Investigators seized stolen property and drugs and arrested two men today while serving a search warrant at a home in the West Garland District.

The Spokane County Sheriff's Office Burglary Task Force and Investigative Task Force developed information that stolen property and drugs were being trafficked out of a home in the 400 block of West Kiernan Avenue after a “lengthy investigation,” according to a news release.

A SWAT team helped secure the home.

Nathan Carter, 29 was arrested for second-degree possession of stolen property, first-degree trafficking in stolen property and possession of heroin.

Jeffrey Jennings, 32, was arrested for possession of meth and heroin and second-degree possession of stolen property, as well as a warrant for drunken driving.

Seized stolen property includes electrical musical instruments, multiple laptop computers, overhead projectors and other electronic components. Some of the items were matched to theft reports through serial numbers, but many will need additional follow up by investigators to identify.
  

Police said a Coeur d'Alene woman was arrested with methamphetamine inside her vaginal cavity this morning, but they later said the woman only said meth was located there, and none was found.

 Detectives with the North Idaho Violent Crimes Task Force located Christine R. Davis-Jasinki, 35, at the Coeur d'Alene Casino and searched her home at 114 Borah Ave. in Coeur d'Alene about 5:30 a.m. today, where they found a surveillence system and other drugs.

Davis-Jasinki was booked into jail for drug charges for meth and drug paraphernalia found in the home. A SWAT team used an armored vehicle to approach the home.

Police used the extreme measures because of “information about several weapons inside the residence as well as four pit bull dogs,” according to a news release by Coeur d'Alene police Sgt. Christie Wood.

A SWAT member used a dog snare to control  “a large, vicious pit bull,” but the other dogs were cooperative and none were injured, Wood said. The dogs were seized by animal control officers.

Police found what they described as a sophisticated video surveillance inside the home that monitored the street and included audio capabilities and a view of the home's entrance. They also found a large amount of suspected stolen property, including jewelry and power tools. Police are working to identify the owners.

Arrested at the home were Coeur d'Alene residents Chase A. Nutting, 21, on a failure to appear warrant for attempted robbery, and a warrant out of Kitsap County, Wash., and Stevan E. Hemming, 25, on a warrant for violating his probation and parole for aggravated assaulted.

Davis-Jasinki has been booked into the Kootenai County Jail 30 times since 1996, said Major Ben Wolfinger.

Related coverage:

July 21, 2011: Woman with $26,000 in bra pleads guilty

March 25, 2011: Pa. cavity search produces 50 bags of heroin

Sept. 17, 2010: Police get search warrant for man's rectum
  

A nine-hour SWAT team standoff in Spokane Valley early Saturday ended with the arrest of a 31-year-old domestic violence suspect.

Justin D. Chance surrendered after SWAT members pumped tear gas into the 3500 block of North Ely Road, where officers were called to late Friday on a domestic violence report, according to the Spokane County Sheriff's Office.

The SWAT team arrived after Chance barricaded himself inside the home and threatened to shoot officers if they tried to enter. A robot was used to establish radio contact with him inside the home.

“The Sheriff's Office specialty units train together on a regular basis for events such as this one.,” according to a news release from sheriff's spokesman Deputy Craig Chamberlin. “These situations require a combined effort with these units to ensure the safety of the officers, citizens of Spokane County and people directly involved with the incident.”

Chance remains jailed on charges of second-degree assault and unlawful imprisonment.

Members of the Spokane Police Department prepare for a drug raid at a home in the 2800 block of East Fourth Avenue on Wednesday. (SPDphotos)

Drug detectives and the Spokane police SWAT team raided a home in southeast Spokane Wednesday night after citizen complaints led to an investigation.

 Police arrested one man and four women and seized heroin and methamphetamine from the home at 2804 E. 4th Ave.

Beverly Lynn Flanagan, 50 (pictured in 2005); Kathleen A. Copeland, 38; Chelsea R. Haine, 23; Marcella R. Walther, 34; and David Andrew Hoitink, 45, are in jail on drug possession charges.

East Central Neighborhood Resource Officer Dan Strassenberg learned of the home from citizens who complained to the neighborhood COPS shop of short-term visitors, increased burglaries and vehicle prowlings and conversations about drugs.

Detectives conducted undercover drug purchases and obtained a search warrant.

