A longtime Spokane felon who fought with police in a Browne's Addition grocery store parking lot last week had about three ounces of heroin in his vehicle, police said today.

Stephen Patrick Link, 46, pleaded not guilty today in Spokane County Superior Court to possession of methamphetamine, attempt to elude a police vehicle and two counts of third-degree assault for the May 21 incident with Sgt. Kurt Vigesaa and Officer Ron Van Tassel at Rosauers, 1800 W. 2nd Ave.

Police are requesting prosecutors charge Link with six additional drug felonies after a search of his Ford Ranger on Friday revealed the heroin, valued at $2,400, marijuana packaged for sale and four prescription drugs packaged for sale, as well as a scale and baggies.

Police also found two syringes loaded with suspected heroin.  Those drugs were found in addition to methamphetamine, more than $7,000 and 35 suspected stolen gift cards that were found on the ground next to Link the night of his arrest.

Police began pursuing Link after a homeowner in the 4800 block of North Oak Street reported a man sitting in a truck in front of his home smoking drugs. Vigesaa attempted to stop Link near North Ash Street and West Grace Avenue, but he fled and crossed the Maple Street Bridge into downtown.

Police used a PIT maneuver to stop the truck, and Link exited the vehicle and fought with Vigesaa, who said he nearly lost consciousness and didn't know what hit him after he was attacked by Link, according to court documents. Vigesaa was treated at a hospital for cut eye and a broken blood vessel. (Police released a photo of the injury today)

Link also kicked and punched Van Tassel and broke his watch, police say Backup officers arrived and Link was shocked with a Taser and taken to the ground before being handcuffed. (View a photo from the scene here.) He was taken to a hospital before being booked into jail.

Link is well known to drug detectives “who have worked previous cases involving him,” according to a news release by police spokeswoman Officer Jennifer DeRuwe.

Vigesaa and Van Tassel have returned to work, DeRuwe said.

“This situation illustrates not only the dangers of police work, but how officers work together to effectively apprehend and remove a criminal suspect from the streets of Spokane.”

Link remains in the Spokane County Jail.

A man who told detectives he murdered another methamphetamine addict in a fight over cigarettes will undergo a mental health examination. 

Acquaintances of suspect Shane Caleb Smith, 38, told investigators he is known as “Psycho Shane” and sometimes speaks of imaginary people and vivid hallucinations.

He also often accused people at gunpoint of things they did not do, witnesses told police.

Smith, who is pictured just after his arrest courtesy KHQ-TV, is accused of shooting Warren Scott Flinn on May 12.

Flinn, 44, died at a hospital May 16. 

Smith told detectives he and Flinn (right) had been out “scrapping” for metal near the railroad tracks on Lake Road when they began to argue over cigarettes.

Smith was arraigned on a second-degree murder charge Tuesday in Spokane County Superior Court. He was not given a trial date; rather, he was ordered to appear in court July 27 for an update on whether he's competent to stand trial.

Spokane police say they saved the life of a career criminal and sex offender when he went into cardiac arrest after he was taken into custody Sunday.

Officer Nick Geren administered first aid on Joshua Clint Epperson, 32, while he was being transported to the jail after he was picked up the Spokane police Patrol Anti-Crime Team.

Epperson was taken to a hospital, then booked into jail on a slew of felony charges related to a home-invasion robbery and a burglary spree.

Epperson is level 3 sex offender, which is the classification considered most likely to reoffend. A woman who identified herself as his sister said in an email to The Spokesman-Review that he has “at least 10 kids that we know about.”

“He is a menace,” Melissa Epperson said in the email. “Please fight to keep him locked up for your community and his children.”

Epperson was arrested just three weeks ago for a burglary in the Country Homes area in north Spokane County.

Investigators believe he burglarized homes of guns, electronics and jewelry to help pay a $1,000 debt to his heroin dealer. Epperson's girlfriend, Chelsey M. Loe, also is suspected in the case. Investigators searched the couple's home at 51 E. Crown on May 6 and recovered meth and suspected stolen property.

