Police say transient broke into church

A transient was arrested for burglary Wednesday after a neighbor saw him drunkenly punch out a glass window and enter a Spokane Valley church, police said.

Officer Mike McNees found Paul M. Peterson, 50, straddling a windowsill at Valley View Baptist Church and bleeding from a minor cut to one hand, according to the Spokane Valley Police Department.

A neighbor called 911 about 5:20 p.m. and said she’d watched Peterson try to open doors and windows at the church, 6006 E. Eighth Ave., before he punched out a window.

McNess and backup officers arrested Peterson without incident.

The suspect gave a St. Paul, Minn., address when booked into jail for second-degree burglary, police said.