Liberty Lake police seek help to ID suspected motorcycle thief

The Liberty Lake Police Department is looking for help from citizens in solving a burglary at a storage facility in Liberty Lake that was reported on July 15. A man driving a blue Dodge pickup reportedly entered Storage Solutions on East Mission Avenue and took a Honda motorcycle. Everything was caught on video surveillance cameras.

The license plates on the truck didn’t match, however. “Neither one of those belong on the truck,” said Police Chief Brian Asmus.

Police had a promising lead on the man’s identity. He used a code at the gate that was assigned to a local contractor who did some work at the facility last year. Police were hoping that he was a current or former employee of the business, but he was not. “That didn’t pan out,” he said.

Now police are circulating a photo of the suspect and asking for help in identifying him. Anyone with information on the identity of the man is asked to call the police department at (509) 755-7140.

The department had a fairly quiet week from July 18-25. Officers responded with the Washington State Patrol on a report of an accident on Interstate 90 in front of the George Gee dealership at 9 a.m. on July 18. An SUV had rolled onto its top, but the driver escaped serious injury, Asmus said.

A resident reported finding graffiti at the skate park in Pavillion Park at 2:30 p.m. on July 20. Photographs were taken of the graffiti and it was removed by city workers.

A 17-year-old Spokane Valley resident was arrested on a charge of reckless driving on July 20 when an officer spotted him spinning his tires at the intersection of Country Vista and Liberty Lake Road. The officer saw the car sliding through the intersection with smoke coming from the rear tires, Asmus said. The rear end of the car crossed the yellow line and nearly hit an oncoming car. The driver initially told officers that his throttle was stuck but then admitted he was “just being stupid,” Asmus said.

A man who loaned his car to a friend reported to police that when he went to Pavillion Park to retrieve it on July 23, it had two slashed tires, Asmus said. The incident is under investigation.

During the week officers gave out two citations for failure to show proof of liability insurance, one for license and plates required and one for defective windshield wipers.