Cab Driver Avoids Robbery By Driving Away

Two men attempted to rob a taxi driver at gunpoint early New Year’s Day, but the victim just drove away.

The driver told police he let a fare off on Liberty Avenue near Ralph in a dead end street at about 4:30 a.m. Jan. 1, said Spokane police spokesman Dick Cottam. As the driver stopped, two black males walked up to his window and one asked for a light.

The driver handed him a lighter and the man displayed a semi-automatic pistol. The driver immediately drove away and the two would-be robbers ran. The driver notified police through his dispatcher.

The driver described the man with the gun as in his 20s, about 6 feet tall, 190 pounds, with black hair.

He was wearing blue jeans, a black coat and put a blue bandanna over his face when he pulled the gun.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call Crime Check at 456-2233.

Potential blaze extinguished

Two young women apparently tried to start a fire in the basement of Our Savior Lutheran Church Dec. 30.

The pastor told police the two entered the church at 302 W. Augusta and asked to use a phone to call for a ride. He let them use a cordless phone and continued working in his office. A short time later, he showed one of the girls out of the church. The other was not with her.

About 6:15 p.m. a church member walked into the basement and found the two girls among a pile of clothing. When they saw him, they ran from the building and escaped. Several pieces of clothing had burned spots, and the smell of burned fabric was still in the air. No damage occurred to the building itself, but the girls had written graffiti on several cabinets in the basement, Cottam said.

The two were described as white, about 5 feet 1 inch tall. One was about 100 pounds with long, straight brown hair and blue fingernails, and the other was about 160 pounds with long, bushy brown hair.

Anyone with information on the two suspects is asked to call Crime Check at 456-2233.

Victims of shooting escape injury

A young man with a handgun shot a window out of a car on North Division Dec. 29 at about 6:30 p.m., police said.

Four people were driving north on Division near the NorthTown Mall when another car pulled up beside them, said Spokane police spokesman Dick Cottam. Words were exchanged between the two groups and the cars parted.

A few blocks later, the same car pulled up and the passenger in the right rear seat fired a handgun at the four, shattering the left rear window of the victims’ car, Cottam said.

The suspect car, a gray 1980s Nissan Maxima with dark windows, turned east on Joseph and drove away. No one was injured by the bullet or the glass, Cottam said.

The shooter was described as a Hispanic man in his 20s with a round face, a mustache and a mole near his mouth.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call Crime Check at 456-2233.

Possible thieves deterred

A Jax Food Store employee may have interrupted a car theft last week.

A woman told police she was shopping at the 3019 E. Mission store Dec. 29 at about noon. When she went out to the parking lot, she saw three young men sitting on the hood of her car, Cottam said.

One told her his cellular phone was underneath her car and asked for her keys. A store employee then came outside and told the three to leave. The young man again demanded her keys, but then all three left in either a red or tan Blazer or Bronco.

The woman said she thinks the three wanted to steal her car and said she does not know any of them, Cottam said. They were all described as black males in their 20s. One had short hair and wore a heavy blue coat.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call Crime Check at 456-2233.

Sheriffs seek out meth and money

Sheriff’s deputies found thousands of dollars and drugs in a car after arresting the owner for driving with a revoked licence.

The 29-year-old Medical Lake man was pulled over on Monroe and Garland Dec. 29. During a pat-down of the suspect, the deputy discovered a baggie of methamphetamine, said Sheriff’s spokesman Dave Reagan.

Methamphetamine, also known as meth, speed or crank, is an illegal stimulant that comes in either yellowish chunks or a powder, Reagan said. Baggies typically sell for $10-$20.

The deputy called for a drug dog, which sniffed out what deputies suspected were more drugs in a pill box on the front seat. Inside, the deputies found eight more baggies containing fingernail-sized chunks of meth, Reagan said.

A subsequent search of the car by the Spokane Regional Drug Task Force revealed two ounces of meth, $2,000, electronic scales and glass smoking pipes locked in a security box.

The driver, William Y. Rowley, 815 S. Deep Creek, was booked into Spokane County Jail on a charge of possession of methamphetamine and driving with a revoked licence.

“Meth is the fastest growing drug problem in Spokane,” Reagan said.

Since 1998, meth has accounted for more than half of all drug arrests in the Spokane area, according to the Spokane Regional Drug Task Force.