Man Arrested In Burglary

A Spokane man suspected of helping to abduct a woman from her North Side home Wednesday was arrested for first-degree armed burglary, police said.

Eugene Lawrence, 27, was booked into the Spokane County Jail after police caught up with him about noon. He was one of two men who broke into the woman’s house on the 500 block of East Olympic just before 1 a.m. and forcibly put her into a waiting car, police said.

Officers chased the men for a few minutes but broke off the pursuit because they were worried about the woman’s safety, said police spokesman Dick Cottam.

She was released near Sinto and Howard about 3 a.m., and her abductors fled.

Police caught Lawrence, who has been convicted of more than a dozen drug crimes, but have not found his accomplice.

Detectives say the abduction was not a random attack, and that the woman knew both men. Police believe the abduction stems from a relationship between the woman’s boyfriend and Lawrence, and that a drug deal was involved.

More charges may be filed against Lawrence, Cottam said.