A man arrested after a woman saw him wearing a red g-string and no pants outside a Girl Scouts gathering will be released from jail but must register as a sex offender for 10 years.

Martin J. Green, 29, pleaded guilty today to felony second-degree burglary and a gross misdemeanor sex offense of communication with a minor for immoral purposes.

Green was credited for time spent in the Spokane County Jail, where he's been since his arrest Jan. 22. A woman called police after spotting Green without pants outside the building at 1404 N. Ash St., where the Girls Scouts were hosting a slumber party.

Police say Green was wearing sweat pants when they caught up with him after a brief foot chase, but they were untied and he had a “pocketful of condoms.”

Green's g-string, pocketful of condoms and lack of pants “gives me a great cause for concern for our community,” a prosecutor said at his first court appearance.

Past coverage:

Jan. 23: Girl Scouts peeper wore g-string

A man arrested for voyeurism outside a Girl Scouts gathering in Spokane was wearing a red g-string and no pants when a woman spotted him early Sunday, officials say.

 Martin J. Green, 29, had a “pocketful of condoms” in his untied sweat pants when police arrested him after a brief foot chase near the Girl Scouts office at 1404 N. Ash St., said Deputy Prosecutor Patrick Johnson.

Green's g-string, pocketful of condoms and lack of pants “gives me a great cause for concern for our community,” Johnson said today at Green's first court appearance.

Assistant Public Defender Mike Elston disagreed.

“I fail to see the significance of the allegation of the g-string or the condoms,” Elston said. “The allegation is he looked through a window.”

Green is pictured in court courtesy KHQ.

Officers responded to the office about 12:45 a.m., where the group was holding a slumber party. Police lost sight of Green but caught up with him in the 1700 block of West Mission Street.

A Girl Scouts employee identified him as the shoeless man she saw looking into the building's windows while holding his pants in front of his legs, police said.

Green told police he left his home in the 1500 block of West Sharp Avenue after an argument with his girlfriend and happened to walk by the building. Green said he didn't know the building belonged to the Girl Scouts but he ran because he knew he was trespassing, according to court documents.

Green served eight years in prison in Georgia for a violent crime conviction in 1999, according to court testimony.

Superior Court Judge Annette Plese today set his bond at $10,000. He's to be arraigned Feb. 7.

A Spokane woman faked a heart attack during her son's first court appearance on a drug charge Monday, court officials said.

An ambulance rushed to the Spokane County Courthouse but did not transport the woman, who had fallen to the floor after Judge Michael Price imposed $1,000 bond for her 29-year-old son on a drug possession charge.

“She fell into the aisle and was yelling 'I'm having a heart attack,'” Price said.

Though suspicious, court officials immediately called 911, and a transport deputy tended to the woman outside the courtroom.

The woman's son told court officials there was a 10 percent chance his mother wasn't faking.

  

A suspect in the 1986 murder of a Spokane woman remains in jail on $1 million bond after making his first appearance before a Spokane County judge Thursday.

Police obtained new DNA samples from Gary Lyle Trimble, 62, that will be analyzed to see if they match DNA found on three other Spokane murder victims, said Officer Jennifer DeRuwe, spokeswoman for the Spokane Police Department.

Trimble appeared via video feed from Spokane County Jail, where he was booked about 3 p.m. Wednesday after being extradited from Teton County, Mont. He's pictured with his public defender, Kari Reardon, and Deputy Prosecutor Jack Driscoll.

Read my full story here.

Past coverage:

Jan. 4: Suspect in '86 murder headed back to Spokane

Nov. 2: Murder suspect fights return to Spokane

Oct. 25: Montana man arrested in 1986 death of Spokane woman

A 28-year-old man accused of robbing a downtown Spokane convenience store remains in jail on $75,000 bond after appearing in Superior Court today.

Zachariah T. Puckett was armed with a 12-inch kitchen knife when threatened a clerk at Divine food mart and gas station, 1428 W. 2nd Ave., and stole more than $200, according to Spokane police.

Puckett was wearing a sweatshirt that zipped all the way to the top of the hood with two eyes pictured on the front of the hood.

Police found Puckett’s girlfriend wearing the same sweatshirt a short while later at 151 S. Adams Street, then saw a pile of cash “laying on the bed from the open front door,” according to a probable cause affidavit.

The woman allowed police to search the apartment. They found Puckett in the laundry room.
He and his girlfriend were regular customers at the store. (Disclaimer: So am I.)