Epperson told sheriff's detectives he burglarized homes with Anthony L. Haines, who was arrested May 2 with a gun stolen in one of the burglaries, according to court documents.

Epperson was out of jail awaiting arraignment in that case when police say he helped rob residents at a home in the Indian Trail area May 22. Suspects Nathan W. Day, 21, and Nathan T. McDaniels, 28, were arrested Wednesday and remain in jail.

Geren was awarded the Spokane Police Department's life-saving award in 2008 after he and Officer Brian Eckersley administered CPR on a woman who'd fallen unconscious in downtown Spokane.

A suspect has been identified in a May 1 attack that left a man with stab wounds to his chest and head in the West Garland District.

Fingerprints on a Coors Light can at the scene of the stabbing matched those of Joshua David Fleming, 31, who has been in jail in Kootenai County since May 18.

Fleming is accused of stabbing Eric Stensgar, 29, several times in the upper chest and head. Stensgar was found in alley in the 600 block of West Garland Avenue and treated at a local hospital. He told Spokane police he was drinking Coors Light and Goldschlager schnapps hard liquor when a man asked if he could drink with him.

They shared the alcohol, and Stensgar said his next memory was awaking in the alley with stab wounds. Stensgar underwent surgery at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center for life threatening injuries, including a stab wound that entered his brain, according to court documents.

Prosecutors issued a $125,000 warrant for Fleming's arrest on May 21. By that time, Fleming already had been arrested on a probation violation for a grand theft conviction in Kootenai County. He waived extradition from Spokane May 18 and remains in the Kootenai County Jail.

Spokane police didn't know this when they issued a news release Tuesday calling for tips on his location.

Fleming has at least nine felony convictions in Spokane County beginning in 1996, inlcuding first-degree robbery, attempted second-degree assault, first-degree possession of stolen property, unlawful possession of a firearm and possession of a controlled substance.

A kidnapped man forced into the trunk of a car in Montana freed himself on a Pend Oreille County highway early Sunday, leading to two arrests.

A motorist said he was driving on Highway 2 near Pend Oreille Park about 7:10 a.m. when the trunk of the vehicle in front of him opened and a man started waving his arms and yelling for help, the Pend Oreille County Sheriff's Office said today.

The vehicle stopped and the man jumped from the trunk and ran toward the witness's vehicle. He said he'd been beaten, bound and forced into the trunk while in Montana.

Sheriff's deputies stopped the suspect vehicle a short time later near Newport, Wash. The driver initially refused to stop, and someone threw a firearm from the vehicle that was later recovered.

Kenny J. Morrison, 29, and John M. Davis, 39, of Columbia Falls, Mont., were arrested on charges of kidnapping, unlawful imprisonment, fourth-degree assault, possession of methadone without a prescription and unlawful possession of a firearm.

Pend Oreille County sheriff's investigators are working with detectives in Flathead County, Mont.

A sex offender suspected in a violent gunpoint home-invasion robbery was arrested today.

 Joshua Clint Epperson, 32, was booked into jail on felony charges related to an early-morning attack last Tuesday in the 9600 block of North Alpine Court in the Indian Trail area.

The Spokane police Patrol Anti-Crime Team located Epperson in the 4200 block of North Atlantic Street, Officer Brian Eckersley said in a news release.

Epperson was arrested just three weeks ago for a burglary in the Country Homes area in north Spokane County and is to be arraigned Wednesday on residential burglary, first-degree trafficking in stolen property and resisting arrest charges.

He was out of jail awaiting that arraignment when police allege he partook in the robbery, which involved the victims being bound with zip ties and one being pistol whipped.

Suspects Nathan W. Day, 21, and Nathan T. McDaniels, 28, were arrested Wednesday and remain in jail.

