faking.