Police say man followed girl home
Police say a middle-school girl was followed for several blocks by a man who asked if she needed a ride home after school last Wednesday in Coeur d’Alene. She refused, authorities said, kept walking, then locked herself in her house.
About 3:30 p.m., the girl noticed a light-blue four-door car when she walked east onto Satre Avenue from 15th Street. The man slowed the car to match her walking speed and asked if she needed a ride. After she said no, he said, “Come on, doll face, get in the car,” according to a news release. When she sped up, so did the car, and after she got into her house, the man drove back and forth for about 10 minutes, the release said.
After the student told the Canfield Middle School resource officer about the incident Thursday, Coeur d’Alene police were on the lookout for a black male, about 27 years old, with a mustache. He was wearing a doo-rag underneath a sideways baseball cap. Anyone with information is asked to call (208) 769-2320 or (208) 769-2296.
Osage County, Kan.
Chewelah women held in deaths
Two Chewelah, Wash., women were in jail Tuesday night after allegedly running into and killing two Kansas highway construction workers, then leading authorities on a 10-mile chase, officials said.
Witnesses told Kansas authorities that the women – identified by police as Ramona Morgan, 48, and Sabrina Morgan, 26 – hit the two men, then fled about 9:45 a.m. CST south of Lawrence, Kan.
A Kansas Highway Patrol trooper spotted the women heading away from the crash in a half-ton pickup that witnesses described as being involved in the double fatality, said Douglas County sheriff’s Lt. Kari Wempe. The women led state and county authorities on a pursuit that crossed two counties and came to stop after two of the truck’s tires were flattened by a police stop stick.
It’s too early in the investigation to say whether alcohol or drugs were a factor, Wempe said. The women are being held in Osage County Jail.
Spokane
Person of interest in Whitley fire
The Spokane Fire Department has a person of interest in the Whitley Fuel depot arson on July 23, a fire official said Tuesday.
It was the first time authorities have acknowledged progress in the investigation, but it remains unclear how close investigators are to solving the case.
The Fire Department is investigating the blaze in cooperation with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said Assistant Spokane Fire Chief Brian Schaeffer. A $10,000 reward for information on how the explosive fire started is still being offered, Schaeffer said.
The fire, which caused an estimated $20 million in damages, sent up a column of black smoke and destroyed a two-story warehouse at 2733 N. Pittsburg St.