Epperson faces charges of first-degree burglary, first-degree robbery, first-degree kidnapping, possession of a stolen firearm, two counts of second-degree assault, two counts of unlawful imprisonment and two counts of possession of a controlled substance, Eckersley said. Prosecutors filed charges on Friday.

Epperson is a level 3 sex offender, which is the classification considered most likely to reoffend. He was convicted of third-degree rape of a child in 2003. He also has a conviction for indecent liberties.

Two men have been arrested for a north Spokane home-invasion robbery in which the victims were bound with zip ties and one was pistol whipped.

Nathan W. Day, 21, and Nathan T. McDaniels, 28, are accused of entering a home in the 9600 block of North Alpine Court in the Indian Trail area about 2:45 a.m Tuesday, awaking a resident and asking him about a safe before stealing other items.

The victim said Day was armed with a handgun, and McDaniels told him to “be quiet and do what we say or you are going to get shot,” according to court documents prepared by the Spokane County Sheriff's Office.

Day struck the victim with in the eye with the butt of the gun, but the man said he was able to break free from his zip ties and jump out a window. He said his Wii gaming console and games were stolen during the robbery.

Another resident told police four men knocked on the door and he let McDaniels in to use the bathroom. One of the men asked him if he wanted to smoke meth, and the man said he walked the men downstairs to wake up his girlfriend. That's when Day displayed the gun and the man was bound with zip ties as others stole items from the home, court documents say.

But that man was able to break free, too, and he grabbed a sword and struck McDaniels in the arm with it. The robbers then fled. The man's girlfriend said the robbers also threatened her with a gun and stole her iPhone.

Detectives conducting surveillance on the suspects Wednesday spotted McDaniels in the 4700 block of North Standard and arrested him. He had with him credit cards and a driver's license belonging to one of the victims, according to the Sheriff's Office.

Day was arrested Wednesday in the 900 block of East Wabash Avenue with a stolen handgun. Police recovered the stolen Wii console from a home there, as well as baggies of methamphetamine.

The men were jailed on robbery, burglary and kidnapping charges. A third suspect, Joshua C. Epperson, is not yet in custody,

WENATCHEE, Wash. (AP) — A Wenatchee man accused of killing a beauty school classmate pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter in a plea deal Wednesday and was sentenced to more than 14 years in prison.

Jury selection had been under way for the trial of Christopher Scott Wilson, 31, who was charged with first-degree murder in the February 2010 death of 17-year-old Mackenzie Cowell.

Wilson also pleaded guilty to first-degree robbery, as well as second-degree assault on another woman, under the plea deal.

Chelan County Superior Court Judge John Bridges sentenced Wilson to 171 months.

Bridges noted the toll the case took on the entire community in Wenatchee, an agricultural city that boasts itself as the “Apple Capital of the World.” Police investigated the killing for seven months, interviewing more than 800 people, before arresting Wilson for Cowell's murder.

It's almost impossible to find the words for the family of the victim, the family of the defendant or the community, Bridges said.

“It's just too bad for all of us, but I wanted you to know we're all kind of in this together,” he said. “So, Mr. Wilson is going to prison.”

Wilson showed no emotion during the hearing. Before the trial began, he had rejected a 10-year plea offer.

Reid Cowell, the victim's father, recalled a young, vibrant girl who trusted Wilson and allowed him to lure her to her death.

Cowell was a high school senior and dance team member who also studied at the Academy of Hair Design on weekday afternoons. On the afternoon of Feb. 9, 2010, she told classmates she would only be gone 15 minutes, and surveillance video later showed her walking to her car and driving away.

Police found her abandoned vehicle 5 miles away on a rural road. Four days later, Cowell's body was found on the edge of the Columbia River, some 20 miles south of Wenatchee.

She had been struck in the head, strangled and stabbed to death.

During the investigation, three people reported seeing a person closely matching Wilson's description walking down the road near where Cowell's car had been abandoned. DNA found on duct tape near Cowell's body was linked to Wilson and her DNA was linked to blood found in his apartment.

