Salvage Yard Vandalism Causes Extensive Damage

A Spokane Valley salvage yard is offering a $1,000 reward for information that solves a vandalism spree that caused several thousand dollars of damage to more than 100 vehicle windows earlier this month.

Vandals crawled under a fence along the north side of Spalding Auto Parts, 2210 N. University, sometime after the business closed on Nov. 11, said Steve Spalding, one of the owners.

Once inside the vehicle storage yard, they used rocks to break out windows in cars, trucks and buses, said Sheriff’s Department spokesman David Reagan.

Employees discovered the damage when they came to work on Nov. 12. Damages totaled more than $22,000.

“Some of the other businesses around us had problems also,” Spalding said.

Anyone with information about the vandalism should call Crime Check at 456-2233 and refer the operator to sheriff’s report No. 96-1000699.

“Hopefully we can catch them,” Spalding said. The salvage yard has been hit with minor vandalism problems before, but “none of this quantity,” Spalding said.

Samaritan foils chain-saw theft

A man who pulled into the parking lot of a Valley tavern early Saturday interrupted a man who was stealing a chain saw from the cab of a pickup truck.

The thief ran and hid behind some shrubs near the tavern when he noticed the man. He returned when the man went inside to tell the truck’s owner that someone had smashed the window, said Reagan, who did not identify the tavern.

When the two men went outside to inspect the damage to the truck, they found the suspect standing next to it. They managed to get the man’s name before he fled out the back door of the tavern, Reagan said.

Deputies searched the area and found Daniel R. Abba, 32, a few blocks away. Abba, who gave his address as 5618 E. Union, was arrested on a second-degree theft charge.

A chain saw was recovered from the back seat of his car, Reagan said.

, DataTimes