Questions surround pair’s altercation

A Spokane man was seriously injured Monday, and the man he was fighting with fled the scene in a truck.

Spokane Police Sgt. Joe Peterson said investigators questioned the driver, 34-year-old Richard L. Trower, who has not been arrested.

The injured man was taken to Sacred Heart Medical Center. He was not identified.

Police were called to a crash scene just north of the intersection of Helena Street and Mallon Avenue shortly before 9 a.m., which they believed was the scene of a hit-and-run accident. There they found a man in the roadway about 200 feet from his vehicle. He had suffered serious head injuries. Trower fled the scene in his truck.

Officer Bill Hager said that witnesses taken to the Public Safety Building, after initially refusing to say what happened, told police that Trower, the driver of a black, 1990s Chevy pickup, and the man had been in an ongoing feud.

“For whatever reason, they found each other at this address in their cars,” Hager said.

Witnesses told investigators the two men were in a physical altercation, possibly involving some type of weapon, and that Trower was trying to get away from the other man. As of Monday night, police were still trying to determine to what extent Trower was responsible for the man’s injuries.

Trower was convicted last year of possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver and for criminal trespassing. In 2005, he was convicted of malicious mischief and domestic violence.

Trower was cooperating with police Monday night, Peterson said