Police searching for Spokane Valley carjacking suspect

A shoplifting suspect swung a knife at a security guard, jumped into an occupied car in the parking lot of the Spokane Valley Walmart and drove away with people inside, according to Spokane Valley Police. The suspect let out the occupants of the car a short distance away, police said in a news release. They were unharmed. Police are searching for a white man in his mid-20s, about 5 feet 7 inches tall, with blond hair and a medium build. He was last seen wearing baggy blue jeans and a black “puffy” vest and shirt, according to the news release. He was driving the 2001 white Dodge Intrepid, with a Washington license plate 172XTI, that he took from the Walmart parking lot. Walmart security called Crime Check about 2 p.m. to report a man stealing merchandise from the store at 15727 E. Broadway Ave. A guard confronted the suspect as he tried to leave the store with a Blu-ray device, the news release said. The man swung a knife at the guard, who also was unharmed. The suspect ran through the parking lot and jumped into the Dodge, where a husband and wife were waiting for their daughter to finish grocery shopping. The husband was in the front passenger seat and the wife was in the rear seat. The suspect let out the couple at Barker Road and Indiana Avenue, the news release said. Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call Crime Check at (509) 456-2233.