Deputies Seeking Culprits After Man Beaten, Robbed

Sheriff’s deputies are searching for three men who reportedly beat a man Saturday afternoon and robbed him at gunpoint.

The 19-year-old victim was taken to Valley Hospital and Medical Center where he was treated for facial cuts and bruises and released.

The robbers stole an undisclosed amount of cash.

The victim told deputies a man picked him up in the 4200 block of North Avalon in the Spokane Valley about 2 p.m. and gave him a ride to a credit union in the city. The victim withdrew an undisclosed amount of money and the two drove to Market Street and Bismark Avenue.

There, the driver made a telephone call and a short time later two men walked up to the car, said Lt. David Wiyrick.

All three men got into the car and one of them punched the victim in the face, pointed a handgun at him and demanded money, deputies said.

The victim did not immediately turn over the money and was hit in the face with the butt of the gun. After he gave the men the money, the victim was hit several more times with the gun, deputies said.

The men drove the victim back to the Spokane Valley where he was released. The victim ran to the North Avalon address and called paramedics.

Deputies are uncertain whether the victim knew the driver, but it does not appear the victim knew the other two men, Wiyrick said.

The gunman was approximately 30 years old and the other man about 25. Deputies said both men were white.

Deputies also are looking for the driver of the car. His description was not available.

Man cut in fight

Deputies are investigating a fight during which a man with a knife cut one man early Saturday and threatened to kill another.

Five people inside an apartment at 2120 N. Houk told deputies a man knocked at the door about 2:20 a.m. and asked to use the phone.

A woman who answered told the man to wait outside while she got a cordless phone, reportedly upsetting the man. The man thought his girlfriend and her ex-boyfriend were inside and an argument ensued.

The man eventually left, but returned a few minutes later and pounded on the door for several minutes, deputies said.

When another man went outside to calm him down, the suspect pushed him aside and forced the door open while a woman tried to hold it shut, Wiyrick said.

When three men tried to throw the man out of the apartment, one of them was cut on the back of the hand, deputies said. The man then threatened to kill one of the men and left when he was told deputies had been called, Wiyrick said.

He left with another man in a white sports car, which was later spotted at a restaurant at Pines and Interstate 90.

Deputies questioned the driver of the car, who told deputies the man with the knife fled on foot before they arrived.

The driver was not arrested, but deputies have developed a suspect, Wiyrick said.

Car prowler caught

A Valley teenager returned home early Saturday with some friends to find three teens burglarizing his truck.

One of the 18-year-old victim’s friends grabbed one of the burglars and held him until deputies arrived at the house in the 14800 block of East 10th Avenue about 2 a.m., Wiyrick said.

Deputies charged the 16-year-old boy with second-degree car prowling and released him to his parents. Two other suspects escaped, deputies said.

The burglars took 10 compact discs valued at up to $150, the victim told deputies.

Wiyrick said deputies found several screwdrivers at the scene believed to have been used by the burglars to break into the truck.

Deputies have tentatively identified the other two suspects. They have not been arrested.

Man startles car burglar

Deputies charged a teenager early Saturday with car burglary after a man who interrupted a car break-in outside his Valley apartment identified the teen as the burglar.

The break-in happened outside the man’s apartment in the 10300 block of East 13th about 2:30 a.m.

Deputies arrested a 15-year-old boy.

, DataTimes