In brief: Fire destroys Spokane Valley apartment
A two-alarm fire gutted a Spokane Valley apartment this afternoon but no one was injured and crews were able to contain the blaze to one unit.
Crews were called to the scene about 4:25 p.m., Spokane Valley Fire Chief Bryan Collins said, and when firefighters arrived at the Whimsical Pig Apartments, 13303 E. Mission, they discovered fire coming out the door of a third-floor unit.
A teenage boy was inside the apartment, heard a smoke detector go off, emerged from a room and saw flames in the living room, Collins said. He grabbed his dog and escaped.
The two-bedroom unit is a total loss, but firefighters were able to stop flames from damaging other units, Collins said.
Texas man arrested on sex charges
A Texas man wanted on child sex charges for the past 13 years was arrested in Spokane by U.S. marshals on Friday.
Robert Reese, 55, was arrested without incident in the 6700 block of North Royal Lane by the U.S. marshals-led Pacific Northwest Violent Offender Task Force with the assistance of the Spokane Police Department. Reese is facing charges of indecent liberties with a child and aggravated sexual assault of a child that date to 2002.
Reese was featured on a TV show on the Justice Network in March. A tip led investigators to Tacoma, where Reese had been living on a boat for 10 years, according to a U.S. marshals news release. Reese left Tacoma shortly after the television show aired and investigators were able to track him to Spokane.
Woman charged in rape accusation
A Spokane Valley woman is in the Spokane County Jail facing a charge of malicious prosecution after police say she falsely accused a man she had just met of raping her.
Brenda L. Norris, also known as Brenda Bacon, reported to police in December that the man had taken her into his apartment, tried to force her to take pills and then raped her. Several people reported finding Norris in the street, wearing a ripped shirt and saying she had been assaulted, according to court documents.
Norris took pills from the man’s apartment and gave them to police, but they turned out to be blood pressure medication. Investigators interviewed Norris again after finding “inconsistencies” in her statement and Norris reportedly confessed to making up the rape claim, according to court documents. She said the two had consensual sex.
Police discovered that Norris had previously claimed that two different men had raped her earlier in 2014 and she also accused a vendor in Riverfront Park of “indecent liberties” in 2013. She admitted lying after one of the previous rape accusations and a witness told police that her companion told her to “make up a good story” about the Riverfront Park vendor, according to court documents.
Norris’ bond was set at $5,000 during a recent court appearance. She also is being held on $1,500 bond on separate charges of possession of stolen property and possession of a stolen motor vehicle.
Firefighters save cat in home blaze
Spokane firefighters rescued a cat from a basement fire in a home at Kiernan Avenue and Monroe Street on Friday afternoon.
The fire at 1003 W. Kiernan Ave. was reported at 2:30 p.m. Initial reports were that a person in a wheelchair was still inside the home, but firefighters only found a cat when they searched for fire victims, according to a Spokane Fire Department news release.
Fire trucks blocked southbound traffic on Monroe while fighting the fire. Damage is estimated at $7,000, and the family was able to return to the home.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Woman guilty in labor scheme
A Spokane woman who helped operate a motel and apartment while claiming she was too injured to work has pleaded guilty in a disability case.
Washington state labor officials said Mistie Crosby, 52, pleaded guilty Friday to three counts of third-degree theft. She agreed to pay $98,623 to the state in restitution. The money will be returned to the state workers’ compensation fund.
The judge ordered Crosby to serve 364 days in jail, with all but 10 days suspended if she obeys the law for two years and pays court costs. The judge said Crosby could also serve 10 days in electronic home monitoring.
Officials say Crosby filed an injured worker’s claim in 2010. From then until 2013, she received wage-replacement payments and benefits from the state.
But investigators say she had been working during that time.
Sentence delayed in police porn case
LYNDEN, Wash. – A judge has postponed the sentencing of a longtime Lynden police officer who pleaded guilty to having pornography of a teenage girl on his work phone.
The Bellingham Herald reported Donald Merle Glunt agreed to a plea deal in March that offered 45 days of house arrest instead of jail time.
He was scheduled to be sentenced Friday, but the judge began questioning that plan.
Prosecutors say the deal will save taxpayers from paying for medical costs associated with Glunt’s stomach cancer. But some in the community signed a petition calling for a harsher punishment.
At Friday’s hearing, Judge Ira Uhrig referenced an investigator’s note that said Glunt was not taking responsibility for his behavior.