In brief: CdA officer won’t be charged in deadly shooting
No charges will be filed against a Coeur d’Alene police officer who shot and killed a man armed with two knives in August.
Officer Spencer Mortensen shot Eric B. Johnston, 35, five times in a confrontation that unfolded after Johnston crashed his truck into a utility pole and then fled to a friend’s apartment near downtown Coeur d’Alene.
The investigation into the shooting was led by the Idaho State Police. Bonner County Prosecuting Attorney Louis Marshall announced his decision against filing charges in a letter to Kootenai County Prosecuting Attorney Barry McHugh.
Marshall wrote that Mortensen clearly announced himself and told Johnston to drop the knives several times. Mortensen fired after Johnston failed to follow commands and advanced on the officer, Marshall wrote. The incident was recorded on a body camera worn by Mortensen.
“The most plausible theory of this case after looking at all the evidence is that Eric Johnston purposefully walked at Officer Spencer Mortensen after picking up the two knives with the intent to commit suicide by cop,” Marshall wrote.
Just before police arrived Johnston told his friend that he did not want to go back to jail, Marshall wrote.
Jensen-Byrd high on preservation list
Spokane’s Jensen-Byrd building ranks second on the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s “10 historic preservation saves” list for 2013.
The national trust, which held its national conference in Spokane in 2012, said of the six-story building, “Preservationists persuaded Washington State University to restore and reuse this 104-year-old former warehouse, rather than sell and demolish the structure.”
The Jensen-Byrd became the symbol of debate over historic preservation in Spokane in recent years. WSU bought the structure in 2001 and in 2011 announced plans to tear it down. Local preservationists rallied and the company that planned to develop student housing on the site backed out of the deal. In August, WSU Spokane Chancellor Lisa Brown said it was likely the university would preserve the building.
Semitruck with mail hits car on Trent
A semitruck loaded with mail smashed into a car that turned in front of it on Trent Avenue at Del Ray Drive shortly after 7 p.m. Friday, according to the Washington State Patrol.
The driver of a red sedan had to be cut out of his car, but his injuries are not considered life-threatening, said Sgt. Scott Lasher.
The semi was heading west and the car was turning east onto Trent from Del Ray. Neither speed nor alcohol are thought to be a factor in the accident, Lasher said.
The force of the collision shoved the passenger car across the road and jackknifed the truck, forcing both directions of Trent to be shut down for more than an hour. “Weight and momentum played a role,” Lasher said.
The driver of the semi, who was not injured, will not be cited, Lasher said. The driver of the car may be cited for pulling out in front of the truck.
Man, 70, accused of assault with bat
A 70-year-old Deer Park man was arrested Friday afternoon after a SWAT standoff prompted by a baseball bat assault, the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office said.
Michael Martin was booked into Spokane County Jail on Friday, several hours after deputies received a call from neighbors claiming Martin had beaten them with his fists and the bat, according to a news release. When officers arrived at Martin’s trailer in the 300 block of South Fir Avenue, he walked inside and refused to leave, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
SWAT team members and hostage negotiators were called to the scene. Martin, who said he didn’t want to open the door for the police, was arrested without incident after police entered the house with a search warrant, according to a news release.
Martin faces assault charges in the incident, the Sheriff’s Office said.
Search of man’s home nets weapons
A police search of a home near a Browne’s Addition convenience store robbed multiple times last month revealed multiple guns thought to be owned by the nine-time convicted felon implicated in the thefts.
Justin Werle, 28, has been in custody at Spokane County Jail since Tuesday, facing charges of owning modified weapons illegally. He was previously implicated in at least one attempted robbery Dec. 28 at Sunset Grocery, 1908 W. Sunset Blvd. But police said the store had been robbed twice previously in the previous four weeks and they thwarted Werle’s plot for a third.
Investigators think the same white man – disguised in a hooded sweatshirt, gloves and a bandana – committed the two successful robberies. Police found a .22 revolver, a rifle and an “old rusty revolver” in Werle’s residence, just behind the convenience store.
Prosecutors have not yet said whether they will pursue additional robbery charges against Werle, who was released from prison in January 2013 after serving time on multiple riot charges.
North Side, South Hill banks robbed
Police responded to two unrelated bank robberies in Spokane on Friday.
In the first robbery, three black males in their 20s entered the Washington Trust Bank branch at Maple Street and Garland Avenue just after 9:30 a.m., Spokane police said. They were wearing ski masks and demanded money at gunpoint, according to a Spokane Police Department news release.
The FBI has joined that investigation, and police believe the robbery might be connected to a robbery at a North Side U.S. Bank branch on Dec. 20.
The second bank robbery happened just before 5 p.m. Friday on the South Hill.
A man described as white or Hispanic entered the U.S. Bank branch on East 30th Avenue and showed a note to a teller demanding money, Spokane police spokeswoman Monique Cotton said. The teller handed over an undisclosed amount of cash and the robber fled on foot, Cotton said. He did not display a weapon.
Anyone with information about either robbery is asked to call Crime Check at (509) 456-2233.