Kids say man in van tried to lure them
Spokane police are looking for a man who tried to lure two 6-year-olds into his van with candy Friday afternoon.
Two 9-year-old girls and the 6-year-olds, a boy and a girl, were playing in a field near North Nettleton Street and West Jackson Avenue about 2:30 p.m. when a dirty white van pulled up. The 9-year-olds ran behind a garbage can to hide, said Officer Tim Moses, of the Spokane Police Department.
“The van pulled up to the two little ones and (a) 9-year-old overheard the man offer one of the little ones a lollipop if they got in the van,” Moses said. The 9-year-old yelled at the younger children to run.
“They were really freaked out,” Moses said.
The man drove away, and the four children ran into a house where there were four older children. The eight went back outside and saw the suspect van driving up and down backstreets, Moses said.
When police arrived, the children described the man as white, in his late 30s or early 40s, with graying curly hair and wearing “very dark sunglasses,” Moses said. The 1980s or ‘90s white van was so dirty it was cream colored, had a black stripe and running boards.
Police are asking that anyone with information call (509) 242-8477, or 911 if anyone sees the van or the suspect.
“He needs to be talked to,” Moses said. “Let’s put it that way.”
Reward offered in hit-and-run death
A hit-and-run case that was upgraded to a vehicular homicide after the victim died Wednesday has attracted a Secret Witness reward.
Police are searching for a white 2004 Ford F-150 pickup, Washington license B61183C, that hit 77-year-old Don Seever while he was closing the gate to his apartment parking lot about 7 p.m. Sept. 30. Seever suffered head injuries, and died Wednesday at a hospital.
When witnesses near the Zombie Room bar, 230 W. Riverside Ave., told the male driver he had hit someone, he “simply smiled, waved and drove away,” Spokane County sheriff’s Sgt. Dave Reagan wrote in a news release.
The man was described as white, stocky and in his mid-40s. He stands between 5-foot-5 and 5-foot-10, and had brown hair and a mustache – possibly a goatee. A white female of the same age was a passenger in the truck. She had wavy brown hair, weighed about 140 pounds and is about 5-foot-4, according to the news release.
The pickup is registered to a residence in Yakima, but police were unable to locate it there. The license number has been flagged in a nationwide police database, authorities said Thursday.
People can anonymously call Secret Witness at (509) 327-5111. The organization, which is not affiliated with law enforcement, is offering a reward for information that solves the hit-and-run.
Quincy, Wash.
Five arrests made in drug house raids
Police busted two drug houses this week in Grant County, including a meth lab across the street from a preschool daycare in Quincy, Wash.
A school-bus stop also is in front of the house and a school zone was a block away, said Chief Deputy John Turley, of the Grant County Sheriff’s Office. The Interagency Narcotics Enforcement Team raided 711 6th Ave. S.E. on Thursday morning, arresting three people on suspicion of manufacturing meth in the lab.
“It was totally set up, ready to go,” Turley said of the lab. “It was just not in operation at the time.”
Arrested were convicted copper wire thief Timothy Lynn Timbrook, 28; Margaret Ilean Timbrook, 67; and 47-year-old Hermina Maria Collado, who has at least five aliases, Turley said.
On Wednesday night, the drug team searched a home in Othello, where they found $5,000 in cash and 5 ounces of cocaine worth about $3,250. Authorities arrested Carlos E. Silva, 26, and Elma L. Cerna, 24 – both Mexican nationals – in connection with possession of a controlled substance and intent to deliver.
Police also took Cerna’s 18-month-old daughter, who was living in the house at 125 Juniper St. The girl was taken to relatives, and further charges could result in connection with the girl’s presence at the drug house, Turley said.