Bank Robber Like One At Same Bank 3 Months Ago
A man who robbed a South Side bank last year may have made a return appearance last week.
The man robbed the Wells Fargo Bank at 2910 E. 30th about 5:30 p.m. Saturday. He walked in carrying a handgun and ordered tellers to put cash in plastic sacks he’d brought with him, said Spokane police spokesman Dick Cottam.
Tellers said the man ran outside with the sacks to a shiny red Nissan Pathfinder with a Washington license plate.
Tellers said the man appeared to be the same person who robbed the branch in December. The man also may be responsible for other bank robberies last year, Cottam said.
The suspect is described as a white male, 180 pounds, about 6 feet to 6 feet 3 inches tall with a medium build. He had a very pale complexion, light-colored eyebrows and hazel eyes, witnesses said.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Check, 456-2233.
EWU officer wins award
An Eastern Washington University police officer, who is also a student, has been named the 1997 Officer of the Year for the Western Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators.
Lorraine Hill, one of eight EWU officers, has worked at the university for nearly five years.
She worked on a child pornography investigation stemming from misuse of university computers to download child pornography. Hill spoke at a seminar last year dealing with computer crimes and child pornography.
Hill also offers self-defense classes to students and works on a campus rape-free environment committee, a safe-winter-driving class, and alcohol and personal safety programs for international students.
Hill came to EWU in 1992 after nine years in law enforcement in the Miami area. After a stint with the Spokane Police Department, she returned to Eastern in 1994.
“It’s really rewarding to work in a campus environment,” she said. “We’re much more involved with education activities, and I really like that.”
Hill takes classes at Eastern two days a week, maintaining a 3.9 grade-point average.
She received the award at the WACLEA conference earlier this month in Victoria, British Columbia. WACLEA includes approximately 75 colleges and universities in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Alaska, Montana and British Columbia.
Woman assaulted on West Plains
A 44-year-old West Plains woman reported she was sexually assaulted Sunday.
Airway Heights and Medical Lake police officers and Spokane County sheriff’s deputies responded at about 6:15 p.m. to the attack.
The victim said she was assaulted on a dirt road off Highway 902. She appeared dirty, and her face was bruised, according to deputies.
The victim said she met the suspect Saturday at a bar in Hillyard. She gave him her phone number, and he called her the next day, said Sheriff’s spokesman Dave Reagan.
The woman and her boyfriend gave the man directions to their home, but he called again from the Flying J Travel Plaza near the airport, saying he was lost.
The woman went to meet him, and they drove around in his truck for an hour. He turned onto Welcome Road from the highway, came to a sudden stop and fondled her, she said.
She said that when she fought back, the man grabbed her neck and raped her.
The woman escaped and ran behind the truck, where the man kicked her and hit her in the face.
He then returned to the truck and drove off with her purse and coat, deputies said.
Sheriff’s deputies have a recording of the suspect’s voice on the victim’s ansering machine.
He is described as a Hispanic male, 5-foot-10 and 220 pounds, with collar-length black hair and brown eyes. The victim said he told her he was 29.
The suspect’s vehicle is described as a light blue pickup in good condition with no radio.
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