Puckett already had a warrant out for his arrest for failing to show up for a court hearing related to a second-degree theft case. Now he’s in jail on a first-degree robbery charge, too.

A 2007 murder case in which a jury rejected the killer’s claims of forced prostitution and other abuse continued in Superior Court today as the convict’s boyfriend appeared on murder charges.

Brian L. Moore, 44, remains in Spokane County Jail on $2 million bail after appearing on charges first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder for the Dec. 9, 2007, shooting death of Dale R. Stark.

Police don’t believe Moore was present when Stark was killed, but they believe he persuaded Shellye L. Stark to commit the crime in order to access the man’s assets, including a life insurance policy.

Spokane police Detective Kip Hollenbeck traveled to California this week to pick up Moore, who recently completed a 21-month federal prison sentence for an unregistered rifle and firearms silencer  found in his Orange County warehouse last year.

It’s the second time prosecutors have pursued murder charges against Moore. They withdrew the original charges in October 2009 after a judge ruled key evidence from a private investigator hired by Moore and Stark couldn’t be used against Moore.

The new charges were filed just days before Moore was sentenced in U.S. District Court on the federal weapons charges.

Public Defender John Whaley said the case against Moore is weak.

While reading the 20-page affidavit supporting the charges, “I never saw what the state must be thinking of as the smoking gun in this case,” Whaley said.

Moore was working as a paralegal in Southern California when he met Stark (pictured), who advertised online as a traveling prostitute named Nikita Jennifer.

Moore, who declined an interview request, has said his legal work focused on helping women escape prostitution and abusive relationships, but Spokane investigators believe he used that profession to manipulate women with low self-esteem for financial gain.

During a jury trial in March 2009, Shellye Stark claimed self defense and told sordid stories of forced prostitution and other abuse at the hands of her husband.

But jurors rejected her claims, which investigators believe were thought of, in part, by Moore. She’s serving a 51-year prison sentence.

The information used to support the news charges against Moore does not appear to be substantially different than what was presented last fall.

Moore and Stark’s former private investigator, Ted Pulver, remains a key witness, describing Moore as bragging about the plot and discussing Dale Stark’s life insurance policy in detail.

Dale Stark’s life insurance money went to his son with Shellye Stark, who then funneled money to Moore and his mother to pay her legal defense, according to the affidavit.

A 2007 yellow Pontiac Solstice convertible police say the couple bought with the money remains in police custody.

A young man accused of bringing explosives to a party that killed a 28-year-old man is due in Spokane County Superior Court this afternoon.

 Christapher A. Harris, 19, is facing a felony charge of possession or manufacture of an incendiary device. Detectives are searching his truck today.

Investigators believe he brought the homemade explosives to a party Saturday night in the 3100 block of East Denison-Chattaroy Road.

When one didn’t explode right away, the victim apparently approached the device, which then exploded. Partygoers initially thought the victim was joking. Read more here.

Harris is pictured at the Kootenai County Jail in January, where he was booked on a drunken driving charge. He pleaded guilty in April and was given a year of probation, a 90-day driver’s license suspension and a $500 fine.

The last of four men charged with attempted murder for a shooting at Hoopfest has been transported to the Spokane County Jail. 

Marquis D. Johnson, 21, (right) appeared in Superior Court today on two counts of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, 10 counts of attempted first-degree murder and one count of riot after arriving in Spokane from the Benton County Jail on Thursday.

Johnson was being held on a probation violation after he was arrested at Hoopfest on June 26. He’d only been out of prison since June 6 after serving about three years for a gun-related assault conviction.

Prosecutors allege Johnson was with Miguel C. Garcia, 19; Adam Doe, 19; and Rashjel C. “Reggie” Cage, 23, when Garcia fired a gun at least three times, injuring three bystanders.

Witnesses said Cage passed the gun to Garcia, who fired it and passed it to Doe, who was arrested at gunpoint after trying to flee the scene, police said.

Johnson was identified “as being present at the time of the shooting in close proximity to Cage and Garcia,” according to court documents. “They were both actively involved in the argument before and after the shooting.”

Kalen J. Bedford, who was arrested the day of the shooting on a misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge, apparently was targeted by the gunfire - he is listed as the intended victim in a fist-degree attempted murder charge.

Five of the 10 alleged attempted-murder victims are identified only as Jane or John Doe. First-degree assault is included as a an alternative charge in each case.

