Stolen Checkbook Recovered During Traffic Stop

A Valley man stopped Sunday afternoon for a traffic violation was arrested after deputies found a stolen checkbook in his car.

Russell L. Foust, 20, who gave his address as 17607 E. Sixth, was being held Tuesday in the Spokane County Jail on separate theft and forgery charges.

Deputy Gary Redmond began pursuing Foust’s white Ford Tempo in the 10000 block of East Montgomery Avenue after noticing that the car did not have a front license plate, said David Reagan, Sheriff’s Department spokesman.

After Redmond turned his patrol car around, the Tempo sped away westbound and a passenger ducked down in his seat, Reagan said.

Redmond chased the car north onto Woodruff Road, until it stopped in a parking lot at Jackson Avenue, Reagan said. There, the passenger started pulling something out of his pants and dropped it between the seat and door, he said.

Both Foust and the passenger were questioned by the deputy. Foust told Redmond he sped away because there was a warrant for his arrest, according to the deputy’s report.

Deputies arrested Foust for a third-degree theft warrant and searched his car. Inside they found a checkbook that had been reported stolen earlier this month, Reagan said.

Deputies also arrested Foust for forgery. One of the checks found in the car was made out to a local business and the owner’s name forged on the bottom, Reagan said.

The passenger was not arrested.

Radio dispatchers called the owner of the checkbook, who said it had been in his Honda Civic when the car was stolen from the 6000 block of East Sixth Avenue on June 1.

Deputies recovered the car on June 5, but the owner’s wallet and checkbook were not inside.

Deputies said nine checks appeared to have been written from the checkbook after it was stolen. A fast food restaurant and a gas station were among the payees listed on the checks, Reagan said.

Some of the victim’s credit cards also had been used without his permission, Reagan said.

Two fires investigated

Separate fires that burned a shed and damaged a church last week are being investigated as arson cases, according to Valley Fire reports.

A gas station clerk reported the first fire early last Tuesday in a shed near Sixth Avenue and Pines Road. Two days later, Valley firefighters extinguished a small fire in the breezeway of a church.

No one was injured by either fire.

Last Tuesday’s fire destroyed a small construction shed. A Texaco gas station clerk, who reported the blaze about 3:30 a.m., told investigators he saw a car parked near the shed about an hour before the fire started.

Deputy Fire Marshal Eric Olson estimated damage to the shed and its contents at about $3,000. Bye Diversified, a construction company, owned the shed.

Firefighters called to Thursday’s fire found a burned two-by-two foot cardboard box and damage to the paint on an outside wall of Otis Orchards Community Church, 23304 E. Wellesley. Damage was estimated at $100.

Church officials told Olson they have previously had minor vandalism.

, DataTimes