According to court documents, several people also contacted police with concerns about Wilson after Cowell disappeared. One person wrote a letter to police claiming Wilson was obsessed with dead bodies and serial killers. Another said Wilson told her he liked to “cut people up” when he was working at area funeral homes.

However, a judge barred prosecutors from introducing that work history — or mentioning his tattoo of fictional serial killer Hannibal Lecter — at trial, and ruled that the defense may introduce evidence of other suspects.

Prosecutor Gary Riesen said the loss of a 17-year-old girl isn't something one can put a value on in the criminal justice system.

“It's a case where the result of today's hearing probably won't be satisfactory to anyone,” he said in court, “but I think it does bring some closure.”

Acquaintances of a man arrested for the shooting death of another suspected methamphetamine user told detectives he was dangerously unstable and often accused people at gunpoint of things they did not do.

A witness in the investigation of Warren Scott Flinn’s homicide said suspect Shane Caleb Smith, 38, is known as “Psycho Shane” and sometimes speaks of imaginary people and vivid hallucinations, according to court documents filed Wednesday.

Read the rest of my story here.

Smith is pictued in 2004. He now has long, scraggly hair that extends past his shoulders.

Detective Michael Drapeau and investigators with the Spokane County Sheriff's Office remove evidence from a house at 6704 E. Third Ave. in Spokane Valley Tuesday. (SRphoto/Colin Mulvany)

A suspect was arrested today in Spokane Valley for the May 12 shooting death of a 44-year-old man.

Shane Caleb Smith, 38, is accused of murdering Warren Scott Flinn, who was found badly injured May 13.

Flinn (pictured) died May 16 at a local hospital of what the medical examiner’s office ruled were gunshots to his head.

Read the rest of my story here.

Update: Detectives believe Smith shot Flinn in a fight over cigarettes. Read more here.

A woman identified her cousin as her robber's accomplice after seeing photos of the two together on Facebook, according to Spokane police.

The woman was sitting in her living room at 1624 E. Cataldo Ave. with her cousin, Shakayla F. Delcambre, 20, Thursday about 12:45 a.m. when a man holding a red bandanna that covered what she believed to be a handgun entered and demanded money from her, according to court documents.

The man took her wallet from her purse and put her in a choke hold before she broke free and he ran out the front door, police say.

The woman realized Delcambre knew her attacker when he saw photos of her with him on Facebook, police say. The woman noted to police that Delcambre had borrowed her cellphone to make a call prior to the robbery.

Police identified the robber as James J. Williams, 28. Another woman, who said she was assaulted by Delcambre, told police she picked him up after the robbery and he removed a pullover jacket and black body armor while in her van. She allowed police to search her van and her house for evidence.

Police viewed the Facebook photos of Delcambre and Williams, according to court documents.

Williams is in jail on $150,000 bond for first-degree robbery. Delcambre is jailed on $25,000 bond for first-degree robbery and first-degree assault.
  

RICHMOND, Calif. (AP) — A man charged in an undercover sting operation in Northern California that ended in gunfire has been ordered released on bond on the condition that he read and write book reports.

Deputies responding to a report of a possible trespasser found the victim of a violent assault, and they're asking for help to figure out what happened.

 Warren Flinn was found in the 300 block of North Lake Road on Sunday, the Spokane County Sheriff's Office said today.

Medics and major crimes detectives were called to the scene. Detectives believe Flinn is a transient, and they are looking for information about his previous whereabouts, associates and this assault.

Anyone who's had contact with Flinn in the last couple of months is asked to call Detective Kirk Keyser at (509) 477-6611.

Anonymous tips can be submitted online.

Two 16-year-old girls accused of robbing and assaulting three Gonzaga University students will be charged as adults.

Kayla Marie Hoffman and Spring Darlos Simone Sanders faces two counts of first-degree robbery and two counts of second-degree assault for the attack early Thursday at North Standard Street at East Sinto Avenue.
They appeared in Spokane County Superior Court Friday.

