Man arrested after SWAT standoff in Spokane

A man was arrested following an hourslong SWAT team standoff in the West Central neighborhood Thursday evening.

Maceo L. Williams, 27, was wanted for investigation of second-degree assault when he barricaded himself in a home at 2301 W. Broadway Ave., across the street from Broadway Foods.

Police believed Williams was armed with a handgun, and they blocked off several blocks as they tried to make contact with Williams.

The standoff ended when police shot pepper spray into the house and forced Williams out. No one was injured.

Williams was arrested last December after  a SWAT team standoff at 13110 N. Addison St. in north Spokane.

Police were looking for him and a reputed Sureno gang member, Bobby S. “Angel” Decaney, after a woman was assaulted and robbed of methamphetamine.

Spokane County Superior Court Judge Sam Cozza in April sentenced Williams to four months in jail with credit given for about four months already served for riot and second-degree attempted theft. He also was sentenced to two years probation.

Justin Runquist

Sex offender pleads not guilty

A Spokane sex offender out of jail on $250,000 bond pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges related to an alleged incident with a 5-year-old girl at the NorthTown Mall last month.

 Richard Michael Payne, 55, faces a potential life sentence if convicted of indecent exposure and two counts of first-degree child molestation after the girl and her 11-year-old sister told their mother he had exposed himself in an arcade area at the mall June 21 while rubbing the younger girl’s back.

Payne was arrested June 26 and left jail June 27 after posting the bond through Smith Family Bail Bonds.

He’s wearing a GPS ankle monitor through the bond company that tracks his movements. He is prohibited from contacting children or visiting places where they gather, including the NorthTown Mall.

Payne is a level 3 sex offender who served about 3 1/2 years in prison for grabbing a 9-year-old girl’s crotch and buttocks while at a North Division Street store in 2001.

Meghann M. Cuniff