Crime in Liberty Lake chills out with weather

Things seem to have calmed down a bit in Liberty Lake, with few arrests, traffic tickets or car prowlings for the week of Nov. 22-Monday. “Likely the weather is keeping the suspects away,” said Liberty Lake Police Chief Brian Asmus.

It’s hard to tell if residents have gotten the message to lock their garages and cars at night, Asmus said. The most recent thefts involved unlocked cars.

A resident in the 23400 block of East Boone Avenue called police at 4:50 a.m. on Nov. 24 to report that he had interrupted a man rummaging through the resident’s car, which was parked in the driveway. He described the man as wearing a Carhartt type of jacket, black pants and black boots, said Asmus. He ran west on Boone Avenue and officers were able to follow the man’s footprints in the snow to the area of Maxwell Avenue and Madison Street, where the footprints stopped.

The resident reported a case of about 100 CDs missing from his car. An investigation revealed that a thief had also gone through a neighbor’s car, but nothing was taken, Asmus said.

A woman in the 1600 block of North Aladdin Road reported to police on Sunday that she believed a family member was stealing items from her home while she was gone. The relative could not be located at his Spokane Valley address and the investigation is continuing, Asmus said.

A car hit a deer in the 1100 block of North Liberty Lake Road the afternoon of Nov. 25. A driver leaving the freeway spun out of control and hit a fence early in the morning on Nov. 22. There was only one arrest for the week – a Spokane Valley resident charged with driving under the influence on Nov. 24.

During the week, officers gave out citations for failure to sign/carry vehicle registration, failure to obey a lane control device and speeding.