Also facing charges are Tayone D. Akers, 20, Anthony J. Walker, 20, and Ronald R. Scott, 18.

An iPhone stolen from one of the victims led police to the suspects, according to police. Read more here.
  

A Gonzaga University graduate student was beaten unconscious when he tried to stop two women from stealing his friend’s purse early Thursday.

Spokane police tracked the suspects using a GPS program in an iPhone stolen from the victims.

Arrested were Tayone D. Akers, 20, (pictured) Anthony J. Walker, 20, and Ronald R. Scott, 18, and two 16-year-old girls.

Read the rest of my story here.

A Spokane mother accused of fracturing her baby's skull was wanted by Crime Stoppers last week after missing her scheduled trial.

 Whitney A. Manges, 26, had a $5,000 warrant for third-degree assault and reckless endangerment when she was arrested Monday. She's due in court today.

The warrant was issued after she didn't show up for a pre-trial conference in Spokane County Superior Court on April 13. Her trial was scheduled to begin April 26.

Manges is accused of fracturing her son's skull after dropping him while trying to board a bus on Aug. 9. The boy cried and appeared lethargic after the incident at the STA station in the 1300 block of East Sprague Avenue outside the Union Gospel Mission women's shelter.

Police contacted Manges as she sat on a bench at the STA Plaza, where she said she was on Xanax and another drug she couldn't identify, according to court documents.

She wasn't charged until October and spent several weeks as a Crime Stoppers fugitive before she was arrested. She was out of jail on $1,500 bond awaiting trial when this warrant was issued.

A Spokane man who shot a man outside a Spokane Valley bar last November has been sentenced to about 15 years in prison.

 Aaron Phillip Williams, 31, already has a conviction for second-degree assault, so his first-degree assault conviction counts as a second strike under Washington's three-strikes law.

A conviction for a third violent crime will put him in prison for life with no chance of parole.

Williams will have plenty of time to think about that - he was sentenced last week in Spokane County Superior Court to 178 months for the shooting Nov. 20. Williams shot a man in the parking lot of Goodtymes Pub, 9214 E. Mission Ave., during a confrontation between two groups of men

A police dog found Williams hiding in a backyard koi fish pond nearby.

Williams has previous convictions for second-degree assault, unlawful possession of a firearm and harming a police dog, all in Kitsap County. He also has juvenile convictions for first-degree robbery, first-degree theft, residential burglary, second-degree burglary and obstructing law enforcement.

A convicted thief released from jail earlier this month was arrested Saturday after a citizen spotted him break into a car.

Nicholas F. Zielke, 19, told police he didn't know why someone was trying to pick a fight with him at the Conoco gas station at North Ash Street and West Indiana Avenue, but police say two men confronted Zielke after he was spotted prowling a car.

One of the men chased Ziekle as he dropped a box stolen from the car, according to police.

Spokane police Sgt. Steve Braun noticed the men about to fight and stopped them, then arrested Ziekle.

Officer Aaron Kirby found a bag of meth in Zielke's pocket, according to court documents. Zielke then spit on Kirby, which led to a third-degree assault charge, police say.

Zielke pleaded guilty April 11 to third-degree retail theft and was credited for 25 days already spent in jail. The charge stemmed from three theft arrests at Spokane three department stores.
  

A homeowner in Medical Lake accused of shooting a fleeing 14-year-old burglary suspect in the back last December has been charged with assault.

In new court documents, Spokane County sheriff’s detectives outline a shooting they believe went beyond homeowner Justin Jeffrey Brown defending his property and crossed the line to criminal assault.

Read the rest of my story here.

A man accused of a bizarre attack in downtown Spokane earlier this month is to undergo a mental health examination.

 Justin T. Betts, 29, is due back in Spokane County Superior Court next month to determine if he's competent to stand trial. An arraignment scheduled for last Thursday was cancelled.

