In brief: Briefcase found with bomb

A suspicious briefcase found near the Kootenai County Fairgrounds Friday evening contained some kind of explosive device.

The briefcase was reported at 5:50 p.m. by passers-by who spotted it while they were heading to the North Idaho Fair a couple blocks away, said Coeur d’Alene police Sgt. Christie Wood. The case had the words “Warning do not touch” and “Boom” written on it in black ink. It was left in a grassy area near the sidewalk on Second Street, south of Kathleen Avenue and behind the Great Floors store on Government Way.

The Spokane County Bomb Squad safely detonated the device shortly after 10 p.m., Wood said. No one was injured and no property was damaged, she said.

It will need to be examined to determine what kind device it was, she added.

Wood said the few area residents who were home when police arrived on the scene were evacuated as a precaution and the area was cordoned off.

The site was congested with pedestrian and vehicle traffic from the fair, Wood said. Fair patrons who parked their cars in the area were unable to return to their vehicles for hours.

Carolyn Lamberson

Man robs bank, escapes on bike

The Wells Fargo Bank at 114 E. Appleway in Coeur d’Alene was robbed Friday evening.

Coeur d’Alene police Sgt. Christie Wood said a man walked into the bank about 6 p.m. He threw cloth grocery bags at the tellers, demanded they hurry and waved a “large-caliber handgun.” He left the bank with an undisclosed amount of cash and was last seen headed south on Government Way on a gray, three-speed bicycle.

The man was described as being in his late 20s or early 30s. He wore a black mask on his face, a black bike helmet, denim shorts, a long-sleeve button-down shirt, and white shoes with red “squiggly” lines. He was carrying a white cloth grocery bag with an American flag on it, Wood said.

Coeur d’Alene police and agents from the FBI were on the scene, she added.

Anyone with information about the robbery is asked to call Coeur d’Alene police at (208) 769-2320 or the FBI at (208) 664-5128.

Carolyn Lamberson