Watchman Aids Burglary Arrests
Two men were arrested Dec. 30 after a Spokane Valley trucking company was burglarized.
Leonard L. Halloway, 47, of N211 Union, and Adrian T. Ortiz, 22, of E3920 Center, were charged with second-degree burglary.
Forest Beloate, a night watchman at Husky International Trucks, N824 Thierman, called sheriff’s deputies about 8 p.m. Beloate told deputies he saw a man taking items from a shelf, said sheriff’s Lt. Clyde Ries.
When the burglar saw Beloate, he ran out the door, jumped into a waiting yellow Cadillac and sped north on Thierman with his lights off, Ries said.
On Interstate 90 near Fancher, deputies pulled over a car matching the description given by the night watchman. Beloate positively identified the driver of the car as the man he’d seen stealing items from the business, Ries said.
Among the items found in the car were: two car stereos, a truck stereo system and two sets of speakers, Ries said.
Valley bar robbed
A man robbed a Valley bar Monday night after pretending he needed change for the telephone.
Mary Laposa was tending the bar at Mike’s Welcome Tavern, S21 Dishman Mica, about 9 p.m. when a man asked her for change, Ries said.
Laposa turned around to get a quarter from the cash register, and the man demanded money. After Laposa gave him some cash, he ran out the door. Laposa hit the alarm.
The man is described as an African American man between 18 and 22 years old with a thin goatee mustache and beard, 5 feet 7 inches tall and about 140 to 150 pounds. He was wearing a dark baseball cap, dark blue sweatshirt and tan baggy pants.
Man arrested after reporting hit-and-run
A Valley man was arrested for assault after calling deputies to report a hit-and-run accident early Sunday.
Jason A. Byrd, 22, E7904 Harrington, told deputies he fired his Chinese-made AK-47 look-alike semi-automatic rifle at a pickup that he thought had damaged his property.
Byrd had gone to bed about 1:30 a.m. when he heard a crash, Ries said. He grabbed his rifle, went outside and saw a pickup headed east on Harrington. He saw a flash of light and thought someone was shooting at him, Ries said.
Byrd told deputies he fired three shots, one of which hit the pickup in the passenger’s door.
The pickup, which also had damage on its right front, belonged to Kevin G. Moore, 20, E12009 Desmet. Deputies searched the pickup and found marijuana and drug paraphernalia.
Moore was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol, hit and run property damage and possession of a controlled substance.
Byrd was arrested for seconddegree assault.