Defense attorneys told a judge last week that prosecutors don’t have a legal basis for the charges, but Deputy Spokane County Prosecutor Steve Garvin said the “theory” of his office is quite straightforward: “When you point a gun at someone … what other intent do you have but to cause their death?” 

Defense attorney David Partovi, who is representing Garcia, said after last week’s hearing that under Garvin’s theory, prosecutors should have charged former Spokane police Officer Jay Olsen with attempted murder in connection with his shooting of Shonto Pete on Feb. 26, 2007.

Read more here.

A Spokane man accused of trying to run two men over with his car last fall left the state to attend his cousin’s funeral in the Long Beach/ Compton area of California.

But Cedric E. Burton, 23, wasn’t allowed to leave the county, and he never sought permission to do so.

Now he’s back in Spokane County Jail after being arrested in Los Angeles County.

His public defender, Mark Hannibal, said Thursday that Burton had a round-trip plane ticket that would have put him back in Spokane in time for his next court appearance on attempted murder charges.

“It was a family-type emergency,” Hannibal said.

A warrant was issued for Burton’s arrest after his girlfriend told police he’d assaulted her and threatened to take their young daughter to California.

Prosecutors said that violated Burton’s release condition on the attempted murder charges from last fall.

Judge Ellen Kalama Clark, saying she was “real concerned about Mr. Burton’s behavior,” increased Burton’s bail on two counts of bail jumping from 10,000 to $30,000. She also increased his bail on the attempted murder charges to $200,000 from $100,000. That’s in addition to a new harassment charged filed today that includes a $100,000 bond.

Deputy Prosecutor Eugene Cruz, sitting in for Mark Cipolla, had requested $1.5 million bail. Shortly after Clark rejected that request, prosecutors filed an additional charge against Burton relating to an alleged violation connected to a 2008 case. He’ll be back in court on that charge, along with the new harassment charge, today.

Hannibal said prosecutors “overcharged” Burton for the alleged incident last fall.

“I’m a little bit surprised that the state’s charged that as two count of first-degree attempted murder,” he said.

Court documents show police investigated the incident as a second-degree assault case.

A second suspect, Charles Willy Jackson, still is wanted. Crime Stoppers is offering a reward for tips that lead to his arrest.

Police say Burton, who has convictions for drug dealing and second-degree assault, is a gang member and was present at a party in January in which John S. Williams was shot to death, according to court documents related to theongoing investigation. Burton’s previous conviction for second-degree assault stems from a fatal gang shooting in 2005. The list of defendants in that case includes at least four men involved in the ongoing Williams murder investigation.

Past coverage:

May 3: Warrant issued for accused would-be killer

A home-invasion robber held a toddler at knife-point to coerce a woman who later used a MySpace photo to identify him, according to police.

The suspect, Pierre J. Davis, 21, appeared in Spokane County Superior Court on Tuesday, more than four months after police say he held a knife to a 2-year-old boy’s throat while demanding debit card information from the boy’s mother.

Detectives used interviews and a search warrant for cell phone records to develop a case against Davis after the woman spotted his photo on MySpace. He was booked into jail on Monday. Court documents do not identify two additional suspects but said each was armed with a knife. 

Read the rest of my story here.

It’s not the first time Davis has been linked to a crime connected to the once-popular social networking site.

He has a conviction for riot in connection with a February 2008 gang-related shooting that stemmed from a message posted on a Murder 1 Crips gang member’s MySpace page. The message targeted a rival gang, the Blocc Hustler Crips, of which Davis was reportedly a member, according to court documents. Read more here.

A teenager sentenced last week to 10 years in prison for the strangulation murder of a Spokane woman is accused of assaulting another jail inmate Tuesday night.

Deputies say Matthew T. Shope, 19, attacked Joshua J. Mulvey, 26, in the Spokane County Jail just before 7 p.m., according to court documents filed today.

Mulvey (right), who’s being held on theft charges related to an alleged cross-country Craigslist rip off, suffered a fractured bone in his face and briefly lost consciousness, jail deputies said. He was treated at a Spokane hospital, according to court documents.

Shope appeared in Superior Court today on one count of second-degree assault.

Shope was sentenced April 20 to 134 months in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree murder for the Oct. 6, 2008, strangulation death of 28-year-old Jennifer L. Siria. His accomplice, Michael A. Quinones, 29, was sentenced to 25 years in prison March 25 after pleading guilty to first-degree murder.

