Driver Rams Car, Punches Passenger, Then Flees
Police arrested a North Spokane man accused of ramming a car with his pickup truck, then punching a passenger in the car.
Kelly N. Harju, 23, was arrested Thursday night for second-degree assault at his West Garland home after running away when a bystander called police.
According to police, Harju cut off another driver, rear-ended her car when she stopped and then punched a passenger in the victim’s car, police said.
The 19-year-old driver of the car told police she was driving on Third Avenue last Thursday when a pickup truck cut her off.
The pickup then slowed and pulled in behind her car, and rammed into the back of her car when she stopped, police said.
Harju then jumped out of his truck and began punching a passenger in the car, police said. He fled when a passing motorist called police. Witnesses gave Harju’s license plate number to police, who tracked him to his house.
All three people riding in the woman’s car suffered whiplash from the impact, police said.
Police said their investigation of the incident continues.
Man in ski mask robs store
A man demanding money, cigarettes and lottery tickets robbed the Circle K store on West Nine Mile Road early Sunday morning, police said.
The man, wearing a ski mask and holding a knife, ran from the store. A K-9 police unit tracked the man for several blocks before the trail ended.
The white male was described as 5-foot-7 and very slender. He wore a plaid flannel shirt and a blue jeans jacket with dark sleeves.
Car vandalized, women arrested
Police arrested two North Spokane women for breaking headlights and scratching the paint of a car owned by the ex-boyfriend of one of the women.
Police arrested Jennifer MacMurdo and Tanya Griffin late Sunday night for felony malicious mischief.
Witnesses saw the women vandalizing the 1984 Ford Thunderbird about 11 p.m. with screw drivers. The car was parked at the residence of MacMurdo’s ex-boyfriend in the Spokane Valley.
The car’s owner called 911 while another witness grabbed a rifle, stepped outside and told the women to stay where they were. The man held the gun on the women until sheriff’s deputies arrived.
The attack caused an estimated $1,200 in damage.
, DataTimes