Two arrested on drug charges during traffic stop
A police officer allegedly got a face full of marijuana smoke during a traffic stop last week.
Officer Jeff Getchell walked up to the driver-side door of a Dodge van Saturday night. The driver rolled down the window and a puff of marijuana smoke wafted out, according to a press release from the Spokane Valley Police Department.
Getchell had stopped the van near First Avenue and Chronicle Road about 10:45 p.m. because the license plate was expired, police said.
Getchell saw the female passenger was trying to hide something and asked her to get out of the car, police said. The woman, identified as Shannon M. Mellon, gave Getchell permission to search her purse and inside he found a small amount of methamphetamine and a syringe, according to police.
Mellon, 33, 4706 E. First Ave., was arrested on suspicion of felony drug possession and was booked into the Spokane County Jail.
The driver, Kyle T. Davis, 44, 1521 E. Ostrander Ave., was given a ticket for misdemeanor possession of marijuana after a small amount of the drug was allegedly found inside Davis’ coat pocket. Davis was also cited for having an expired vehicle license, police said.
Woman arrested on drug charge
A woman was arrested on a drug charge Friday night when an officer found she had methampethamine, police said.
Officers had stopped to talk with people fixing a car at 9:45 p.m. Friday. The car was parked at Fourth Avenue and Carnahan Road, according to a press release from the Spokane Valley Police Department.
An officer saw one of the women pull something from her back pocket. It was a film canister with the drug methamphetamine inside, police said.
Andrea M. Krummes, 26, of Deer Park was arrested on suspicion of drug possession. She also was charged with allegedly having an illegal dagger. A second woman, identified as Vicki D. Nance, 1110 W. 10th Ave. was also arrested on a warrant for escaping from community custody, police said.
Both women were booked into the Spokane County Jail.
Man stopped with $577 worth of stolen clothes arrested
A stealing spree at the mall landed a man in jail Friday.
Security officers at the Spokane Valley Mall’s JC Penney store reportedly saw three people run out of the store with armloads of clothes. All except one of the suspects escaped into a waiting white Jeep Cherokee. Officers caught a 19-year-old man, according to the Spokane Valley Police Department.
Valley Police Officer Sara Riojas arrested Ivan O. Longoria, of Hatton, Wash. He had $577 of stolen clothes when arrested, police said.
Longoria was booked into the Spokane County Jail on a felony theft charge at 9 p.m. Police have identified Longoria’s accomplices, according to the press release.
Police and K-9 track down fleeing theft suspects
Two men jumped out of a moving car and tried to escape police Friday.
Both men were arrested after being tracked by police and a K-9 dog, according to a press release from the Spokane Valley Police Department.
Officers began chasing the car about 2 a.m. Friday after realizing it was stolen. The driver ran two red lights and spun out of control where East Sprague Avenue crosses under Interstate 90, Police said.
Two men ran out of the car while it was still moving.
Michael L. Bridges, 19, of Cheney was found by police in the nearby grass and weeds, according to the press release.
Jeremiah J. Baker, 26, 4519 N. Hawthorne, was found by Officer Steve Stipe and his K-9 dog Leif. Baker was allegedly hiding under a rack loaded with metal at nearby Star Steel. Baker was taken down by the dog and had minor injuries, according to police.
Baker, who was driving the car, was accused of stealing the Honda from a Hillyard address earlier that morning. The license plate was also stolen, Police said. Police also found five bags of allegedly stolen property inside the car.
Bridges was booked into the Spokane County Jail on suspicion of possessing stolen property. Baker was booked on suspicion of theft and attempting to elude a police vehicle.
Faulty lights lead to drug charge
A 28-year-old Greenacres man was arrested on a drug charge Saturday.
The man’s truck was stopped near his home at 1425 N. Grady Road after a Spokane County Sheriff’s Deputy noticed the Chevy pickup had its backup lights stuck on, according to a Sheriff’s Department press release.
The deputy spotted a small bag, which he believed contained methamphetamine, in the man’s wallet as he looked for his license, according to the press release.
Padrich T. Walker was arrested on suspicion of felony drug possession and was booked into the Spokane County Jail.
Drug lab in apartment raided Friday
Detectives raided a Spokane Valley apartment in search of a drug lab Friday.
The Spokane County Sheriff’s Investigative Support Unit found a small lab inside an apartment at 711 N. Argonne Road, according to a press release from the Spokane Valley Police Department.
Two people who lived inside the apartment, Buddy S. Mathews, 43, and Kippy K. Wilson, 42, were booked into the Spokane County Jail on suspicion of manufacturing methamphetamine. Wilson’s three children were taken by Child Protective Services, police said.
The investigation began after officers found lab waste the two had discarded, police said.
Tools taken from Victor Lumber trucks
Two Spokane Valley businesses were burglarized during the weekend.
Three trucks parked inside the fenced yard at Victor Lumber, 7125 E. Trent Ave., were ransacked when employees opened the business Monday morning. The theft occurred sometime over the weekend, according to a press release from the Spokane Valley Police Department.
The thief apparently climbed a fence around the yard and stole tools from three company trucks, Police said.
A thief also partly disassembled a fence to get inside the yard of Building Specialties, 6819 E. Main Ave., according to Police. The thief used metal from the fence to pry open a vending machine, police said.
Other than the cash stolen from the vending machine, nothing else appeared to be missing, police said.
Anyone with information about these thefts should call Crime Check at 456-2233.