Last fall, investigators say Shope wrote letters to the estranged wife of jail inmate David E. Epley after he and Epley grew close in jail.

A woman found in Portland with two children who’d been ordered to return to state custody is back in Spokane.

Patricia J. Lyons, 25, is in jail on $15,000 bond after she pleaded not guilty Tuesday in Spokane County Superior Court.on one count of second-degree assault.

Spokane police say she stabbed her 50-year-old ex-boyfriend April 3. The alleged stabbing caused Child Protective Services to order Lyons’ 5-year-old daughter and 2-year-old son back to state custody, but Lyons left Spokane before police could locate them.

Police and CPS urged the public to keep an eye out for Lyons before Portland police found her daughter at an elementary school on Thursday. Police found Lyons and her son at a nearby motel. Police took the children into protective custody but couldn’t arrest Lyons because Spokane County hadn’t issued a warrant.

Her lawyer, David Partovi, said in court today that the case has been blown out of proportion.

“She wasn’t fleeing. She was just moving,” Partovi said.

Lyons entered a not guilty plea during her first appearance today.

Partovi helped Lyons turn herself in Monday night.

A woman found in Portland with two children who’d been ordered to return to state custody is back in Spokane.

Patricia J. Lyons, 25, is due in Spokane County Superior Court on one count of second-degree assault after police say she stabbed her ex-boyfriend April 3.

The alleged stabbing caused Child Protective Services to order Lyons’ 5-year-old daughter and 2-year-old son back to sate custody, but Lyons left Spokane before police could locate them.

She was on the run for several days before Portland police found the girl at an elementary school on Thursday.

Lyons recently enrolled the girl at the school after telling officials at a Spokane school she was moving out of state.

Police found Lyons at a motel with her son. Lyons was booked into Spokane County Jail Monday at 8:10 p.m.

A burglary suspect accused of stabbing a homeowner was arrested this weekend after nearly three months as a fugitive. 

Ronald D. Piercy II, 46, is in Spokane County Jail on $75,000 bail after appearing in court today on charges of first-degree burglary and second-degree assault.

Crime Stoppers had been offering a reward for tips leading to his capture since Dec. 30, one day after a man living in the 200 block of East Empire Ave. returned home with his wife and 14-year-old daughter to find Piercy standing in his garage, according to court documents.

Piercy is accused of stabbing the man in the left forearm “with an unknown object” before fleeing, police said.

Police found a 1997 Buick Skylark with its keys in the ignition parked across the street from the home. The Buick was registered to Ronald Piercy, Sr., of Endicott, and Piercy reportedly told police it belonged to his son, who was in Spokane visiting his girlfriend.

The younger Piercy, who has convictions in Idaho, Washington and California, was booked into jail Friday evening. His arraignment is set for April 6.

A shooting in a Spokane apartment last weekend where two young children live landed a 44-year-old man in jail on an assault charge.

Robert T. Finkbeiner is accused of shooting Rachel A. Mitchell in her left leg during a fight over a $40 debt at 813 E. Sinto on Sunday.

Mitchell was visiting a friend when Finkbeiner confronted her about money he said her boyfriend, a Spokane County Jail inmate, owed him, according to court documents filed Wednesday. Mitchell told police Finkbeiner shot her in the left leg. Her friend’s 3-year-old and 9-month-old children were in the room when he pulled the gun, police said.

Police learned of the case when Mitchell went to a hospital with a gunshot wound. She initially lied to investigators about what happened, according to court documents.

Finkbeiner was booked into jail Tuesday after police searched his apartment at 1924 W. Gardner. He appeared in Superior Court Wednesday on one count of first-degree assault.

A Cheney man is accused of kidnapping a woman and raping her before she escaped to safety with the help of a passing trucker.

Charles V. Huckabee, 47, has been in Spokane County Jail on $100,000 bail since his arrest March 16.

The woman told police Huckabee attacked her on March 8 after the two left “an informal bonfire gathering” at a bar in Medical Lake. He told her they were going to friends home but drove erratically to a trailer park, where he forced her to ingest a “small, dark solid substance” that she said effected her balance, according to court documents prepared by Cheney police.

“He basically terrorized her into submissive compliance to his demands,” according to court documents.

Huckabee told police the sex was consensual. The woman said she ran from the trailer and was driven by a tucker to a Cheney fast food restaurant.

