Stereo System Starts Blaze At Pickle Barrel Restaurant

Thu., May 16, 1996

By Jonathan Martin jonathanm@spokesman.com

The Pickle Barrel smelled more like charcoal than vinegar, but co-owner Ted Bare was ready to do business.

“You want a latte? It’s no trouble at all,” said Bare, standing in an inch of water on the Pickle Barrel’s charred floor.

The NorthTown restaurant closed Monday, after a stereo system under the kitchen counter sparked a fire. Bare did not have a damage estimate, but said the stereo and shelves holding paperwork were destroyed.

The restaurant is insured.

A sprinkler system doused the fire before anyone reached the scene. Water damage was minimal. Fresh table clothes covered Formica by Tuesday.

Bare said the restaurant would reopen sometime this weekend. It is the first unexpected closure in the restaurant’s 12-year history.

Boy escapes abductor

Police have no leads in an attempted child abduction outside the Franklin Park Montgomery Ward store on Saturday.

At about 9 p.m., a 6-year-old boy was waiting outside the department store for his grandmother, a Montgomery Ward employee, according to police.

A goateed man, about 6 feet tall and 200 pounds, grabbed the boy from behind and started carrying the child off.

The boy wiggled away and kicked the suspected abductor several times in the shins, according to police. The man fled on foot.

The man had short, straight hair and was wearing a dark, short-sleeved shirt.

Youths booked for robbery

A 12-year-old and 15-year-old boy are being held in the Spokane County juvenile detention facility after being accused of robbing a convenience store at gunpoint.

The two youths were booked for first-degree armed robbery after holding up the Nine Mile Circle K at 3 a.m. Monday, police said. Brandishing a handgun, they took cartons of cigarettes and cigars, which they told police they planned to sell at school.

The youths told police they didn’t smoke.

Police spotted the 15-year-old about a half-hour after the robbery walking nearby. He confessed, and police found cigarettes on him.

, DataTimes MEMO: The Police Notebook is a regular feature of the North Side Voice. Report incidents of crime to the police, then call reporter Jonathan Martin at 459-5484.

The Police Notebook is a regular feature of the North Side Voice. Report incidents of crime to the police, then call reporter Jonathan Martin at 459-5484.

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