Robbers Pull Guns, Steal Beer

Three men robbed a North Side Safeway store Tuesday morning.

Clerks at the store, 1616 Northwest Boulevard, said the men walked in just after 2 a.m. and went to the beer cooler. One of the clerks told the men it was too late to purchase alcohol.

One of the men picked up a case of beer anyway and the other two pulled out handguns. The trio ran from the store’s west door into the parking lot. They drove away in a late 1970s or early ‘80s sedan.

The robbers were black; one was about 6-foot-1 and wore a blue bandanna; another was about 5-foot-11, thin and also wore a blue bandanna; the third was 5-foot-8 and had a shaved head except for a small patch of short hair on top.

Burglars take tires

Burglars took tires valued at about $8,000 from the Alpine Tire Co., 1108 N. Freya. Last week the company reported someone cut a fence at its property and later removed tires from the same area.

Drug suspect arrested

Sheriff’s deputies arrested a Spokane man last weekend for having drugs in his car during a traffic stop on U.S. Highway 2.

Richard Ruston, 25, was booked into the Spokane County Jail for possession of a controlled substance and an unrelated warrant. Deputies found methamphetamine and cocaine in Ruston’s car, along with a sawed-off shotgun.

His passenger, Heath Hutchings, 26, also was arrested for an unrelated warrant.