Suspect Arrested In Connection With Downtown Burglaries

Spokane police think they’ve caught the man responsible for a slew of burglaries in downtown Spokane and the West Sumner neighborhood.

Patrick J. Reiss, 20, was arrested Friday after a resident in the 600 block of West Sumner called police and reported that Reiss, who has a warrant for his arrest, was in the area.

Police detectives suspect Reiss in at least six burglary cases, mainly because he has often used his own name when attempting to pawn stolen items, said Detective Scott Anderson.

Police believe Reiss, a transient and admitted methamphetamine addict, would ask people for work as a way to check their property for items to steal, Anderson said.

After the call, patrol officers located Reiss nearby and apprehended him. He gave the officers a false name, even after they identified him with a mug shot on file. He was booked into jail for obstructing a police officer. Other charges, including burglary and theft, have since been filed against him, and more are pending.

Some of the stolen property has been recovered, Anderson said.

Van driver smashes wooden fence

Police arrested a man after he allegedly drove his van through a residential fence, police said.

Police responding to a report of an impaired driver in the 1800 block of East First Avenue found a smashed wooden fence and the van used to smash it, but no driver, police spokesman Dick Cottam said.

A woman told police her boyfriend had been in a dispute with the renter at the address, and the renter told him to leave, Cottam said.

The renter and the woman said 20-year-old Steve E. Melior became angry, went outside and started his girlfriend’s van. He backed it into the fence, then abandoned the van and ran away, Cottam said. Police located Melior at another address and arrested him.

Melior was booked into jail on two counts of malicious mischief, driving with his license suspended, reckless driving and leaving the scene of a collision.

Two teens booked on burglary

Police arrested two teenage boys early Saturday morning after they were discovered inside a burglarized Exxon gas station on 29th Avenue, police officials said.

The station, 2706 E. 29th, had been burglarized two days earlier, and officers were checking for prowlers, Cottam said.

As police approached the building at 2 a.m., the boys jumped through a broken out window and ran away with police in pursuit, Cottam said.

A 15-year-old was caught immediately. Another 15-year-old was located at his residence three hours later.

After interviewing both suspects, police booked them into juvenile detention for second-degree burglary.