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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Leaky package smells up Post Office

Compiled from staff and wire reports The Spokesman-Review

A package emitting a strong chemical odor closed the Nine Mile Falls Post Office on Monday afternoon, and snarled traffic on nearby state Highway 291.

Post Office employee Darla Anderson had noticed a slight smell when she reported for work at 7:30 a.m., but odd smells in the mail room aren’t uncommon.

“As the heat built up, it started smelling a lot stronger,” she said.

Anderson and another employee dug through the package hampers to find the box, put it on a cart and wheeled it out the back door, but the odor kept getting stronger. She felt a burning sensation in the back of her throat and other employees complained of headaches and feeling light-headed before the District 9 Fire Department was called about 1:30 p.m.

The Spokane Fire Department’s hazardous materials team opened the package, tested the contents and bagged the remains. Nearly all the contents had apparently leaked out through the lid, said team member Ron Weston. “There was no breach in the bottle I could see,” he said.

Team members confirmed that the package contained Creolina, a moderately toxic disinfectant often used to clean up after animals.

Fanny and Richard Wilson, the package’s intended recipients, arrived at the Post Office just as the team was taping its radio earpieces into place, shrugging into their green suits, and preparing to deal with the package.

“They said it was 94 percent water,” Richard Wilson said, unhappy that he may have paid too much for the product.

Task force arrests fugitive from North Carolina

The Eastern Washington Joint Fugitive Task Force arrested a man on Monday who was wanted in North Carolina for attempted homicide, conspiracy to commit armed robbery and first-degree robbery, Spokane County sheriff’s spokesman Cpt. Dave Reagan said.

DeWayne S. Woolridge, 24, was booked into the Spokane County Jail on a fugitive-from-justice charge, Reagan said. He is being held until extradition to North Carolina is arranged.

Woolridge rode a bicycle nearly all the way to the Spokane County Jail from his aunt’s apartment on the 1100 block of North Walnut. He spent the last several days at his aunt’s hiding from police, Reagan said.

A task force followed Woolridge on Monday and took him into custody near the jail, Reagan said.

The U.S. Marshal’s Office in Spokane was contacted by North Carolina authorities last week and told that Woolridge had an aunt in Spokane who had helped him get a bus ticket under an alias. It was unknown Monday if she will face charges.

A task force spokesman said North Carolina authorities believe Woolridge and another suspect committed an armed robbery that resulted in a shootout between the suspects and victims. The other robber was shot and killed.

Burglary suspect confronted, arrested

Spokane County sheriff’s deputies arrested a 34-year-old burglary suspect Monday afternoon after he was confronted at gunpoint in the back yard of a home.

Clayton D. McDonald was taken to the Spokane County Jail and booked on a single felony count of attempted residential burglary, sheriff’s spokesman Cpl. Dave Reagan said.

According to Reagan, a resident in the 33000 block of North Sherman Road called the Sheriff’s Office about 2:45 p.m. Monday and said her husband was confronting a burglar at gunpoint in their back yard. The woman said the suspect had tried to force his way into both the front and back doors before her husband armed himself and went outside, Reagan said.

McDonald had a screwdriver and fled the armed resident, heading to nearby woods, Reagan said. Detective Roger Knight saw McDonald hiding in the tall grass and apprehended him when backup arrived, Reagan said.

Reagan said deputies learned McDonald’s wife was waiting nearby in a white Chevrolet Blazer or Ford Bronco. When he was confronted by the homeowner, the suspect yelled at the woman to “get out of here,” and she drove away, Reagan said.

Deputies had not located her by 5 p.m. Monday. Anyone with information regarding the woman is asked to call the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office at 242-TIPS, or 911 if she is available for immediate contact.

County has new number for crime reports

Residents of Spokane County will need to call the Spokane Crime Reporting Center at 532-9266 to make crime reports, beginning Saturday.

The old Crime Check number, 456-2233, will be disconnected that day. Although the new number has been in service for months, the old number was temporarily left in place as a recorded resource to ease the transition into the new Spokane Crime Reporting Center system, sheriff’s spokesman Cpl. Dave Reagan said.

New Jersey man enters plea to federal arson

Seattle A 23-year-old New Jersey man pleaded guilty Monday to a federal arson charge, admitting that he set a fire on the roof of a McDonald’s restaurant near the Space Needle.

Under terms of the plea agreement, Christopher W. McIntosh of Maple Shade, N.J., faces a penalty of 8 to 10 years in prison at sentencing Dec. 16. If U.S. District Judge Thomas S. Zilly imposes a penalty outside that range, either party could drop out of the deal.

McIntosh was arrested in February 2003 — about a month after the fire. A witness reported seeing a thin man, 15 to 22 years old in dark clothing with a backpack, fleeing the scene.

A black gym bag was found on the roof, containing a gas can, a hacksaw and a can of spray paint, along with other items that linked McIntosh to the fire through fingerprint and DNA evidence, the U.S. attorney’s office said. Records at a Seattle youth center indicate he was living in the area at the time.

A few hours after the fire, federal prosecutors said, McIntosh placed an anonymous call to the Seattle Arson tip line from a public pay phone, claiming to have set the fire on behalf of the ELF (Earth Liberation Front) and ALF (Animal Liberation Front).

The fire caused about $5,000 damage.