Police say Betts, who had just been released from jail, was high on methamphetamine when the owner of Thompson's Food Mart at 1208 W. 3rd St., saw him get into a customer's car April 7 about 9:30 a.m.

Betts threatened the owner with a gun when confronted, police say, and also threatened several other people in the area. Betts also walked into the nearby Honda dealership and threatened employees, police say.

He told police his name was “Jimmy Jake Franks,” but officers eventually identified him as Betts, whose criminal convictions include third-degree child molestation in 2004.

Betts remains in jail on charges of first-degree robbery, two counts of felony harassment and possession of controlled substance.

A woman accused of stabbing her longtime boyfriend said she wanted a bigger knife so she could cut him deeper, witnesses told police.

Cathleen A. Parke, 50, was arrested Saturday at an apartment on North Washington Street in Medical Lake after deputies found her boyfriend, Steven M. Mitchell, 56, being treated for two stab wounds in his upper body about 5:10 a.m.

Witnesses said the couple were arguing outside when they came inside the house and Mitchell was covered in blood. Mitchell said “I can't believe you stabbed me,” and Parke said she wanted to get a bigger knife so she could cut him deeper, according to court documents.

Parke told another witness that she stabbed Mitchell after he hit her. Spokane County sheriff's deputies seized a 3-inch folding knife from the apartment, as well as a bloody blanket, pillow and clothing.

A woman who wears a beard as a symbol of her activism and lives as a man is asking for a new trial following her conviction earlier this month for grabbing a Spokane Police officer's genitals in 2009 during an arrest.

 Joseph Ali Bin Muhammad, 45, formerly Paula K. Reynolds-Eblacas, represented himself at trial in which a jury deliberated just 20 minutes before convicting him April 11. He is scheduled to be sentenced today.

In his motion for a new trial, Muhammad alleged misconduct, “surprise” and jury manipulation by Deputy Spokane County Prosecutor Patrick Johnson. He also said Johnson was simply using the assault case as an evidence-gathering mission to charge the two officers, who were attempting in 2009 to take Muhammad into custody for a mental evaluation.

“The defendant felt a great aversion to being misused by the prosecutor to embarrass and humiliate the officers as it is not the defendant's intent or desire to be the target of corrupted officers in Spokane,” Muhammad wrote, referring to himself as “defendant.” “The defendant's safety was being put in jeopardy by a bizzarre, backwards, and most likely illegal strategy of the prosecutor to gain more evidence against the officers, and so the defendant changed his defense strategy to not show the video. Had he entered the video as evidence, the jury may have voted for acquittal as the video gives great suggestion that no charge should have ever been placed on the defendant and that (Officer John) O'Brien and (Officer Jeremy McVay) are blatant liars who violated the defendant that day.”

Johnson had argued that Muhammad was not mentally competent to stand trial. Muhammad, however, successfully argued he was competent despite the fact that him being delcared incompetent would have resulted in dismissed charges.

As part of his seven-page motion, Muhammad also wrote that 20 minutes was not enough time for the jurors to fully consider the case.

“Jurors may have held mulpitle bias against the defendant, including for him being a hermaphrodite and for being a Muslim,” said Muhammad, who gave birth to a daughter prior to changing his name. “Jurors may have been motivated by the second sunny warm day after a long cold winter to disregard their oaths and the United States Constitution … so that they could finish their task before lunch and have the rest of the sunny afternoon to enjoy free from work or juror responsibilities.”
  

Past coverage:

Dec. 14: Fugitive since February jailed on $50k bond

Aug. 11, 2009: Bearded woman back in court

A Medical Lake man was arrested for allegedly obstructing police and assaulting a firefighter Saturday after he walked into the fire station garage and claimed to own all the equipment.

Edward John Ramsey, 49, pushed a firefighter who tried to escort him from the garage about 6 a.m., police say.
Firefighters said Ramsey was acting strange when he approached the station at 124 S. Lefevre in Medical Lake.

