Man arrested after breaking into the Public Safety Building

A man was arrested Saturday afternoon after breaking a glass door to get inside the Public Safety Building, which houses the police department, the sheriff’s office, district court and municipal court. A court employee working inside the building called 911 around 1:30 p.m. to report that a man with a crowbar was trying to break in one of the front doors, said Spokane Police Department spokeswoman Teresa Fuller. Once inside, the man broke a door leading to the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office area, Fuller said. “They kind of corralled him in one of the offices back there, where he had climbed into the ceiling,” she said. The man refused to come down, but then gravity did it’s job. “He fell through the ceiling tiles and back to the floor,” she said. “We had a bit of struggle with him.” The man, identified as 47-year-old Paul J. Reinhardt, was booked into the Spokane County Jail on a charge of second-degree burglary. Reinhardt had previously been arrested earlier this month for felony hit-and-run after getting in a head on crash on the Maple Street Bridge. His felony convictions include burglary, theft, possession of stolen property, possession of burglary tools and attempting to elude a police vehicle.