Assault suspect disarmed in scuffle outside West Central convenience store

A husband disarmed a suspect who allegedly threatened him and his wife with a handgun Saturday in West Central Spokane.

Court documents say the couple was sitting in a truck parked outside Bongs Deli and Grocery at 2040 W. Boone Ave. when a suspicious man approached them. The husband shouted at the man, and the man responded by raising a 9 mm handgun to the husband’s temple and threatening to pull the trigger, according to court documents.

“He reacted by reaching out with two hands and grabbing onto the gun,” court documents say. “He wrestled the gun out of the defendant’s hands, knocking the defendant to the ground at the same time.”

The man released the magazine, pulled back the slide and found several bullets in the gun, court documents say. He continued to hold down the suspect until his wife brought the gun into the store, then let him run away.

The suspect, later identified as Francis A. Travino, 49, was taken down by a police dog behind a home on West Gardner Avenue after he refused to obey an officer, court documents say. The homeowners had reported someone yelling in their backyard.

While being treated at Deaconess Hospital for injuries from the scuffle, Trevino allegedly kicked an officer in the leg.

Trevino is being held in the Spokane County Jail on a $100,000 bond. He faces charges of harassment, illegally possessing a firearm, and second- and third-degree assault. He has previously been convicted of first-degree burglary.