A woman with a criminal history so extensive a prosecutor told a judge she has "more experience with misdemeanor citations than all of us combined" is back in jail on a charge she knows well: theft. Nearly eights years after Lawanda R. Hopkins-Sparks, 57, stole…
One woman. One trailer park. A string of suspicious fires. These elements converged in a probable cause affidavit that led to the arrest of a Spokane woman Tuesday. Carol J. Haloburdo, 53, is in Spokane County Jail on $20,000 bond, charged with second-degree reckless burning…
A Spokane jury got its first glimpse Wednesday of the past sex crimes and current violent sexual fantasies that persuaded state officials to try to keep Shawn Dale Botner in custody for the rest of his life. The state wants to civilly commit Botner, 36,…
A Spokane County Superior Court judge ruled Wednesday there was no probable cause to charge a man arrested in connection with a shooting in a Spokane fast-food parking lot last week. But Jason M. Giles will remain in Spokane County Jail on District Court charges.…
A woman who sometimes grows a full beard as a symbol of her activism for human rights is back in the Spokane County Superior Court system after a police officer said she grabbed his left testicle.Paula K. Reynolds-Eblacas, 42, was convicted of stalking in 2006…
Last night, police found a man with stab wounds his mother said were inflicted by his girlfriend.Today, a 35-year-old man was sentenced for the stabbing death of his cousin last year.In each case, police responded to the same location - the 1400 block of West…
A bounty hunter accused of forcing an elderly Spokane man to give a bondsman thousands of dollars was released from jail on his own recognizance today.Brian D. Steenhard, 38, is charged with first-degree theft and obtaining a signature by duress or deception after a 70-year-old…
Police say the man pictured above tried cashing a stolen check on July 16 using a identification from a wallet stolen five days earlier. Employees at Washington Trust Bank, 407 N. Sullivan Road, didn't cash the check but found the man's image in their security…
The prosecutor in the case against convicted killer Shellye L. Stark's married boyfriend said after a judge denied him access to key witness material that he still has a case. (Read about that here.) A judge will soon decide if that's true. Brian L. Moore's…
A Spokane woman who defrauded the Idaho Medicaid program of more than $200,000 will spend 2 1/2 years in prison. Candace J. Elmer, 53, operated a psychosocial rehabilitation center, Behavioral Intervention Services, which illegally billed Medicaid for services Elmer didn’t provide or wasn’t authorized to…
The wedding will go on.A judge today ordered a groom released on his own recognizance after his bachelor party turned into a bar brawl early Sunday.Groom Brandon N. Peterson, 27, and Shad E. Armstead, 22, were released from Spokane County Jail this evening after appearing…
If it seems like just last week that Thomas Clouse was reporting on a former Spokesman-Review employee being sentenced for a sex-related crime, that's because it was.Here's Clouse's report on the sentencing of a former employee of The Spokesman-Review, who received a 12-month suspended sentence…
Not that there's ever an appropriate place for the Aryan Nations, but if they're going to insist on calling a North Idaho town home, a place called Athol seems a bit fitting. (This is not an affront to the fine people of the tiny town…
Police declared the man’s death an accident in less than a day. After a night of hard partying in downtown Coeur d’Alene, four young people booked a room at The Coeur d’Alene Resort. One, a 21-year-old Spokane man, never left. He fell to his death…
A landlord shot to death by a tenant in Coeur d'Alene two years ago should have been trained on how to deal with dangerous renters, a lawsuit filed this week claims. Bette Fears, 67, died Aug. 8, 2007, when Evelyn Botto (right), 44, shot her…
A teenage girl has admitted to killing her father in his Spokane home last year. Jacqueline A. Wortham, 18, faces 22 years to life in prison after pleading guilty to first-degree murder. Her sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 16. Daniel Wortham, 39, lived with his…
The prosecution calls him “a threat to the administration of justice.” His lawyer says he’s the victim of a civil dispute turned media circus. Whatever the case, the legal problems for a Spokane bail bondsman accused of forcing a customer to give him thousands of…
The former security supervisor for The Spokesman-Review pleaded guilty today to three sexual assault charges that could keep him in prison for life. Robert J. Robel, 61, (right) pleaded guilty to first-degree rape of a child, second-degree rape of a child and first-degree child molestation.…
He was known in Nelson, B.C, as the Man from the Bush - a thrill seeker who became a legend in the world of extreme mountain biking while still a teenager. But Sam Brown's young life ended tragically in the Spokane County Jail five months…
A Mexican man will spend more than six years in prison for operating a large marijuana grow that did more than $10,000 damage to the Okanogan National Forest, according to the U.S attorney's office. Moyses Mesa-Barajas, 43, was arrested last August after federal and state…
A 21-year-old Spokane man pleaded not guilty today to second-degree rape of a woman who said she was sexually assaulted at a party.Here's Thomas Clouse's report: "Anthony J. Wilson appeared before Superior Court Judge Ellen Kalama Clark, who ordered a sexual assault protection order against…
The Washington Department of Corrections has joined agencies in more than two dozen states in calling on the Federal Communications Commission to allow cell phone signals to be jammed in prisons. Shortly after that was announced, the DOC scheduled media events to demonstrate how DOC…
Check out my story here for new information on the tragic death at the Coeur d'Alene Resort last week. UPDATE: Hambrice's blood-alcohol level was .23, police said Wednesday. The article includes comments from a colleague of Lynea M. Sprung Hambrice at Louisiana State University. What…
The defendant seemed disgruntled as he said "not guilty" after each charge. "Almost done," his public defender whispered to David L. "Cowboy Dave" Harwood, 39. It took Harwood saying "not guilty" 19 times, but eventually his arraignment for a bust connected to a major Sheriff's…
A woman who claims a Coeur d’Alene police officer groped her during a drunken driving arrest last summer has video of the interaction from a police cruiser’s dash camera.But what the 45-minute video (a segment is posted above) means for the lawsuit filed by Coeur…
Public safety news from the Inland Northwest and beyond.
| Dec. 2009 | Nov. 2009 | Oct. 2009 | Sept. 2009 |
| Aug. 2009 | July 2009 | June 2009 | May 2009 |
