Third Teen Convicted In Inchelium Crime Spree

A third teenager was convicted Wednesday of participating in a crime spree that terrorized the Inchelium area last April.

Ferry County Juvenile Court Judge Larry Kristianson convicted the 13-year-old boy of two counts of first-degree assault for driving a stolen pickup truck while two companions shot at Colville tribal police.

One of the shots struck the passenger-side mirror of a pursuing patrol car.

The teenager also was convicted of eluding police, vehicle theft and two counts of second-degree burglary. The burglaries were at the Inchelium School and the home of Irene Kohler, whose pickup was stolen.

Kristianson acquitted the boy of another second-degree assault charge, for allegedly running one of the tribal officers off the road, and one count of firearm theft.

Sentencing was scheduled for Aug. 20. The boy faces a standard range of three to four years in a state juvenile institution.

Earlier this month, a 16-year-old co-defendant who pleaded guilty was sentenced to slightly more than four years.

Another 13-year-old boy pleaded guilty in June and was sentenced to five to 6-1/2 years. He admitted shooting at Kohler and threatening school bus driver Rose Rankin with a pistol.

The boys stopped Rankin’s bus while officers were combing nearby woods for them.