Stories by Garrett Cabeza for the Spokesman-Review

News > Crime/Public Safety

Two men found dead in Hillyard home

UPDATED: Thu., Aug. 13, 2026

Police found a 51-year-old man dead and bleeding from the head in a garage and a 34-year-old man dead in a bedroom from a possible suicide/overdose Wednesday at a Hillyard home, according to court documents.

News > Crime/Public Safety

Teen injured on STA bus in apparent accidental shooting

UPDATED: Tue., Aug. 11, 2026

A teen was shot on a Spokane Transit Authority bus in what appeared to be an “inadvertent discharge” of a weapon Tuesday afternoon near Franklin Park in north Spokane, according to STA spokeswoman Carly Cortright.

News > Crime/Public Safety

Man shot several times at Garland District bar

UPDATED: Tue., Aug. 11, 2026

A man was shot several times on the patio of the Brown Derby Tavern in the Garland District over the weekend after an argument between the shooter and the victim escalated, according to court documents.

News > Crime/Public Safety

Residents affected by the Fairview fire can return home

UPDATED: Mon., Aug. 10, 2026

Evacuation orders have been lifted for residents affected by the Fairview fire.

News > Crime/Public Safety

What was lost, what was saved: Businesses, churches and other facilities in path of Old Trails fire

UPDATED: Sun., Aug. 9, 2026

Many of the more than 900 structures estimated to have been destroyed or damaged in the Spokane Complex fires were single-family homes. But a rifle club, church and other facilities are among the other properties wiped out by the wind-driven Old Trails fire.

News > Crime/Public Safety

Small brush fire quickly extinguished by firefighters near SFCC

UPDATED: Thu., Aug. 6, 2026

A small “human-caused” brush fire broke out Thursday near Spokane Falls Community College, according to the Spokane Fire Department.

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Sheriff says fire evacuations will last ‘many, many more days.’ Why he says that’s for good reason

UPDATED: Thu., Aug. 6, 2026

Residents who were forced to evacuate the Old Trails fire want nothing more than to return to their homes, but Spokane County Sheriff John Nowels announced Wednesday that most Level 3 “go now” evacuations won’t be lifted anytime soon.

News > Crime/Public Safety

Suspected Old Trails arsonist contacted over fire behavior last year

UPDATED: Wed., Aug. 5, 2026

The man suspected of setting a fire that destroyed hundreds of Spokane homes and forced 60,000 people to evacuate was contacted by law enforcement last summer for two fires but never arrested, according to court documents.

News > Crime/Public Safety

Investigators arrest 37-year-old man in connection to devastating Spokane County wildfire

UPDATED: Tue., Aug. 4, 2026

A 37-year-old man accused of setting the fire that destroyed a swath of northwest Spokane, including hundreds of homes, was arrested Monday 4 miles from the site where it began.

News > Crime/Public Safety

Airway Heights police shoot, kill man with knife

UPDATED: Mon., Aug. 3, 2026

An Airway Heights police officer on Friday shot and killed a man who “confronted officers with a knife,” according to the police department.

News > Crime/Public Safety

‘Like a volcano erupted’: Inchelium residents working tirelessly to defend town from fast-moving blaze

UPDATED: Sat., Aug. 1, 2026

Some residents, who were supposed to have evacuated, have taken matters into their own hands to fend off the flames by clearing brush, digging containment lines and dousing spot fires.

News > Crime/Public Safety

Bear Lake Regional Park to close again Friday to search for missing paddleboarder

UPDATED: Thu., July 30, 2026

The park was closed Thursday as Spokane County Sheriff’s Office Emergency Operations Team and search and rescue volunteers searched the lake early Thursday morning until early afternoon, according to a sheriff's office news release.

News > Crime/Public Safety

Man sentenced to 13 years in prison for killing passenger in drunken-driving crash

UPDATED: Thu., July 30, 2026

A 28-year-old man who killed his passenger and seriously injured three others in a north Spokane drunken-driving crash was sentenced to 13 years in prison.

News > Crime/Public Safety

Modrite fire grows 8,000 acres, forces Inchelium to evacuate; fires continue burning ahead of windy Saturday

UPDATED: Thu., July 30, 2026

Avista Corp. warned customers Thursday that power outages might be necessary on Saturday due to forecasted winds and fire danger.

News > Crime/Public Safety

CdA physician sentenced to federal prison for defrauding Medicare of $1.25 million

UPDATED: Thu., July 30, 2026

Dr. David A. Becerril, 70, was convicted by a jury last September of 16 felony counts, including healthcare and wire fraud, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office in Eastern Washington.

News > Crime/Public Safety

64-year-old man dies in Shoshone County crash

UPDATED: Thu., July 30, 2026

A 64-year-old man died after driving off the road and crashing into an embankment Tuesday in Shoshone County.

News > Crime/Public Safety

Divers to return to Bear Lake to search for man presumed to have drowned

UPDATED: Wed., July 29, 2026

The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office will close Bear Lake Regional Park on Thursday to continue its search for a paddleboarder who presumably drowned late last week in the lake near Chattaroy.

News > Crime/Public Safety

Two dead in head-on collision with garbage truck

UPDATED: Tue., July 28, 2026

Two people died after the Chrysler PT Cruiser they were riding in crossed the center line of U.S. Highway 395 and struck a Sunshine Disposal garbage truck Tuesday morning near Chewelah, according to Washington State Patrol.

News > Crime/Public Safety

‘A wild, free spirit’: 28-year-old mother of two hit and killed by driver in north Spokane

UPDATED: Tue., July 21, 2026

Dara Ray Johnson was riding Lime scooters and singing karaoke hours before the 28-year-old mother of two boys was hit and killed last week by a driver in north Spokane.