In brief: Man charged with stealing two trucks
A man was arrested early Friday after allegedly stealing, then crashing, two trucks in Coeur d’Alene. One of the trucks hit a house and caught fire.
Michael R. MacKinnon, 19, was booked into Kootenai County Jail on charges including grand theft, felony eluding and driving under the influence.
Sheriff’s deputies found a stolen pickup truck that had crashed and been left abandoned on Government Way near Wilbur Avenue around 3 a.m., a news release from the Sheriff’s Department said. They then saw a large flatbed truck crash through the gate of Pacific Steel at 7448 N. Aqua Circle and head northbound on Government Way.
During a short pursuit, the flatbed spilled about 26,000 pounds of plate steel onto the street. The truck turned in to a dead end and the driver jumped out and fled on foot. The truck kept moving and crashed into a house at the south end of Juno Street, then caught fire.
Sheriff’s deputies and Coeur d’Alene police officers chased the suspect on foot and took him into custody, the release said. The truck fire was extinguished before it spread to the house, which was unoccupied.
The stolen trucks were significantly damaged, and one sheriff’s patrol car sustained minor damage, the Sheriff’s Department reported. No one was hurt.
City plans holiday break on parking
Spokane is trying to rev up downtown shopping by giving drivers a parking break.
Starting on Black Friday, from Nov. 23 through Jan. 5, parking at downtown meters will be free after 5 p.m., a city news release said. Meters are usually enforced until 7 p.m.
The holiday break is part of an effort by the city to accommodate downtown residents and shoppers who need parking. The city is also testing a program to sell monthly passes to downtown residents for parking at 10-hour meters, the release said.
“We want to make it easier for people to live, work and play in our core. Parking is part of that,” Jan Quintrall, the city’s division director for business and development services, said in the release.
Two children hurt in head-on collision
Two young children were taken to area hospitals after a crash Friday morning on U.S. Highway 95 south of Bonners Ferry.
Cassandra Spencer, 27, was southbound in a Chevy pickup at 9:30 a.m. when she drifted off the right side of the highway and hit an empty Ford Expedition.
She then struck head-on a semitruck and trailer driven by Beloit Mendenhall, 66, of Bonners Ferry. Mendenhall veered off the west side of the highway and was ejected from the vehicle, but he didn’t sustain any injuries.
Spencer was taken to Bonner Community Hospital for treatment of her injuries. She was not wearing a seat belt.
Her 5-year-old passenger was taken to Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center and her 3-year-old passenger was taken to Boundary County Hospital. The Idaho State Patrol didn’t say if the children were wearing seat belts.