Couple contacted SR about truck dispute before arrest
The wife of the man accused of leaving a truck at a car dealership emailed The Spokesman-Review about the payment dispute a day before his arrest.
Damian C. Dunigan, 40, appeared in Spokane County Superior Court today on one count of making a bomb threat to injure persons or damage property.
Police say he put a sign in the window of his 2007 Dodge Caliber stating there was a bomb inside and left it at the Dishman Dodge dealership at 7700 E. Sprague Ave. about 6:15 p.m. Thursday.
The threat was written on the back of repossession paperwork from Chrysler that police say he refused to complete at the dealership, according the Spokane Valley Police Department.
Police arrested Dunigan, who had a large knife, at his home in the 4200 block of North Vercler after a short standoff.
Dunigan’s wife, Leah Dunigan, told police he’d written the note a day earlier “because he felt Chrysler was cheating him,” police said.
Leah Dunigan emailed the newspaper Wednesday about 1:20 p.m. asking for help resolving a dispute over truck payments. Read her email by clicking the link below.
"My husband leased a Dodge Caliber from Dave Smith motors 12/2006. At that time they told us we would be able to purchase the car when the lease was up. We asked them if they were positive we would be able to do this, and they told us yes. Through the lease my husband has lost his job, and inquired if we would be able to return the car. We were told we could, but we would have a repossession on my husbands record. So instead of doing that we managed to muck out the payments. Mind you they were around $400 per month. Well the lease was up in March of this year. We were told by Chrysler, and have the recordings saved, that if we want the car they will help us purchase it. So we were going to do this. Next thing you know, and $11,000 later, they do not want to sell to my husband. We are outraged, and believe we were mislead to begin with. We find this to be unfair they are not willing to work with us, and now we are going to be without a vehicle. My husband knows they have been bailed out by the president, and he feels they should help somehow. Especially seeing how many times they have told us we would be able to buy the car. My husband asked me to have to write this or see if there is some kind of publicitiy due to the unfairness, and misleading information given from the company. Thank you for your consideration and taking time to read this. "