Huckabee’s arraignment is scheduled for March 30 on charges of first-degree rape, first-degree kidnapping and unlawful imprisonment.

Huckabee, who reportedly told the victim he’d served 12 years in prison, had been arrested a day before the alleged attack after his wife said he’d threatened her, according to court documents.

News archives show he was involved in a big methamphetamine bust as a Cocolalla, Idaho resident in 1997.

A metal bar sharpened into a dagger was found in an inmate’s cell at Geiger Corrections Center this week.

Alan M. Lloyd, 32, is accused of making the weapon out of a metal bar inside his brace, according to court documents. Guards found the item during routine cell checks Tuesday night.

Lloyd appeared in Spokane County Superior Court Thursday on a felony charge of possession of weapon by a prisoner.

His bond was set at $10,000. He’d been at Geiger on $15,000 bond for a residential burglary charge from January.

A main witness against a Spokane Valley man accused of running a check fraud ring agreed to cooperate with police after ending a sexual relationship with the suspect and his wife, according to court documents.

The woman told police she used methamphetamine with Ronald R. Foreman and his wife while helping with a large fraud that police say Foreman operated from his home.

Now Foreman, 43, faces drug charges as well as a charge of leading organized crime. A SWAT team raided his home at 13718 E. 21st Ave. on Thursday evening.

Foreman, who called the allegations “preposterous” in a court appearance last week, appeared in Spokane County Superior Court on Monday on a charge of delivery of a controlled substance.

Read the rest of my story in tomorrow’s Spokesman-Review.
Past coverage:

Suspect denies leading fraud ring

Massive check fraud ring uncovered in Spokane Valley

A Missoula man is accused of threatening to kill a Spokane judge with the state Board of Industrial Insurance Appeals.

Brian G. Corntassel, 49, appeared in Superior Court Monday on one felony charge of intimidating a judge for threats allegedly made to Judge John D. Fairley.

Fairley oversaw the appeal of four claims that Corntassell had filed with the state Department of Labor and Industries.

A staff member with Gov. Christine Gregoire’s office said in December Corntassell had told her in a phone call that “he was going to put a bullet in the head of a judge,” according to court documents.

On Jan. 4, Corntassel reportedly told another state employee that Fairley was crooked and he wanted to shoot him, then pin a complaint letter to his chest, according to court documents.

Corntassel apologized to an investigators and said his threats weren’t serious, police said. He was booked into jail Friday on a $50,000 warrant after being arrested in Montana.

A convicted methamphetamine maker accused of masterminding a multi-state check fraud ring that bilked Spokane businesses out of thousands of dollars denies the allegations

“I understand what they’re accusing me of,” said Ronald R. Foreman in Spokane County Superior Court Friday. “I just think it’s preposterous.”

The Spokane Valley man was arrested outside his surveillance camera-equipped home at 13718 E. 21st Ave. Thursday evening as the SWAT team prepared for a raid triggered by what detectives say is a massive financial fraud.

Police think Foreman, 43, manufactured counterfeit checks and identifications to support an expensive lifestyle and buy meth, according to the Spokane Valley Police Department.

More arrests are expected as police continue to investigate up to a dozen people who may have been working for Foreman, including a man jailed last month after a bail bondsman told police he’d threatened him with a gun.

George W. Butrick, 32, is charged with forgery for a fraudulent check cashed Oct. 29, according to court documents. Butrick told police Foreman gave him the check in exchange for tires and that Foreman was known to make fake checks and IDs.

Read the rest of my story here.

Read more about Butrick:  Gunman threatens bail bond employee

A Colbert-area man was arrested Thursday evening at home after Spokane County sheriff’s deputies traced the registration of a car whose driver had been chased by deputies earlier in the evening.

Bryce Kottke, 20, was booked into Spokane County Jail for reckless driving and attempting to elude a police vehicle.

About 10 p.m., deputies spotted a Honda Civic speeding on Hawthorne Road near the Newport Highway and attempted to catch the driver, who then took the deputies on a chase to Hillyard and then north on Market Street where another deputy had laid down “stop sticks” at Market and Freya Street to flatten the vehicle tires.

The chase was discontinued, but deputies later found the car abandoned near Mount Spokane Park Drive and Market. A check of the registration led deputies to Kottke’s home, where he was arrested after jumping over a neighbor’s fence to gain access to his residence.

