Man Escapes Kidnappers Elk Resident Hurls Himself From Moving Car To Get Away

A 33-year-old Elk resident jumped out of a moving car Thursday to escape two men who beat him with a baseball bat then abducted him, Spokane County sheriff’s deputies said.

The victim, who deputies didn’t identify, was hospitalized with a head injury late Thursday. His injuries were not life-threatening, Undersheriff Mike Aubrey said.

The incident began shortly before noon in east Spokane.

The victim told deputies he was visiting a mobile home in the 5000 block of East Fourth when he got into a disagreement with two acquaintances.

The argument turned violent, and the pair bound the man’s hands with green duct tape and began beating him with an aluminum baseball bat, said Lt. Dave Wiyrick, a sheriff’s spokesman.

They then threw him into the back of a tan Chevrolet Citation, covered him with a rug and drove away.

When the car reached the intersection of Glenrose and Corkery south of the city, the victim jumped out, Wiyrick said.

Passing motorists found the bloodied man lying dazed in the road.

Electrical contractor Gregory Block was one of the first people on the scene. He said the man’s pants were around his ankles and his hands were still tied.

“He stated his name was Richard McBride and that he had been kidnapped,” Block told investigators.

As authorities rushed to the scene, a resident who lives near Fifth and Carnahan saw a tan Citation pull up in front of his house, about a block from the mobile home where the incident started.

The driver appeared nervous, said the witness, who didn’t want his name used.

“He tipped the passenger seat forward, grabbed up a bunch of clothing and walked away,” the 44-year-old man said. “The guy looked so damned suspicious I almost hopped on my bicycle and followed him to see where he was going. I went inside and called Crime Check instead.”

Deputies impounded the car, which had blood on the passenger side door and throughout the interior, as evidence. They also seized a bat from the mobile home on Fourth.

No one had been arrested in the case as of Thursday evening, although deputies were questioning one potential suspect and had leads on a second, Wiyrick said.

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