No charges in RPS garage death

Spokane County Prosecutor Steve Tucker will not file charges in the death of a woman who died when her car broke through a parking garage barrier and plunged five stories onto the ramp below.

Tucker said Friday he is closing the investigation of the death of Jo Ellen Savage after his office and the state Attorney General’s office concluded in separate reviews that there’s not enough evidence to prove the owners of the River Park Square garage were guilty of criminal recklessness or criminal negligence beyond a reasonable doubt.

Tucker, who had been reviewing since last September boxes of documents collected by federal prosecutors, released a letter from Assistant Attorney General Scott Marlow, saying state attorneys also believe it would be difficult to prove criminal charges against the officials of Cowles Co., or the corporation, for the Pullman woman’s death.

Neither their actions nor their inaction would be a “gross deviation from the standard of care a reasonable person would exercise in the same situation.” Marlow wrote.

Spokane attorney Steve Eugster, a former city councilman who has challenged aspects of the River Park Square development for more than a decade, called Tucker’s decision “a whitewash.”