Cab Driver Reports Kidnapping Of Passenger By Men In Van

A 34-year-old man was abducted Friday morning from a Spokane Valley lumber yard during a dispute over a debt.

Witnesses said the victim was forced out of a taxi cab he was trying to leave in and into a van. Sheriff’s deputies stopped the van a few minutes later, and the victim was released unharmed.

The van’s driver, Gregaline Tyler, 39, was arrested for second-degree kidnapping, said Deputy David Reagan. David A. Anderson, a 44-year-old passenger in the van, also was arrested for possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of a controlled substance.

A third passenger was not arrested.

The incident began about 8:30 a.m. when a Yellow Cab dispatcher reported that a Dodge van had forced one of the company’s drivers to a stop near a Trent Avenue lumber yard.

The cab driver and witnesses at the lumber yard told deputies the cab’s passenger was forced into the van by a man who threatened him. Lumber yard employees said the victim appeared to be hiding at the businesses until the cab arrived, Reagan said.

Deputy Doug Lawson noticed the van leaving a nearby motel, and stopped it in the 6700 block of East Trent.

The van’s occupants told deputies the victim had borrowed money from Tyler during a party at the motel the night before and promised to repay him. Instead, the victim left before Tyler awoke Friday, Reagan said.

Tyler and Anderson both gave Spokane addresses when they were booked into the Spokane County Jail.

Mom, 12-year-old son arrested

A 44-year-old woman was arrested last Thursday with her 12-year-old son after they allegedly left a Valley grocery store with over $270 in unpaid merchandise.

Margaret E. Roberts, who gave a Spokane address, was booked into jail on a second-degree theft charge. Her son also was arrested, and booked into the Spokane County Juvenile Detention Center on an unrelated first-degree robbery warrant.

A security officer at Rosauers, 10920 E. Sprague, told sheriff’s deputies the woman and her son walked through the isles, and dropped numerous items into a shopping cart.

Roberts then piled the merchandise into a laundry basket, put the basket into the cart and left the store without paying, Reagan said.

, DataTimes