In brief: Kidnapping story a lie, man now says

An injured man who initially told police he was kidnapped from a Sioux City, Iowa, home and led on a harrowing road trip to Spokane last week now says he lied and had returned willingly.

Jason Hanson recanted earlier this week after police arrested George Rosenbaum on kidnapping, assault and robbery charges stemming from the 1,300-mile journey.

Hanson initially told investigators that Rosenbaum had showed up at a friend’s house in Sioux City where he was staying, threatening to burn the residence if Hanson did not return to Spokane with him. Hanson said he’d moved to Sioux City fearing retaliation from Rosenbaum, who wanted Hanson to testify on his behalf at an upcoming trial on an unrelated assault charge.

But in court earlier this week, Hanson changed his story and said he’d agreed to come back to Spokane and used methamphetamine prior to Rosenbaum’s arrival in Sioux City. He also denied that he was being held against his will.

Rosenbaum was arrested Wednesday on an eluding police charge, according to jail records. He was ordered held in lieu of $50,000 bond at a court appearance Thursday.

Kip Hill

Tow truck driver’s court win appealed

A Liberty Lake patent holder whose allegations of police brutality were thrown out by a federal jury last month is appealing a judge’s order that he pay $10,000 to the tow truck driver whose repossession sparked a February 2010 spat.

Franklin Duncan filed paperwork in U.S. District Court earlier this month appealing  an order that he owed Victor Grant restitution. Duncan argued at trial that Grant entered the gated community where he lives near Liberty Lake golf course and unlawfully tried to repossess his son’s sports car. During their scuffle, Grant said, Duncan tried to strangle him, while Duncan said Grant crushed his hand in the tow truck’s winch.

A jury ruled unanimously in November that Duncan was at fault in the episode but awarded no damages. Following the ruling, Grant asked Judge Thomas O. Rice to reconsider his request for compensation, which Rice granted.

The case now heads to the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, headquartered in California.

Kip Hill