A sheriff's deputy saw Ramsey walking nearby and tried to talk to him, but Ramsey ran and struggled when the deputy caught up with him and handcuffed him.

Ramsey reportedly told the deputy he'd pushed the big fireman and twisted his tit” because he wouldn't let him look at the equipment for which he claims to have paid.

Ramsey told Judge Annette Plese in court Monday that he had enough money to buy the entire state of Washington and is planning to move to Hawaii.

He has no serious criminal record and was released from jail Monday on his own recognizance.
  

A Coeur d'Alene man who choked a woman unconscious and caused her severe head injuries is to spend at least eight years in prison.

John Joseph Marr, 57, said he walked in on his victim choking herself when they contacted him at his home last Sept. 25 in response to a domestic violence report, according to the Kootenai County Prosecutor's Office.

The victim was bleeding under her eyes and had bruising on her lip and jaw. Marr first told Ceour d'Alene police officers the injuries occurred as he was trying to restrain the victim, but he later said in court that he walked in on the victim trying to strangle herself, officials say.

Judge John Mitchell sentenced Marr Thursday to 10 years in prison with eligibility for parole after eight years.

Mitchell cited the unbelievability of Mar's story and the need to protect the public from someone with little chance of rehabilitation, the prosecutor's office said.

Marr has four previous felony convictions for making terrorist threats, felon in possession of a firearm, domestic battery and assault with a deadly weapon.

Kootenai County Prosecutor Barry McHugh praised the work of the Coeur d'Alene Police Department and of deputy prosecutor Donna Gardner in a prepared statement.

“The long sentence imposed by Judge Mitchell is justified by the nature of this crime and Marr's history of victimization of similar women. Mr. Marr's failure to accept responsibility is troubling,” McHugh said. “The long fixed sentence will prevent similar incidents for at least eight years, and we hope that Mr. Marr will be deterred from similar conduct in the future.”

A bizarre stabbing at a north Spokane apartment late Saturday led to the arrest of a 20-year-old man.

Spokane police say the woman Kurt J. Clausen is accused of stabbing has no idea why he attacked her. She said Clausen said nothing during the incident, which occurred as she exited her bathroom at 49 E. Pine Ridge Ct., according to court documents.

The woman said Clausen was waiting for her with a knife and stabbed her in the upper chest, then dropped the weapon and ran from the apartment about 11:30 p.m., police say.

A Washington State Patrol trooper contacted Clausen just after midnight near West Main Avenue and North Lincoln Street in downtown Spokane. Police responded and arrested him on a first-degree assault charge.

Officers say Clausen admitted to stabbing the woman and said he told her there was something in a room in the apartment, then attacked her as she exited that room, according to court documents.

Clausen remains jailed on$250,000 bond after appearing before Superior Court Judge Annette Plese on Monday.
  

A 22-year-old Spokane man accused of assaulting his infant daughter will remain jailed on $250,000 bond, a judge ruled Tuesday.

Joshua E. Gillis is in the Spokane County Jail after he was arrested in Texas last week by federal marshals at the request of Spokane police.

Gillis is accused of assaulting his daughter in January. He and the girl's mother, Ashley B. Huston, brought the girl to a hospital with multiple skull fractures, a fractured right shoulder and a spiral fracture to her right thigh, police say. They told doctors the girl was anemic.

GIllis is charged with two counts of second-degree child assault.

An unlicensed bounty hunter facing criminal charges for his work with Spokane-area law enforcement is to remain jailed on $250,000 bond, a judge ruled today.

Dennis J. Kariores, 42, returned to Spokane this weekend after he was arrested Feb. 9 in Pensacola, Fla., on a $150,000 warrant for first-degree burglary, unlawful imprisonment and second-degree kidnapping for allegedly using illegal apprehension techniques.

Superior Court Judge Maryann Moreno increased Kariores' bond today after Deputy Prosecutor Dale Nagy said he was a flight risk with connections to the bail bond industry. Nagy called for $500,000 bond; Kariores' lawyer, Mark Hodgson, objected, saying Kariores is presumed innocent and had been planning to turn himself in.