Flanagan told police she is a heroin user who had used the day before and had a residue amount in her upstairs bedroom, according to court documents. (Flanagan was sought in 2005 in connection with the drug overdose death of a 22-year-old man. She later pleaded guilty to delivery of a controlled substance – methadone and was sentenced to eight months in jail.)

Flanagan also told police her co-defendants were in an upstaris bedroom injecting heroin. Police arrested Copeland, Haine, Walther and Hoitink there and found loaded syringes and other drug paraphernalia in the room.

Police called the case a great example of police and citizens working together. There are 12 COPS chops and 11 neighborhood resource officers in Spokane.

“The job of the NRO is to follow up on quality of life issues in nuisance properties in their neighborhoods,” according to a news release by Officer Dan Waters, spokesman for the Spokane Police Department. “One part of the NROs' job is to follow up on complaints brought into the shops from Spokane residents.  Any time a resident brings a problem into a COPS Shop, a communications form is filled out and an NRO WILL read the complaint.  As with anything SPD does, the complaints are prioritized and looked into.  This has been an integral part of how SPD is able to work with folks to improve quality of life issues in our neighborhoods.”

In this Oct. 27, 2005 photo, Parolee Victor Luna, left, listens to his mentors Tom Murphy and Suellen Pritchard during a weekly meeting to help Luna adjust to life outside of prison. Luna was arrested this morning on stolen property charges. (SRphotoarchives)

A 30-year-old felon who pledged to turn his life around several years ago is back in jail after a long-term investigation into stolen property trafficking.

Victor Alonzo Luna was arrested after a SWAT team secured his home in the 12700 block of East 31st Avenue in Spokane Valley this morning, according to the Spokane Valley Police Department.

Luna has 10 felony convictions that include assault, unlawful possession of a firearm, riot burglary and possession of stolen property, which prompted the use of the SWAT team.

Luna was arrested without incident on a charge of fist-degree trafficking in stolen property.

The Spokane Valley property crimes unit had been investigating Luna for dealing in stolen property. Detectives observed him purchase several items he believed to be stolen, police say.

Luna told investigators he purchases property from a lot of people and “that he did not want to know if the property was stolen or not,” police said. He's prohibited from dealing with pawn shops because of his criminal history, but Luna admitted to enlisting others to pawn property for him, police say.

Luna gave an extensive interview to The Spokesman-Review in 2005 while a member of  Going Home, the Washington State Re-entry Project, a pilot program to keep young felons with a history of serious violent crime from victimizing the neighborhoods in which they are released.

At the time, Luna said every day “on the outside” is a major victory.

“So many times I wanted to go back to (crime). Money’s tight, and it’s so much easier money,” Luna said.

Read the story here.

A man has been charged with third-degree assault for allegedly trying to shoot a Spokane police officer.

Chase J. Earl West, 22, is accused of pulling the trigger of a black semi-automatic pistol, which malfunctioned instead of firing.

Cpl. Nick Lundgren said he saw the gun's magazine slide down about a quarter-inch inside the magazine well of the firearm as Earl-West tried to fire it.

A confidential informant told police Earl West admitted to shooting a “real gun” at police during the Dec. 12 incident at the Randolph Arms Apartments near Spokane Falls Community College, according to court documents.

Lundgren said he feared Officer Micah Prim was going to be shot. Prim drew his weapon then retreated to a position of cover while ordering Earl-West to come out of the stairwell area. No officers fired their weapons.

Earl-West escaped from the apartment complex before an hours-long SWAT standoff began and was arrested in Addy, Wash., on Jan. 4.

He's to be arraigned next week on the assault charge. He's being held on $35,000 bail for that charge and no bail for violating drug court conditions imposed for a car theft charge.

A reputed Sureno gang member who Spokane police say stayed hidden in a couch after tear gas was pumped into his apartment faces life in prison if convicted under the state's three-strikes law. 

Bobby S. “Angel” Decaney, 35, (pictured) pleaded not guilty Tuesday to first-degree kidnapping and first-degree robbery. He already has two convictions for violent felonies.

Decaney and Maceo L. Williams, 27, are accused of holding 22-year-old Jennifer M. Taylor while another woman assaulted her and stole methamphetamine from her pocket on Dec. 1.

The female assailant choked Taylor unconscious with her own necklace and threatened to kill her, according to court documents. The incident led to a SWAT team standoff in north Spokane.

Police contacted Taylor at a hospital, where she told them she'd gotten a ride on the the South Hill from Decaney, whom she knew as “Angel” and described as having “Sureno” tattooed across his forehead. Williams, the unidentified female assailant and Michael J. Hall also were in the car, she told police.

