SEATTLE (AP) — Police say a man who appeared very intoxicated took off for a short time Thursday afternoon in a Seattle police car.  

Border Patrol agents found a man sleeping inside a stolen car near Sullivan Lake Tuesday after authorities were tipped to suspicious activity over the weekend.

A man told a Pend Oreille County Sheriff's deputy a stranger parked on his property near Ione on April 28 and said he ran out of gas. The man noticed some unusual behavior by the stranger and wrote down his vehicle's license plate number while his father bought him gas, according to a Sheriff's Office news release.

The deputy later learned the 2001 Ford Expedition was reported stolen out of Hubbard, Oregon on April 7, the release said. The deputy notified U.S. Border Patrol and an agent spotted the vehicle on April 29 during a foot patrol near the Canadian Border. The stolen vehicle's driver saw the agent and fled the area, the release added.

Border Patrol agents found the stolen vehicle around 10 a.m. on Tuesday and found the man sleeping inside. He did not have identification on him and refused to tell authorities his identity. The Sheriff's Office described him as a white male in his late 20s.

He's being held at Pend Oreille County Jail on charges of possessing a stolen vehicle and stolen property.

Do you recognize this man?

Spokane Valley property crimes detectives are asking for the public's assistance in identifying a vehicle theft suspect. 

The theft occurred Nov. 20 near the 13100 block of East Indiana Avenue in Spokane Valley. 

Anyone that can assist detectives in identifying the suspect in the surveillance photos from Walmart on East Broadway in Spokane Valley is asked to contact Detective Darin Staley at 509-477-3363.

Spokane police arrested a panhandler Thursday afternoon after discovering he had a stolen car.

A man left a vehicle parked near the Office Depot by Wellesley Avenue and Division Street and proceeded to the intersection with a cardboard sign to panhandle, according to a Spokane Police Department news release.

Officers discovered the car had been reported stolen from the South Hill area two days ago and arrested Alex D. Treadway, 30, as he returned to the vehicle after collecting money from a number of motorists.

Treadway was booked into Spokane County Jail for possession of a stolen vehicle. He is a convicted felon with numerous Spokane-area arrests, including felon in possession of a firearm, armed burglary, assault with a deadly weapon and theft, according to police.

“Consider carefully who you might be rolling your window for,” police Spokesman Sgt. Jason Hartman said in the news release.

“The Spokane Police Department wants to remind the public that a multitude of government and charitable services exist, especially downtown, to assist people with food, shelter and medical needs,” Hartman said. “Members of the department are aware of numerous instances where panhandled donations have not gone for the stated purpose.”

The Spokane City Council passed an ordinance in August banning panhandlers in certain areas from reaching into the street to take money from drivers.

The affected area is south of Boone Avenue, west of Hamilton Street, north of Seventh Avenue and east of the Maple-Ash corridor on major arterials, including state highway routes. It also includes interchanges along the entire Interstate 90 corridor inside the city of Spokane.

Car theft investigations in the Spokane area will drop beginning next month as the Washington State Patrol eliminates its auto theft unit.

The July 1 closure comes just after a national study was released showing the Spokane area was fourth in the nation for the rate of car theft in 2010.

“In the current budget climate, all state agencies are cutting muscle and bone,” said Bob Calkins, spokesman for the Washington State Patrol. “The fat was gone long ago.”

Read the rest of my story here.

An early-morning crash involving a stolen Honda led to two arrests and the discovery of drug material in the driver's purse today in north Spokane.