He had keys for the Honda in his pocket, according to sheriff’s Sgt. Dave Reagan.

Kottke appeared in Superior Court today, where his brother told Judge Annette Plese that deputies searched his yard without a warrant.

“There are a couple that are harassing him,” he said.

A multi-state check fraud ring police say was masterminded by a convicted methamphetamine maker led to the SWAT-team arrest of the suspect Thursday night.

Ronald R. Foreman, 43, is to appear in Superior Court today on one charge of leading organized crime via video feed from the jail and could face an additional felony for allegedly possessing methamphetamine, police said today.

Foreman is thought to be the ringleader of up to a dozen people who, since December, have been writing fraudulent checks in Washington, Idaho and Oregon, police said. More arrests are expected.

Court records show he was arrested on similar charges two months ago, as well as bank robbery charges in 2008. The robbery charges were dropped after he pleaded guilty to eight counts of riot, according to news archives. In 2003, he was sentenced to 29 months in prison for manufacturing methamphetamine.

Foreman surrendered peacefully Thursday about 6 p.m. as the SWAT team was preparing to enter his home at 13718 E. 21st Ave.

Detectives think Foreman manufactured counterfeit check and identifications “which were used by confederates to bilk banks and businesses out of thousands of dollars in cash and merchandise,” according to a news release. Checking account numbers often were stolen from outgoing mail at residential and roadside mailboxes, police said.

“Victim businesses included Leo’s Studio, Our Golden Flax, Vorpahl-Wing Securities and Sterling Savings,” the news release said. “Some checks were produced to look like payroll checks while other phony checks were used to purchase merchandise.”

Investigators also seized 15 computer hard drives, a safe, at least 13 laptop computers, a pair of flat-screen televisions and other computer components from Foreman’s home Thursday, which was wired with surveillance cameras.

Authorities found ingredients that could be used to make explosives at a building in Spangle, but no evidence was found that Foreman intended to do so and the substances were not seized, police said.

Leading organized crime carries a hefty sentence. Read about a conviction that sent a woman to prison for 12 years here.

A shooting in downtown Cheney early Sunday led to the arrest of four suspects, only one of whom is over the age of 18.

Abran L. Gibson, 19, was arrested with two 17-year-old boys and a 16-year-old boy after an Eastern Washington University student, Sharanbir S. Grewal, was shot in the hand, police said.

Gibson’s appeared in Spokane County Superior Court today on one count of drive-by shooting and remains in Spokane County Jail.

The three other suspects are in Spokane County Juvenile Detention Center.

The shooting occurred at about 1:18 a.m. following a confrontation in front of the El Rodeo restaurant on Second Street.

Police found a dark blue Jeep Wrangler believed to be used in the shooting parked at the Zip’s fast food restaurant at 911 1st Street, according to court documents.

A disbarred lawyer on the run for more than a decade returned to Spokane this week to face an accusation that he stole money from a dead client’s estate.

Claude K. Irwin, Jr., appeared in Superior Court on Wednesday through a video feed from the jail, where he was booked just after 8 p.m. Tuesday.

Irwin’s bond was set at $750,000 for a first-degree theft charge. If convicted, Irwin’s lack of a criminal record means he would face about 90 days in jail. But he owes millions in claims to creditors and investors for a failed development on Lake Coeur d’Alene, Powderhorn Ridge Ranch.

His 12 years on the run show he’s a flight risk who needed a huge bond, Deputy Prosecutor Shane Smith said.

Smith said he’s reviewing the accusations against Irwin to see if they warrant additional charges.

Irwin’s current charge could carry a stiffer penalty “based on the sheer amount of money that was involved and the fact that he was in a position of trust,” Smith said.

Irwin, 62, declined to be interviewed for this story. He was represented by a public defender Wednesday, who said Irwin plans to hire private counsel.

Irwin had been in jail in Los Angeles since Jan. 27, after he stepped off a plane from Mexico and was arrested.

Read the rest of my story here.

Past coverage: Fugitive developer captured in international ruse

To catch Koyote Karlos, you’ll have to move fast

The third suspect in a stabbing on the South Hill Tuesday night has been arrested.

The 15-year-old boy was arrested and booked into Spokane County Juvenile Detention today, Spokane police said.

The boy is thought to be involved in an apparent attempted robbery that ended with a stabbing in Thornton Murphy Park at 27th Avenue and Ray Street about 7:30 p.m.