 “Mr. Kariores was actually at the airport coming back to Spokane to deal with these charges,” Hodgson said. “He got picked up before he could get on the plane.”

Karories is to be arraigned April 10 at 9 a.m. If he does post the $250,000 bond, he's prohibited from contacting Angels or All City bail bond companies, whose employees are involved in Kariores' criminal case.

Kariores left Spokane last year after learning of the investigation, according to court testimony.

Former Spokane police Officer Alan Edwards, who was fired last month, was suspended for two weeks for arranging a ruse with Kariores that involved using a fugitive to help them gain access to a home they were otherwise not legally authorized to enter.

Kariores' criminal charges stem from allegedly unlawful contacts with citizens in February 2010 and August 2010. Other law enforcement officers have admitted to working closely with Kariores. Read much more here.

Kariores has told The Spokesman-Review he was only doing as the police told him.

A new suspect has emerged in a meth-fueled robbery that led to a police SWAT team standoff at a north Spokane apartment last December.

Allison Elaine Hubbard, 30, (right) is wanted on first-degree robbery and first-degree kidnapping charges for the Dec. 1 assault of a 22-year-old woman who was choked unconscious with her own necklace.

Crime Stoppers is offering a reward for tips that lead to her arrest. 

Hubbard is accused of robbing Jennifer M. Taylor of methamphetamine on the South Hill with the help of Bobby S. “Angel” Decaney, 35, and Maceo L. Williams, 27, who were arrested later that day.

A police dog found Decaney (left) inside a couch in his apartment at 13110 N. Addison. A SWAT team had pumped tear gas into the apartment, but Decaney, a reputed Sureno gang member, refused to exit. He faces life in prison if convicted because he has two previous convictions for violent felonies.

Williams and Decaney have pleaded not guilty.

Decaney left jail early February after posting $50,000 bond. His trial is set for April 16. Williams remains in jail awaiting an April 23 trial.

Police used cell phone information to identify Hubbard as the woman who was with Decaney and Williams that night. Messages on Decaney's phone from Hubbard discussed robbing Taylor, police say. A witness also identifed Hubbard from a photo montage.

Prosecutors filed charges March 22.

Hubbard, 5-foot-7 and 220 pounds, has a criminal history that includes convictions for assault, burglary theft and drug possession. She was a Crime Stoppers fugitive in November 2010 when police identified her as a marijuana growing suspect with a “shopping list.”

Hubbard last gave a home address in the 10000 block of East Sixth Avenue in Spokane Valley.

Anyone with information on her current location is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS or submit tips online. Tipsters do not have to leave their name to collect a reward but should leave a code name or number.

A 22-year-old Spokane man accused of assaulting his infant daughter was arrested this week in Texas.

Joshua E. Gillis is awaiting extradition to Spokane on a $250,000 warrant for first-degree child abuse.

Federal agents in Houston located him there at the request of Spokane police, U.S. Marshal Bob Doty said today.

Gillis is accused of assaulting his daughter in January. He and the girl's mother, Ashley B. Huston, brought the girl to a hospital with multiple skull fractures, a fractured right shoulder and a spiral fracture to her right thigh, police say. They told doctors the girl was anemic.

Police searched the couple's home at 123 E. Baldwin Ave., and seized evidence of the alleged assault, as well as nine marijuana plants.

Prosecutors charged GIllis Feb. 22.

Detectives are looking for a young man who helped a woman who was assaulted near East South Riverton Avenue and North Magnolia Street earlier this month.

The man, described as in his late 20s to early 30s, helped the woman after she was knocked over by an unknown assailant March 1 about 6:30 a.m.

The Good Samaritan left before police arrived, and detectives are looking for him to help in their investigation, Spokane police said Thursday.

Anyone with information on his identity is asked to call Crime Check at (509) 456-2233.