In brief: Pair arrested in double stabbing
Two men were arrested late Tuesday after two other men were stabbed near a north Spokane shopping center, police said.
Spokane police used canine units to track the men to a nearby apartment building.
James E. Skinner, 24, was arrested on felony charges of second-degree assault and riot.
Castile D. Smith, 21, was arrested on felony riot charges.
The stabbing occurred shortly after 10 p.m. behind the Fred Meyer store on East Francis Avenue after two groups of young men got into an argument, police said.
One of the victims was cut on the neck. The other was cut on the chest. None of the wounds is life-threatening.
The names of the victims were unavailable.
Two held after Chevron burglary
Two men were arrested early Wednesday on suspicion of burglarizing a Chevron station just west of downtown Spokane.
William E. Burdue-Troxclair, 20, and Roger A. Mikolas, 20, were caught about 1 a.m. running from the scene of the burglary at Maple Street and Fourth Avenue, police said.
Both were booked on charges of second-degree burglary, and Mikolas was also arrested on an outstanding theft warrant.
Couple arrested on meth charges
Spokane County sheriff’s deputies responded to an overdose call early Wednesday and arrested a couple on suspicion of possessing methamphetamine, marijuana and unprescribed narcotics.
Deputies were called by medics to a Spokane home in the 5900 block of South Assembly Street where they found the couple at the end of the driveway.
After learning that 36-year-old Anthony M. Vulcano had an outstanding theft warrant, deputies arrested him.
During a search of 35-year-old Tamra Ann Jones’ purse, the deputies found syringes, a glass tube, spoon and methamphetamine, according to a Sheriff’s Office news release.
Jones also had a drug pipe and marijuana, as well as an unprescribed anti-anxiety tablet, deputies said.
Jones was booked on drug charges, and Vulcano was arrested on the theft warrant and drug charges.
Prosecutor gets firefighter case
The Washington State Patrol has forwarded its investigation of a triple-fatal crash to the county prosecutor.
“We are recommending that the prosecutor’s office review the case for charges,” WSP Capt. Jeff Otis said Wednesday.
Deputy Prosecutor Clint Francis said the case won’t be reviewed until next week.
On Jan. 20, Spokane firefighter David Batty rear-ended a van on U.S. Highway 2, pushing it into an oncoming pickup. Killed were Gregory Stueck, 37; Kalen Hearn, 22; and Michael Edwards, 51.
Batty told investigators he had been prescribed two painkillers, a muscle relaxant and a sleep aid after a back surgery. Results of a blood test have not been released.
Batty, a lieutenant, has been on leave from the Fire Department since Aug. 28 for an injury.
He was convicted of vehicular homicide in 1993 for a drunken crash in which one person was killed.
Alcohol is not considered a factor in January’s crash, officials said.
Man shoots self, gets arrested
A Spokane man was arrested Tuesday night after he shot himself.
Kerry A. Zaugg, 19, wasn’t seriously injured after shooting himself in the foot about 10:30 p.m. at Wellesley Avenue and Cook Street, Spokane police said.
Although shooting yourself may not be illegal, possessing a stolen gun is.
The gun Zaugg shot himself with was stolen, police said, so officers booked him into jail on charges of possessing a stolen firearm.
Spokane Valley
Broken window, busted driver
A busted windshield led to a meth bust Tuesday night in Spokane Valley.
Lynn J. Blumer, 27, was arrested on suspicion of possessing methamphetamine and driving with a suspended license after a Spokane County sheriff’s deputy stopped her for driving with a broken windshield.
Deputy Darrell Rohde stopped Blumer about 11:40 p.m. after noticing that the windshield and a large photograph hanging from the rearview mirror were obstructing her view.
According to the Sheriff’s Office, when Rohde arrested her for the license violation, he found syringes, a used marijuana pipe, a baggie of meth and a burned metal spoon in her purse.
PORTLAND
Ammo belt alarms college
A student detained at Lewis & Clark College on Wednesday was wearing an ammunition belt as what a Portland police officer called “a fashion accessory.”
Portland Police spokeswoman Catherine Kent said the belt was made of spent cartridges. Campus officers confiscated it. He did not have a weapon and got what the campus president called “a stern talking-to.”
By e-mail and phone calls, officials told students, staff and faculty to stay put, a warning lifted after 11 minutes.
“We were very close to shutting down the campus and would have done so, but we learned the student had been apprehended,” said President Thomas Hochstettler.
The incident preceded a noon campus vigil for the victims of the Virginia Tech shootings, which “have brought home to us with grim ferocity the harsh truth that senseless violence can strike anywhere and at any time, even on a college campus,” Hochstettler said in a message to the campus of 3,600 students.
He did not say whether the belt would be returned. “Whether he will wear it again on campus, I’m pretty sure he will not,” Hochstettler said.
He said the student understands wearing the belt was “an ill-advised thing to be doing at this juncture.”