Stolen Credit Card Leads To Frustration

It happens every day. A purse is stolen out of an unlocked car, then the thief takes the credit cards to the nearest store and starts charging.

It happened to Ann Wick on Sept. 23. And after a little detective work of her own, she believes she knows where the bandit lives and thinks his image might have been caught on tape.

But to take the next step - actually getting the tape - she needs assistance from the police, which she says she can’t get.

“I don’t even care about the money anymore,” she said, “it’s the fact that the police won’t help.”

But Sgt. Larry Adams of the Spokane Police Department fraud unit said the department’s three detectives simply cannot work every case that comes in.

“Every case we see is considered solvable,” he said. “And of those, we have to pick what we think will be most successful. Even if I had 10 detectives, we couldn’t do it all.”

On the night her purse was stolen, Wick, who re-keys houses for mortgage companies, was at Courtland and Hogan, west of Bemiss Elementary School. Her purse was in her unlocked truck, about 40 feet away. A man rode by on a bike, then rode back about five minutes later and asked for a drink of water, she said.

Wick said she thought his request a bit weird but wasn’t suspicious until she went to her car and saw her purse was gone. Later that night, she and her husband walked around that area and talked to neighbors. When Wick described the man she saw on the bike, several people told her it sounded like a man who lived in the neighborhood, whom they suspected of stealing their tools and bikes.

Wick called to cancel her credit card and learned it had been used at 7:44 that evening - just minutes after it was stolen - at a Hillyard Safeway. The store has a surveillance tape, but will only release it with a subpoena, she said.

Wick said that when she called the police, they told her they get 300-500 such calls a month and can’t devote time to looking at her particular tape.

Adams said that even if a detective did look at the tape, it would be extremely difficult and time-consuming to track him down without a name.

Still, Wick is frustrated.

“I need to do what I can to make sure this doesn’t happen to someone else,” she said. “I’m just trying to be a good citizen.”

Adams reminds people not to leave personal property in vehicles, to keep credit cards and check books with you at all times.

“Probably more than half the cases we get are from people who haven’t been responsible for their property,” he said.

Attempted aquatic escape

A man who police say stole a Nissan van jumped in the Spokane River early Monday morning in an attempt to elude Spokane police.

At about 3 a.m., an officer spotted a stolen vehicle on Dean near Chestnut. When he attempted to stop the van, the driver sped away, said Spokane police spokesman Dick Cottam. The officer followed the van onto Ohio, a dirt road, and then onto Falls, which dead ends at the river.

The driver then stopped, ran to the river and jumped in, despite warnings from the officer, Cottam said. He began yelling for help and police had Fire Department units assist. The driver, 21-year-old Tracy A. Brown, who gave his address as 3615 N. Kenney, was taken into custody a short time later.

Jeremiah Justin Jones, 18, a passenger with Brown, was also arrested. A K-9 found Jones, who gave his address as 2116 W. Mallon, hiding under a truck near the scene, Cottam said.

Neither Brown nor Jones was injured. Both were booked into jail on a charge of taking a vehicle without the owner’s permission. Brown was also booked on six unrelated warrants.

Boy threatens 9-year-old with knife

An 11-year-old boy pulled a knife on a 9-year-old and threatened to kill him Monday night, Cottam said.

Spokane police are investigating the attempted robbery, which happened in the 4100 block of North Regal at about 5:15 p.m.

The victim said he was talking with a boy about an upcoming party and that he expected to receive $20 as a gift, Cottam said. The 11-year-old pulled a knife, opened the blade and pointed it at the victim. An 8-year-old witness watched the conflict unfold.

The 11-year-old said he wanted $5 or he would kill the 9-year-old, Cottam said. When the suspect was distracted momentarily, the victim ran home and told his mother, who called the police. No one was injured and nothing was taken, but police will be talking with the suspect, Cottam said.