She said Decaney stopped the car and the woman accused her of talking badly about her ex-boyfriend, who police say also is a Sureno gang member. Taylor told police lost consciousness while being strangled then awoke to the woman punching her and stealing five ounces of meth that was hidden in her bra.

Police tried to contact Decaney and Maceo at Decaney's apartment at 13110 N. Addison, but they refused to come out and the gang unit and SWAT team were called to assist. Police evacuated the area and, after a few hours, pumped tear gas into the apartment. Williams, Hall and Nicole Coffey emerged and said no one was left inside, documents say, but a Spokane police dog, Stryder, found Decaney hiding in a large zippered bag that was secreted inside a couch, according to court documents.

Williams also pleaded not guilty to kidnapping and robbery charges Tuesday in Spokane County Superior Court. Both suspects are in the Spokane County Jail. Hall and Coffey were arrested after the standoff but have not been charged.

The police investigation into the assault is ongoing.

A man who officials say escaped capture after trying to fire a gun at a Spokane police officer is wanted by Crime Stoppers.

A reward is being offered for information that leads to the arrest of Chase J. Earl-West, 22, who was wanted on a warrant for violating drug court conditions imposed for a car theft charge on police went looking for him this week.

A no-bail warrant was issued Dec. 8 after he didn’t show up for a court hearing, according to court records.

Officers were looking for Earl-West at the Randolph Arms Apartments near Spokane Falls Community College Monday about 11:30 p.m. when he allegedly pointed a gun at an officer and pulled the trigger, but it malfunctioned and did not fire, police say. A SWAT team standoff ensued and 30 surrounding apartments units were evacuated.

Police believe Earl-West escaped before a perimeter was set up and the nine-hour standoff began.

Earl-West is 5-foot-8 and 145 pounds, according to Crime Stoppers. His last known address is in the 7000 block of North Cincinnati Street.

Anyone with information on his current location is asked to call 1-800-222-TIPS or submit tips online. Tipsters do not have to give their name to collect a reward but should leave a code name or number.

Four people were arrested after police pumped tear gas and released a K-9 into a north side apartment this morning during a six-hour SWAT team standoff.

A Spokane police dog, Stryder, entered the apartment before police and fought with robbery suspect Bobby S. Decaney, 35, until officers took Decaney into custody. Also arrested were Maceo L. Williams, 27; Michael J. Hall, 25; and Nicole M. Coffey, 27.

Police were looking for Decaney and Williams on suspicion of robbery and assault for a mugging Thursday evening.

Officers had contacted a 22-year-old woman at Providence Sacred Heart Hospital about 8:45 p.m. and learned she’d been choked unconscious and robbed by three people in the 1300 block of Southeast Boulevard. She knocked on a nearby door and was helped by the homeowner.

Descriptions of the attackers and their vehicle led police to Decaney’s apartment at 13110 N. Addison, where Officer Cory Lyons located the suspect vehicle, which contained some of the victim’s property.

Lyons and Officers Ron Van Tassel, Chris Douville and Reserve Officer Gobble tried to contact Decaney and Maceo about 2:30 a.m., but they refused to come out and the gang unit and SWAT team were called to assist.

Neighboring apartments were evacuated. Police described apartment managers as “extremely helpful” and said they helped find shelter for misplaced tenants and provided a warm place for a police command center. The tear gas and dog were released about 9 a.m.

Hall and Coffey were arrested after refusing to surrender or cooperate with police.

Police are still investigating whether they were involved in the mugging, said Officer Jennifer DeRuwe, spokeswoman for the Spokane Police Department.

A robbery and kidnapping suspect released from jail on his own recognizance under the recommendation of prosecutors has a reward for tips on his capture after missing a court hearing.

Kenneth J. Kheel, 21, is wanted on a no-bail warrant after he didn't show up for a pre-trial hearing Oct. 16. Kheel Jarred T. Many, 22; and Codi R. Allen, 23; are accused robbing two men at gunpoint after the victims arranged to buy a ring from Many at 1124 W. Nora Ave. on June 17.

A Spokane police SWAT team search ion July that included tear gas was unsuccessful, and Kheel was arrested during a traffic stop days later.

Many and Allen remain in jail awaiting trial on robbery and kidnapping charges. According to court documents, Kheel told police he was hit in the head during the attack and was “in fact, trying to stop the robbery” by Many and Allen, according to court documents.

