Three Arrested In Slaying Of Spokane Taxi Driver Police Arrested A 21-Year-Old Man And Two Teenage Boys

Thursday night in the slaying of a veteran Spokane taxi driver.

The suspects were questioned extensively by detectives before being arrested about 8 p.m. on warrants charging them with first-degree murder.

The 21-year-old was identified as Alon Slater. The names of the other suspects - a 14-year-old and a 17-year-old - were not released.

Cabdriver Duane “Dusty” Hutsell was shot twice in the head just before midnight on March 6.

The 47-year-old victim was found slumped in his taxi, operated by Lilac City Cab, near the corner of Standard and Hill ‘N’ Dale in north Spokane.

Residents in the area reported seeing several people run from the cab after the shooting.

Descriptions of the suspects provided by the witnesses led to the arrests, Lt. Jerry Oien said.

Oien said robbery appears to be the motive behind the shooting. Shortly before he was killed, Hutsell picked up several people at The Onion on North Division.

Detectives arrested one of the teenagers Thursday at the Public Safety Building. The other suspects were arrested at a home in the West Central neighborhood, Oien said.

Slater recently spent time in jail for car theft, according to an acquaintance who asked not to be identified.

The acquaintance described the unemployed Slater’s recent behavior as “thuggish.”

“He’s lost his mind …,” the source said. “He used to be a good guy. But the last time I saw him, I didn’t even know who he was by the way he was acting. He’s really changed.”

Slater stole a car in Florida, where he had been living, and drove to the Spokane area last August, the source said.

The source said Slater was caught with the stolen car in Newport, Wash., and was jailed there from August to October.

, DataTimes