In brief: Police officer on paid leave

The Spokane police officer who fatally hit a pedestrian with his patrol car Sunday night submitted a blood sample and is on paid leave.

The officer, whose name has not been released, is an eight-year veteran. After the crash he was asked to provide the blood sample, which is routine in serious injury or fatality collision probes, police said.

Test results will be available in six to eight weeks.

The victim, John A. Van Curler, 52, was pronounced dead at a downtown hospital.Van Curler was hit at or near the intersection of North Monroe Street and West Montgomery Avenue about 10:30 p.m. on Sunday.

Investigators have not said if the officer was driving with his lights or his sirens on, or at what speed.

He was responding to a report of trouble unknown at a house on West Spofford Avenue.

Twins’ mother pleads guilty

A 27-year-old Coeur d’Alene woman whose twin daughters were found living in squalor has pleaded guilty to felony injury to a child.

Elisabeth Crossley entered her plea Monday in District Court in Kootenai County as part of a plea deal that includes a sentence of up to 10 years in prison.

The 2-year-old girls are in state custody.

Crossley’s daughters were found Dec. 5 living in filthy conditions. The girls were sealed in a bedroom with no clothes, bedding or furniture. Police say the girls, walls and floor were covered in fecal matter and the girls had bruises and open sores.

Crossley’s mother, 55-year-old Ruth K. Cassidy, entered an Alford plea to felony injury to a child. Both are to be sentenced on April 13.

Second mistrial for burglar

The wheels of justice keep getting derailed for a prolific burglar charged with stealing more than $25,000 worth of rare gold and silver coins.

Jury selection was under way Tuesday when attorneys asked if any of the 40 prospective jurors knew Gary D. McCabe, 45, who recently was sentenced to seven years in prison for a 2009 burglary.

Two jurors said they had heard of McCabe.

When asked how they knew him, one man answered that he works as a corrections officer at Geiger Corrections Center and has transported McCabe several times.

Superior Court Judge Ellen Kalama Clark declared a mistrial out of concern that the comment tainted the jury pool, and reset the trial for later this month. The same case nearly went to a jury last month before one of the jurors realized McCabe probably burglarized her South Hill home, also resulting in a mistrial.

Owner of truck in river jailed

A search-and-rescue mission in the Spokane River on Saturday was triggered by a man who drove his pickup into the water, then reported it stolen to try to cover up the crash, police said Tuesday.

Christopher G. Puckett, 30, is in jail on several felony charges after police determined he crashed his 2003 Ford F-350 pickup into the river near 5800 E. Upriver Drive, then showed up at a nearby bar about 2:30 a.m. “intoxicated and soaking wet,” according to a news release. Puckett urged the bar owner not to talk to investigators and reported the car stolen to police and to his insurance company.

Officers arrested Puckett Monday on charges of tampering with a witness, failure to leave information, making a false or misleading statement to a public servant and insurance fraud.

Stepfather pleads not guilty

A Hayden man has pleaded not guilty to allegations he used a 25-pound sack of dried drink mix to hold a toddler face down on a storage room floor to help the child fall asleep.

Zacharee J. Wright, 19, is charged with felony injury to a child and is being held on a $15,000 bond in the Kootenai County Jail.

Prosecutors say Wright’s alleged actions could have suffocated the child, who was 18-months-old at the time.