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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

In brief: Nervous attitude brings drug possession arrest

From Staff Reports

Things went from bad to worse for a Colbert man whose car overheated outside a liquor store Thursday night.

Eric Joseph Powell, 24, was arguing with his female passenger in his overheated Toyota Corolla about 11:30 p.m. when sheriff’s Deputy Robert Brooke arrived to see why the car was parked in front of the closed Deer Park liquor store, according to the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office.

The passenger was calm, but Brooke said Powell was nervous and didn’t keep his hands out of his pockets as requested. When a deputy arrived as backup, Brooke “asked Powell what drugs he had on him” and Powell gave permission to remove items from his pocket, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

Brooke found a dime-size piece of tar heroin wrapped in plastic and another quantity in a container hanging around his neck. Deputies also found OxyContin and amitriptyline, a prescription drug.

Powell was booked into jail on three felony drug charges; his passenger was released.

Inmate faces charges for damage to jail door

An inmate jailed on a federal gun charge could face an additional felony for damaging a Spokane County Jail door. 

James Daniel Bacon, 23, slammed the door to a jail day room backward against a concrete wall so hard that the middle and bottom hinge bolts broke from the concrete.

Bacon refused to stop and was forcibly removed from the room by the jail crisis response team, the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office said. He was placed in a restraint chair, where he told a jail deputy that “he had nothing to say other than to ask what charges he now faces,” according to a news release by Sgt. Dave Reagan.

The room will be out of service for about two weeks as the door frame is replaced, Reagan said. Bacon could be charged with felony malicious mischief, depending on how much the repair costs.

He recently was convicted of misdemeanor assault for punching a man charged with producing child pornography.

He’s been in jail since Dec. 7 after running from Spokane police with a sawed-off 12-gauge shotgun. He’s charged in U.S. District Court with being a felon in possession of a firearm.