Police Arrest Two Youths For Shopping Center Blaze

Two teenage boys were arrested for setting fires in a shopping center complex last week, police said.

The boys, ages 13 and 15, were spotted carrying wood and paper into a building being remodeled at 7702 N. Division, police spokesman Dick Cottam said.

The building was empty, but there were employees and customers in an adjoining business at the time, he said.

An officer who arrived at the scene asked one of the boys what he was doing. The boy told the officer, “We’re setting fires,” Cottam said.

Police tried to put out the blaze but had to call the fire department to extinguish flames and smoke. The remodeled building suffered minor damage.

The two boys were arrested and booked into juvenile detention for first-degree arson, said Cottam.

Teen arrested after chase

A 17-year-old Horseshoe Lake youth was arrested for attempting to elude a police car after a chase near Deer Park, sheriff’s deputies said.

A Spokane County sheriff’s deputy saw a brown Oldsmobile speeding eastbound on Enoch from Dalton at 6:20 p.m. on July 8, said spokesman Dave Reagan.

The teen was driving so fast on the gravel road that the deputy couldn’t catch up because of the dust, Reagan said. The teen then turned north on Cedar and west on Montgomery, which is paved.

The teen finally stopped at his home on Horseshoe Lake Road. Reagan said the deputy arrested the unlicensed driver without incident and drove him to Spokane County juvenile detention, where he was booked on a felony charge of eluding police.

A 15-year-old passenger told sheriff’s deputies he pleaded with the teen to stop during the chase. The passenger was released at the scene, Reagan said.

Police arrest pranksters

Spokane police arrested a man and woman who tied up 911 and Crime Check emergency lines for an hour.

After a series of calls on July 3, officers were sent to the 700 block of North Stone at 7:15 a.m., police spokesman Dick Cottam said.

The callers insisted someone was speeding up and down Stone, but they refused to give any information or descriptions, Cottam said. The callers also claimed the driver of the car had been “pointing or shooting” a gun at them.

Officers parked nearby and watched the area for 15 minutes and saw no vehicles, but the couple continued to call Crime Check and 911, Cottam said.

Operators logged more than 40 calls, even after the couple was warned against tying up the emergency lines, Cottam said.

Police arrested Michael D. Schuler, 41, who lives at the house, and 38-year-old Roberta S. Cowen, 2228 E. Broadway. The two were booked on charges of second-degree malicious mischief, Cottam said.

Pot plants found

Marijuana plants growing in the woods just outside the city limits were discovered by three Deer Park residents Saturday.

Deputies had to hike in to the heavily wooded area along North Lenhard. They discovered 17 mature marijuana plants and 22 harvested ones.

Detectives collected the plants and other evidence. An investigation is continuing.

, DataTimes