In brief: Wigged woman robs Butte bank

BUTTE – The FBI is investigating whether a Montana bank robbery is related to at least 18 bank robberies in Washington and Oregon attributed to the “Bad Hair Bandit.”

A woman wearing a short, dark-haired wig robbed the Bank of Butte on Thursday, getting away with an undisclosed amount of cash. The robber implied she had a gun.

Butte-Silver Bow County Sheriff John Walsh told the Montana Standard the FBI is looking into whether the “Bad Hair Bandit” is involved. An FBI spokeswoman wouldn’t comment.

The FBI’s website said the “Bad Hair Bandit” robs banks by passing a note to the teller and claiming that she has a gun. She wears a variety of unattractive wigs during the robberies.

A $10,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the robber’s conviction.

Man dies after fleeing hospital

A man suffering hallucinations died early Saturday after fleeing a hospital.

Spokane police officers responded to a call made by a man who was hallucinating about 9:30 p.m. at Wellesley Avenue and Standard Street, according to a Spokane Police Department news release. Officers called for an ambulance and the man was taken to a hospital.

A few hours later, hospital staff called police to report the man had fled and security officers were following him. Spokane police responded to assist, but when they arrived, the man had stopped breathing, the news release said. Officers administered CPR and the man was taken back to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The multiagency Spokane Investigative Regional Response Team is handling an investigation of the death, which is protocol in an officer-involved fatal incident.

Crews contain 600-acre wildfire

Crews contained about 80 percent of a wildfire burning west of Coulee City on Saturday, a fire official there said.

Scott Crawford with the Spokane County Incident Management Team also put the size of the fire at 600 acres, far smaller than the 2,500 acres initially reported by fire officials.

The fire, which was burning in sagebrush and grass fields, prompted brief closures of U.S. Highway 2 and state Route 17 and voluntary evacuations of four homes. By Saturday, the roadways were reopened and the evacuation order was lifted, with no structures harmed.

The cause of the fire was still under investigation. Crawford said 97 people were working to contain the blaze.

Woman mauled by dogs wins suit

TACOMA – A Pierce County jury has awarded $2.2 million to a Gig Harbor woman mauled by two pit bulls that entered her home through an open sliding-glass door.

Jurors assigned nearly half of the blame to Pierce County, which will have to pay about $924,000, the News Tribune reported. The dogs’ owners must pay the rest.

Sue Gorman suffered bites to her arms, face, neck, chest and nose during the 2007 attack and was briefly hospitalized. The pit bulls also attacked Gorman’s service dog and killed a neighbor’s terrier.

Gorman’s attorneys argued that the county was partially liable because neighbors, including Gorman, had filed numerous complaints about the pit bulls running loose and terrorizing people, and the dogs should have been confiscated.

The pit bulls were put down after the attack.

Doctor held after partner, son killed

SEATTLE – A doctor found stabbed in a Seattle apartment this week will be held in connection with the murders of his partner and their 2-year-old son.

A King County District Court judge on Saturday determined there was enough evidence to hold 39-year-old endocrinologist Louis Chen in custody on investigation of two counts of aggravated murder. Chen remained hospitalized with injuries that are described as non-life-threatening.

Officers were responding Thursday to a report of an injured man when they found Chen and his 29-year-old partner in the living room. The toddler was found dead in a bathroom.

Text to police gets woman arrested

LEWISTON – A Lewiston woman trying to buy prescription hydrocodone pills was arrested after she accidentally texted her request to a police chief in nearby Washington, authorities said.

Stacy J. Tibbits, 43, has been charged with felony attempted possession of a controlled substance in nearby Asotin, Wash., the Lewiston Tribune reported.

Police said Tibbits accidentally sent Asotin police Chief Bill Derbonne a text message last month trying to buy hydrocodone. Officers said they met her July 8 at a boat ramp, where she had arranged to pick up the pills.

Montana farmers planted less wheat

BILLINGS – Montana wheat farmers planted 600,000 fewer acres this spring than initially predicted, federal officials say.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture in a report released Thursday said the state’s wheat farmers are now expected to produce about 179.7 million bushels of wheat. That’s about 27 million fewer bushels than predicted in last month’s forecast, and about 35.7 million fewer bushels than the state produced last year.

Heavy rains last spring turned fields to mud, causing machinery to get stuck and limiting access to the fields for planting, the Billings Gazette reported.

Besides fewer acres being planted, the agency on Thursday also revised downward the expected yield per acre for both winter and spring wheat production.

Woman accuses spouse of burns

OLYMPIA – An Army sergeant from Olympia has been arrested after his wife reported that he doused her with lighter fluid and set her on fire.

Duane Michael Rader, 35, was being held at the Thurston County Jail after a judge set his bail at $75,000 Friday. He faces attempted second-degree murder, arson and other charges, the Olympian reported.

Court documents say his wife suffered second-degree burns and was admitted to a hospital after the attack in February. At the time, she told detectives she accidentally lit herself on fire.

But she and Rader recently split up, and this month she went back to police and reported that she had lied to protect her husband’s military career.

Man faces charges of child abuse

BOISE – A 45-year-old Wilder man who police say molested eight children has been charged with eight counts of lewd conduct with a child under 16 and two counts of sexual abuse of a child under 16.

Rey Alfredo Omelas was arrested June 2 after police say eight children reported incidents of abuse, the Idaho Statesman reported on Friday.

According to court documents, Omelas denied abusing any children, but later said he touched two children while they were swimming at Lake Lowell.

Omelas is next scheduled to appear in court on Oct. 4.