Suspect in robbery jailed after standoff
Men beat Spokane Valley woman in home as child slept
Masked gunmen pistol-whipped a woman in her Spokane Valley apartment late Monday before forcing her into a closet as her child slept in another room.
The men stole a cell phone, TV and computer after demanding marijuana and “everything you have” from the 25-year-old woman, according to the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office.
The late-night home invasion in the 12000 block of East Mansfield Ave. launched an investigation that saw one suspect arrested during a traffic stop shortly after the robbery and another nabbed by the SWAT team after he was hit with tear gas Tuesday.
Darius D. Toussiant, 18, and Glen A. Akers, 19, were in Spokane County Jail on Tuesday on charges of first-degree robbery.
Touissiant was arrested during a traffic stop at 11700 E. Montgomery Ave. shortly after the robbery. Akers, who police believe ran from the traffic stop with a handgun, was arrested following a three-hour standoff Tuesday morning at 803 W. Sherman Ave.
Touissiant’s bail was set at $75,000 during his first appearance in Spokane County Superior Court on Tuesday. His older brother, Arton Toussiant, had urged Judge Ellen Kalama Clark to let the man out of jail.
“He has a son,” Arton Toussiant, 21, said. “I don’t know what happened last night. Somehow he fell off the tracks, but I know he’s a good kid.”
Akers is scheduled to appear in court this afternoon.
Toussiant and Akers, who detectives said also uses the name Jeremiah A. Smith, are accused of ransacking the woman’s apartment about 11 p.m. after forcing her into a laundry closet.
Akers hit the woman four times with a handgun “causing extreme pain and visible trauma to her face and head,” according to court documents. The woman did not require medical treatment, police said.
The Sheriff’s Office is trying to determine why the men targeted the apartment and whether they knew the victim, said Lt. Earl Howerton.
Detectives found an assault rifle, ammunition, a handgun magazine and drugs in the Sherman home where Akers was, Howerton said.
Also arrested during the traffic stop with Toussiant were Artez L. Woodard, 24, and Vatsana Muongkhoth, 22, on unrelated warrants.
Toussiant is already charged with felony intimidating a public servant for an alleged incident involving Akers in July.
Touissiant and two other men are accused of yelling at a Spokane County sheriff’s deputy who pulled over Akers on suspicion of driving with a suspended license, according to court documents.