Four Arrested On Assault, Kidnapping Charges Victim In Critical Condition After Stabbing; Bail Set Today

Tue., Jan. 25, 2000

By John Craig johnc@spokesman.com

A 44-year-old man remained in critical condition Monday after allegedly being abducted and stabbed in the neck at the Boulder Beach Park late Sunday night.

Spokane County and city law officers arrested four suspects shortly after the victim was stabbed, but no information about the motive was available Monday.

The victim, whom police declined to identify, contacted a passer-by for help while the suspects were fleeing.

The suspects were identified as Richard S. Williams, 34; Byron C. Prince, 36; Kachina Michaelson, 26; and Steven W. Havner, 23. Williams, Michaelson and Havner told officers they live at 1419-1/2 N. Columbus, and Prince said he lives at 1419 N. Columbus.

All four were booked on suspicion of first-degree assault and first-degree kidnapping. They remained in jail Monday, pending bail hearings today.

Sheriff’s deputies found one of the suspects walking along Upriver Drive and two others, including Michaelson, hiding among the boulders along the Spokane River. City police apprehended the alleged driver, Havner, at his home on North Columbus.

Police and sheriff’s spokesmen were unable to say which of the men was found with Michaelson.

Information was sketchy, in part because jurisdiction was transferred from the Sheriff’s Office to city police after it became apparent that the crime began as an alleged kidnapping inside city limits. The assault is believed to have occurred at Boulder Beach Park, which is under county jurisdiction.

Sheriff’s spokesman Cpl. Dave Reagan said the suspects at first were thought to have fled the park in a blue van they stole from the victim. But that information, based on a report by the passer-by who called for help, proved wrong.

Reagan said the passer-by saw a blue van leaving the area, and mistakenly thought it had just been stolen from the wounded victim. Actually, the suspects were in a car that got stuck in the snow.

Three of the suspects got out of the stranded car and fled on foot. Then the fourth suspect managed to free the car, and left without his companions, Reagan said.

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