Three businesses burglarized
Burglars struck three businesses last weekend, and at least two appear to have been victimized by the same people, said Spokane Valley Police spokesman Sgt. Dave Reagan.
At 4:19 a.m. Sunday, two burglars pried out a front window from the Valley View Conoco, 12221 E. 32nd Ave., entered the business and took an orange safe containing cash.
Video surveillance at the store showed the two people arriving in a dark car, entering the building and moving directly to the safe. One burglar tipped it on its side while another cut a power cord. The two slid the safe outside and loaded it into the car.
In the second burglary, officers responded to Harry’s Food Mart, 3458 S. Dishman-Mica Road, after receiving an alarm at 4:25 a.m. Sunday. They found a front window removed and empty coin tubes scattered about.
An employee arrived and told the officers that the only thing missing was an orange safe that weighed about 500 pounds. Marks indicated that the safe had been slid across the floor. Thie safe contained cash.
Investigators believe the two burglaries were committed by the same people and are comparing evidence from each scene to identify the burglars.
On Friday, the owner of 328 Nails Place, 328 N. Sullivan Road, arrived at the business to discover a front window smashed out and cash missing from the register and a service desk. Also missing was a laptop computer
A large snow pile obscured the view of the break-in from the street. It appears the burglar left the business through a back door.
Anyone with information about these burglaries is encouraged to call the Spokane Valley police at 242-TIPS.
Man arrested on burglary charge
Spokane Valley police arrested a 23-year-old Spokane man early Friday after he ran from the scene of an East Sprague business burglary.
Officers Cole Speer and Gavin Pratt responded to an audible business alarm at the Kiev Market, 4823 E. Sprague Ave., about 2 a.m. As they arrived in the area, Speer spotted a man walking away from the business.
When Speer attempted to contact the man, he ran away despite being ordered to stop. The officer caught up to the man in the back of a nearby trailer park and struck him in the arm when he attempted to pull something from his pocket, police said.
After a brief struggle, the man was handcuffed by Speer and Pratt. Inside the man’s pocket the officers found a rock and a crowbar that police say were used in the attempted burglary.
Jessie W. Moore was arrested and booked into the Spokane County Jail on charges of second-degree burglary, obstructing a police investigation, resisting arrest and possession of a dangerous weapon.
Man arrested on forgery charges
A 26-year-old Spokane Valley man was arrested on three counts of forgery last Thursday after he allegedly attempted to cash forged checks drawn on his mother’s closed account.
Officers were called to Quick Cash, 12219 E. Sprague Ave., after an employee called 911 to report that a man was attempting to cash a check on the closed account, police said.
Officers Scott Nelson, Griffin Criswell and Glenn Hinckley arrived as the man was attempting to leave the business. The man said he was just trying to cash a check written to him by his mother, police said.
An employee told police the man had been flagged because two checks he had recently cashed were returned because the account was closed. The officers called the man’s mother and she said that she had neither written the checks nor given her son access to the account, police said.
Officer Nelson arrested Clyde I. Killingsworth, 13314 E. Blossey Ave., and booked him into the Spokane County Jail on the three felony charges.