A 21-year-old man suffered non-life threatening stab wounds when he was attacked by the 15-year-old, a 13-year-old boy, a 19-year-old Cody A. Kjos, police said.

Kjos appeared in Superior Court Wednesday on first-degree assault and first-degree robbery charges. His bail was set at $100,000.

A man is accused of raping a woman early Saturday at a Spokane church where he works.

Police arrested Michael J. Bosch, 47, early Saturday after a woman said he attacked her in the basement of Mending Fences Ministry, 1906 E. Sprague, according to court documents. 

Bosch met the woman on East Sprague about 2:30 a.m. and the two discussed “possible sexual activity” before going to Mending Fences, documents allege.

Bosch works at the church and had a key, police said.

Bosch smoked crack cocaine before tying wire around the woman’s face and mouth and placing a plastic bag over her head, according to court documents.

Bosch tied the woman to a metal pipe before sexually assaulting her, police said.

The woman smashed a window and ran to a nearby motor home, where a resident called police.

Officers found the woman with a wire around her neck and face with pieces of a plastic bag stuck to it. Bosch had a scratch on his cheek and cut on a finger that he told police he’d gotten earlier in the week.

Church pastor Kevin Ch’en allowed detectives to search the building. Mending Fences ministers to the homeless and people with problems like drug addiction.

Bosch’s bail was set at $50,000 after he appeared in Spokane County Superior Court Monday via video feed from the jail.

A 20-year-old Spokane man is accused of drugging a woman, then raping her after a church function last fall.

Adric T. Watson is in jail on $10,000 bond after appearing in Spokane County Superior Court Monday on one count- of second-degree rape.

Watson turned himself in to police Friday in connection with the alleged incident on Nov. 14.

Watson reportedly told detectives he’d given the 19-year-old woman sleeping pills before he had sex with her, Deputy Prosecutor Sharon Hedlund said.

Watson and the alleged victim met at an event through Lighthouse ministries before they went to a friend’s home in the 300 block of East Crown, where the woman said Watson raped her as she slept.

The woman underwent a sexual assault examination at a local hospital, where she also was interviewed by detectives.

“This is a serious, violent offense,” Hedlund said. “He’s looking at a lengthy prison sentence.”

An argument between two men drinking at a North Side apartment early Tuesday ended with one stabbing the other, Spokane police said.

Matthew J. Blizzard, 32, is accused of stabbing Paul J. Erickson, 39, with a pocket knife inside Erickson’s apartment at 6616 N. Addison about 4:10 a.m.

The men had met earlier that day and were drinking with a woman at Erickson’s apartment when Blizzard “became belligerent,” according to court documents.

Blizzard plans to argue self defense and is hoping to get treatment for his alcoholism, Spokane County Public Defender Victoria Johnston said at his first Superior Court appearance Tuesday.

Judge Maryann Moreno set Blizzard’s bond at $2,500. Erickson was taken to a local hospital and was reported as stable with non-life-threatening injuries, police said.

Blizzard was convicted of battery in Kootenai County in July 2009. (His picture is from the Kootenai County Jail.)

A man and a woman arrested after homeowner reported fighting with one during a burglary early Sunday are due in Spokane County Superior Court today.

Cody J. Wolk, 24, and Peta N. Schimanski, 24, are to appear in court via video feed from the Spokane County Jail, where they’re booked on charges of first-degree robbery and first-degree burglary.

Officers answered a report of a burglary in the 1100 block of East Nora Avenue about 2 a.m. and “confirmed a handgun was involved,” according to a news release.

Police arrested Wolk and Schimanski at 922 E. Ermina Ave., about 6:30 a.m. after a SWAT-team standoff.

Also due in court is Aleksey Y. Solodyankin, 30, a suspect in two smash-and-grab burglaries last month. He and Yan G. Yefremov are accused of targeting Pawn One, 3705 N. Market, and Pounders Jewelry, 3131 N. Division Ave., on Dec. 7 with vehicles stolen earlier that day from Spokane Community College.

Yefremov, whose prior convictions include theft and burglar, was arrested Dec. 9 after sheriff’s deputies found him with the third stolen vehicle, a 2001 Lexus, in the Motel 6 parking lot near Interstate 90 and Argonne, police said. He is out of jail on $50,000 bond, according to court records.

Solodyankin is to appear today on charges of first-degree vehicle prowling, possession of a stolen motor vehicle and attempted to allude police.