Pedestrian receives minor injuries when struck by vehicle

A 34-year-old Spokane Valley man suffered minor injuries Tuesday afternoon when he was struck by a car while jaywalking across Sullivan Road just north of Sprague Avenue, police said.

Traffic Officer Tom Warner said Jesse R. Camp was crossing Sullivan east to west in midblock when he was hit by a 2001 Acura driven by 63-year-old Earl A. Kettleson of Spokane Valley, according to Spokane Valley police spokesman Sgt. Dave Reagan.

Kettleson told police that he saw Camp start across the roadway and believed he had continued all the way across. However, Camp apparently had stopped midway in the left turn lane.

The outside mirror on Kettleson’s Acura struck Camp, knocking him to the pavement and scraping his knuckles. The pedestrian declined a trip to medical facility to be checked for further injury.

Warner said he issued no citations because Camp was jaywalking in dark clothing at dusk. “The driver simply couldn’t see the pedestrian who was outside any marked or unmarked crosswalk,” he said.

Theives take tools from businesses

Burglars struck a pair of businesses this week and made off with hundreds of dollars worth of power tools and accessories, said Spokane Valley Police spokesman Sgt. Dave Reagan.

On Wednesday, employees at Modern Staple, 409 N. Thierman Road, received a call from the alarm company that a signal had been received from the business. The employees decided to respond on their own and found the front door pried open.

Officers were called and discovered that the suspect had entered only the outer sales area of the business. Missing were a DeWalt 3.8-liter air compressor, a Quincy five-gallon air compressor and a set of Makita concrete fiber cutting shears, worth in total a little more than $1,000.

Officer Griffen Criswell seized items for fingerprint examination after he learned they had been handled by the suspect.

Also on Wednesday, an employee of Spokane Woodworking, 3524 N. Eden Road, called officers to the business and reported that tools had been stolen in a burglary that apparently occurred the previous Thursday.

Two gray Craftsman tool boxes containing numerous hand tools inscribed with “Jon” were taken.

Also stolen was a 3 horsepower Porter-Cable router, a red Skil-brand sander and boxes of files and staples. The stolen power tools were marked with the victim’s name, his driver’s license number and the company name. Total loss was estimated at more than $1,600.

In both break-ins, the victims mentioned previous employees as potential suspects. Investigation into both burglaries continues.