Prosecutors recommended Judge Michael Price allow Kheel to leave jail on his own recognizance in September, and Price agreed.

“The state believes that Mr. Kheel's case is all but resolved, and sees no reason to hold Mr. Kheel for these charges any longer,” according to an order filed Sept. 2.

Now Kheel, 5-foot-6 and 130 pounds, is a Crime Stoppers fugitive. Anyone with information on his location is asked to call 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or submit tips online.

Kheel was released from prison in September 2010 after being sentenced in June 2009 to two years in prison with credit for 143 days served for second-degree assault. He had been arrested in January 2009 after then off-duty police Sgt. Brad Thoma suffered a minor stab wound during a confrontation with Kheel in downtown Spokane.

TOWER CITY, N.D. (AP) — A convicted sex offender who escaped from a private transport company's van while being moved across the country was nabbed in a North Dakota cornfield Wednesday afternoon.

A 24-year-old man prohibited from possessing firearms because of a felony conviction remains in jail on $200,000 bond after he was arrested during a SWAT team standoff early Wednesday.

 Jeffrey C. Salvage appeared in Spokane County Superior Court on a charge of first-degree robbery after two women were confronted at 3006 N. Hamilton Street  at 10:40 p.m. Tuesday by two men, one of whom was armed with a handgun, accoridng to the Spokane Police Department.

The gunman demanded their purses, and the women dropped them and ran, police said. The second man told the gunman “don't touch them” and was detained for questioning but not arrested, according to court documents.

The man told police he'd been drinking with Salvage and other friends when Salvage went outside with a gun, gunshots sounded, and he came back inside and said he was out of bullets. The alleged robbery occurred about an hour or two later, according to court documents.

Police recovered a Bryco Arms. 380 semi-automatic pistol while executing a search warrant at 2924 N. Hamilton, where a several-hour SWAT team standoff led to Salvage's arrest. They also recovered a debit card stolen in the robbery; other items were found in the street.

Salvage has previous felony convictions for second-degree burglary and second-degree robbery, as well as money laundering and riot.

A theft investigation led to a SWAT team raid at a Spokane Valley home Wednesday, where detectives seized several suspected stolen firearms.

Donald Jay Patterson, Jr., 42, was arrested as a search warrant was executed at a home in the 3300 block of East 35th Avenue, where police found five guns believed to have been stolen from a home in the 2800 block of North University Road. 

Patterson was stopped in a white Ford Mustang as he drove away from the home after being notified of the search warrant, according to court documents.

Police believe Kevin Robert Boler, 43, brought the stolen guns to the home. He was arrested in the 12000 block of East Valleyway Avenue.

The case began as a burglary, vehicle prowling and identity theft investigation. Police obtained surveillance footage showing suspects t later identified as Jermaine J. “Solo” Hockaday, 31, Justin E. Mueller, 30, and Marcella R. Walther, 34.

Mueller and Walther told police last week that they were “tired of their life style” and said they were angry at a man named Kevin “who kept a hold over them with an ever rising drug debt they owed him,” according to court documents.

Mueller is in jail on theft and vehicle prowling charges. Hockaday is in Geiger Corrections Center on identity theft and stolen property charges. Walther was released after no charges were filed.

Patterson is in jail on charges of possession of a stolen firearm and felon in possession of a firearm. Boler is jailed on five counts of possession of a stolen firearm.

Spokane police raided a suspected drug home in Hillyard for the fourth time in several months last week.

Suspect Thomas W. Grosstueck, 51, recently was released from jail because prosecutors didn't file charges within 72 hours as required.

Grosstueck already faces a felony meth distribution charge related to a SWAT team raid at his home at 3012 E. Olympic Ave. on July 6.

Spokane police Lt. Dave Richards said it was their third visit to the home in six months.

The police SWAT team raided the home again on July 29

Police saw 10 complaints about drug traffic at the home were filed between September 2009 and October 2010. That led police to employ a confidential informant, who once told them “there was a line of people waiting to purchase meth” at the home. “The CI sated that they were currently fourth in line,” according to a search warrant.

On July 26, police used confidential informant to buy meth at the home again. Grosstueck didn't have any of the drug for sale, but he smoked meth in front of the informant and had trace amounts of it on scales, which led to a judge authorizing the July 29 search.

Grosstueck to be arraigned on the drug charge from July 6 next week.

A fugitive targeted with tear gas in an unsuccessful SWAT team search on Monday was arrested early today in downtown Spokane.

