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

In brief: Pit bulls attack girl, 8, and rescuer

Two pit bulls attacked an 8-year-old girl and two men who rushed to save her Thursday evening, sending the girl and one of the men to the hospital with significant bite wounds.

The girl suffered bites on all four limbs, said Spokane police Lt. Craig Meidl. One of the men who came to her aid was bitten on his hands, arm and face.

“He has some pretty serious injuries to his face,” Meidl said. The second man was bitten on his hand.

Meidl said a couple of children inadvertently let the dogs out of their backyard on East Bridgeport Avenue near North Napa Street. The dogs went after the girl, who was playing nearby. Neighbors attempted to intervene, but as soon as the dogs were pulled off one victim they immediately went in search of the next, Meidl said.

Neighbors were finally able to trap the dogs in a nearby yard and lock them in, he said.

The dogs have been impounded by the Spokane Regional Animal Protection Service, said director Nancy Hill. SCRAPS will start an investigation to determine whether the dogs should be classified as dangerous and whether the owner will face charges.

Girl slips off handcuffs, steals patrol car

A girl in the back of a Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office patrol car slipped off her handcuffs, crawled into the front seat and drove away in the car Thursday evening at the Huetter rest area on eastbound I-90 in North Idaho.

Kootenai County sheriff’s deputies and Idaho State Police troopers gave chase as the girl drove through Coeur d’Alene and then south on Highway 95. She was stopped on a dead-end road near milepost 421, according to a Sheriff’s Office press release.

The girl was one of two juveniles in the car who had been reported as missing/runaways in Chandler, Ariz. The license plate reader on I-90 had identified the 1982 blue Chevrolet El Camino they were riding in as being associated with their disappearance.

Spokane man killed in Wyoming crash

A Spokane man was killed Thursday when the truck he was a passenger in jackknifed and slid down an icy embankment on I-80 about 20 miles west of Laramie, Wyo.

Trevor J. Hollingsworth, 24, was pronounced dead at the scene.

The accident was reported shortly after 6 a.m. An F-250 pickup driven by Joel A. Hollingsworth, 66, of Addy, Wash., was going west on the freeway pulling a gooseneck trailer loaded with a two-horse trailer and an F-350 pickup. Roads were icy and snowy at the time and Hollingsworth lost control, according to the Wyoming Highway Patrol.

The truck rolled and it and the trailer slid down a steep embankment, causing the roof to be crushed inward, the WHP said. Speed too fast for conditions is thought to be a factor in the accident.

Police: Hit-run suspect ate bag of drugs

The suspect in a Wednesday hit-and-run accident near Division Street and Magnesium Road is still in critical condition at a local hospital.

Investigators believe the man, identified as Tracy L. Marsh, swallowed a bag of drugs before he was taken into custody and stopped breathing, according to court documents.

An officer observed the accident and chased Marsh briefly before finding him by a nearby apartment complex with the help of citizens. Marsh, 36, stopped breathing as he was being arrested. Witnesses told police that they saw Marsh put something in his mouth before he was arrested.

Medics who responded pulled a plastic bag containing what appeared to be methamphetamine from Marsh’s throat, documents say.

Robber holds up North Side cigarette shop

A masked robber made off with cash Thursday night from the Discount Smoke Shop on North Division Street.

Police said the man wore a white mask and dark green hoodie sweatshirt and displayed a gun on his waistband.

Officers tried to track the suspect with a police dog. The robber is described as a white male about 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighing about 180 pounds.

Police do not have a suspect and did not disclose how much money was stolen.

Feds said to be punishing hunger strikers

SEATTLE – U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has retaliated against about 20 immigrant hunger strikers and supporters at a Washington detention facility by putting them in solitary confinement, activists said Thursday.

The agency denied exacting any revenge, saying instead that those separated from the general population had been generating complaints by intimidating others to join the strike.

“While ICE fully respects the rights of all people to express their opinion without interference, when these expressions infringe on the civil rights of others, ICE has an obligation to act,” the agency said in an email.

At least 750 detainees participated in a hunger strike about a month ago to protest U.S. immigration law as well as the conditions at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, which houses nearly 1,300 people being investigated for possible deportation. Some began a renewed hunger strike March 24.

Three days later, guards asked several if they wanted to meet with an assistant warden. After they raised their hands, they were handcuffed and placed in solitary confinement, activists said.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Washington and Columbia Legal Services sued ICE, asking for a temporary restraining order to halt the practice.