July 20, 2011 in City

In brief: Services Tuesday for slain soldier

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Services for Staff Sgt. Wyatt A. Goldsmith, 28, who was killed in action Friday in Afghanistan, have been set for 1 p.m. Tuesday.

The memorial service will be at the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, 320 N. Maple St. in Colville, said Bill Danekas of Danekas Funeral Chapel and Crematorium.

Goldsmith, a Green Beret who also was a ski patroller at 49 Degrees North Mountain Resort, was killed when his unit was attacked by insurgents firing rocket-propelled grenades, according to the U.S. Department of Defense.

Police seek four in carjacking

A man was beaten and robbed of his car early Tuesday after picking up four men in Spokane Valley, police said.

The victim was beaten about 2:20 a.m. in the 1500 block of East Sharp Avenue, where the men stole his silver 1991 Subaru Legacy, Spokane police said. A handgun was inside the vehicle, which was last seen eastbound on Mission Avenue, police said.

The victim told police the men were black and under the age of 20.

Anyone with information on the carjacking should call Crime Check at (509) 456-2233.

Bank robber pleads guilty

A man who robbed two Spokane banks will serve his 10-year prison sentence at the same time as a pending sentence for a Coeur d’Alene bank robbery.

 Michael Richard Kent, 39, pleaded guilty to bank robbery Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Coeur d’Alene for a Jan. 12, 2010, robbery at Washington Trust Bank, 218 Lakeside Ave.

Kent left with $3,175 after handing a teller a note that referenced a gun, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Idaho.

He already is set to serve 129 months in a Washington prison for robberies Dec. 16, 2009, at Chase Bank, 822 W. Francis Ave., and Dec. 24, 2009 at Numerica Credit Union, 1916 W. Francis Ave.

Kent faces up to 20 years in federal prison when he’s sentenced Sept. 27 in Idaho, but a plea agreement calls for him to serve the sentence concurrently with the Washington state sentence.

Patrols nab unyielding drivers

The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office and Spokane Valley Police Department conducted a pedestrian emphasis patrol on Tuesday.

During the emphasis, which ran for about five hours at the intersections of Valleyway and Mullan/Argonne, officers wrote about 110 ticket for failure to yield to pedestrians, for $124 each, according to a sheriff’s department news release.

Officers also wrote 30 other various traffic violations, four of which were for driving with a suspended license, which is a criminal offense.

Tribal member pleads to abuse

A Colville Confederated Tribes member pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court to two counts of aggravated sexual abuse.

Clarence J. Stensgar Jr. was indicted last September on charges of sexually assaulting two different women in 2007 on the Colville Indian Reservation. As part of the plea negotiation, a third count of aggravated sexual abuse and a single count of kidnapping were dismissed, according to court records.

The aggravated sexual assault charge carries a maximum sentence of life in federal prison. Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Ohms recommended a sentence of just over 11 years.

U.S. District Judge Frem Nielsen set sentencing for 9 a.m. Oct. 12.

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