Snowy footprints lead deputies to suspects after north Spokane gas station robbery

After two men broke into a North Side gas station early Tuesday morning, Spokane County Sheriff’s Deputies said they followed the suspects’ footprints in the freshly fallen snow to a nearby apartment and arrested them.

A witness reported they had seen two people climbing out of the windows of the Exxon Gas Station at 9914 N. Waikiki Road just before 3 a.m., according to a new release from the sheriff’s office.

Deputies arrived to find the glass doors to the gas station smashed and a large quantity of cigarettes missing from inside the store.

Outside, deputies found two unique sets of shoeprints going from the entrance east on Hawthorne Street then across Division Street. A K-9 helped the deputies track as they followed the shoeprints to the front door of an apartment on Graves Road.

Inside, deputies observed a few people and a pile of cigarette boxes, according to the sheriff’s office.

Ethan A. Carolus, 19, and Skylar R. Stratton, 23, were arrested on suspicion of second-degree burglary, theft and malicious mischief.

Deputies recovered more than $1,000 worth of cigarettes and the suspects caused an estimated $1,200 damage to the gas station, deputies said.

As deputies continued to investigate, they linked Carolus to a burglary at the same business on Friday. Additional recommended charges of second-degree burglary, theft and malicious mischief were added to his booking paperwork.