Kenneth J. Kheel, 21, (left) was arrested during a traffic stop by Spokane Sgt. Kurt Vigesaa near Riverside Avenue and Monroe Street just after midnight, police said.

Kheel and Jarred T. Many, 22, are accused robbing two men at gunpoint after they victims arranged to buy a ring from Many at 1124 W. Nora Ave. on June 17.

Many was arrested at the Nora Avenue home Monday buy Spokane police SWAT team members, but Kheel was not inside as police expected.

Now he's in jail awaiting his first appearance in Superior Court today on two counts of first-degree robbery and one count of first-degree kidnapping.

Kheel was released from prison last September after being sentenced in June 2009 to two years in prison with credit for 143 days served for second-degree assault. He had been arrested in January 2009 after off-duty police Sgt. Brad Thoma suffered a minor stab wound during a confrontation with Kheel in downtown Spokane.

A Spokane man who went to prison for a fight with off-duty police officers is now wanted on robbery and kidnapping charges.

Crime Stoppers is offering a reward for tips that lead to the arrest of Kenneth J. Kheel, who is accused with Jarred T. Many, 22, of robbing two men at 1124 W. Nora Ave. on June 17.

Many was arrested at the home about 10:30 p.m. Monday by Spokane police SWAT team members and hostage negotiators. Police pumped tear gas into the home and found Anthony L. Haines, 24, hiding in the basement but not Kheel.

Haines was arrested on unrelated warrants; Kheel, 21, is still at large.

Police believe Many and Kheel escorted two men who showed up at the home to buy a ring last month, then pushed them to the floor and beat and pistol whipped them before holding them at gunpoint and stealing their money. The robbers also allegedly threatened to kill the victims if they called police, Officer Jennifer DeRuwe said in a news release. Spokane police major crimes Detective Neil Gallion developed information identifying Many and Kheel as suspects.

Anyone with information on Kheel's location is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (509) 327-5111.

Kheel was released from prison last September after being sentenced in June 2009 to two years in prison with credit for 143 days served for second-degree assault. He had been arrested in January 2009 after off-duty police Sgt. Brad Thoma suffered a minor stab wound during a confrontation with Kheel outside the Steam Plant Grill.

Thoma said Kheel and another man were harassing his fiancé, Spokane police Officer Amy Ross.

A SWAT team surrounded a Spokane Valley home for several hours Thursday hoping to apprehend a suspected thief with a long rap sheet, but he wasn't home.

  Michael G. Grant, 37, has warrants for being a felon in possession of a firearm and possession of a stolen firearm.

Police also believe he is connected to stolen vehicles that have been dumped in the Valley and other thefts.

Read Chelsea Bannach's story here.

Grant was featured in a 2005 article in which he accused then-Mayor Jim West of sexually abusing when West was a sheriff's deputy. He said the alleged abuse led to his deep-seated distrust of law enforcement.

A suspect has been arrested in a home-invasion robbery in Pullman earlier this week.

Matthew E. White, 35, of Clarkston, is in the Whitman County Jail on charges of robbery, kidnapping, burglary, theft and harassment.

Tips helped police identify him as one of two men who tied up and robbed a Pullman man at gunpoint Tuesday.  Police and the Whitman County SWAT team searched White's home in the 2800 block of 6th Avenue in Clarkston just before 8 p.m. Thursday.

Anyone with information on the case is asked to call Pullman police at (509) 334-0802.

Surveillance photos and videos of the suspects can be viewed here.

A sheriff's SWAT team helped arrested a fugitive Tuesday after officers said he may be holding hostages at a home in north Spokane County.

Jeremy Rian Albright, 30, left a home in the 6500 block of North Normandie Lane after two teenage boys left the home at the behest of their mother, who called them from work at the request of a SWAT team member, according to the sheriff's office.

Albright has been wanted since February on a $25,000 warrant for second-degree assault.

Members of the Pacific Northwest Violent Offender Task Force saw Albright inside the home through open blinds about 4:30 p.m. and set up containment before knocking on the door. The teen boys approached the door but retreated, Sgt. Dave Reagan said in a news release.

The SWAT team was called because investigators felt the boys may have been held against their will, and because Albright is considered a violent offender and was rumored to be armed.

Albright was arrested without incident. Sheriff's officials did not report finding a weapon.

No one was injured, but the SWAT team broke basement windows during the standoff, Reagan said.