Man Arrested After Mother Reports Beating

Thu., Oct. 26, 1995

Gita Sitaramiah Staff writer

A 32-year-old man whose mother wanted him to move out is under arrest on an attempted murder charge after allegedly beating her.

Ross E. Yardley was arrested Tuesday and remained in the Spokane County Jail Wednesday on $150,000 bond.

Authorities wouldn’t identify his mother, but she returned home after treatment at a hospital. She declined a request for an interview Wednesday evening.

Yardley, who lives on his mother’s property, owed her $15,000, sheriff’s Lt. David Wiyrick said.

“She said, ‘I’ll forgive the $15,000 if you move out of the house,”’ Wiyrick said.

The two were on their way to see an attorney about 4 p.m. Tuesday when Yardley apparently changed his mind about moving out, Wiyrick said.

The 51-year-old woman told a sheriff’s deputy that she was driving on East Riverway when the incident occurred. Yardley, from the passenger seat, suddenly placed his foot on the accelerator and grabbed control of the steering wheel, forcing the vehicle off the roadway and into some mailboxes, she told deputies.

Wiyrick said several witnesses saw Yardley then attack his mother.

He apparently struck her in the face and then began choking her while threatening to kill her. The victim was able to get out of the car and went to a nearby residence for help.

A sheriff’s deputy responded to the 18400 block of East Riverway to a report of a woman having difficulty breathing.

Ross was located Tuesday at a gas station at Sullivan and Mission and was arrested.

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