Briefly

SUV crashes into North Side house

A 16-year-old girl driving a Ford Explorer lost control Tuesday night and crashed into the porch of a North Side home, Spokane Police reported.

The teen likely will face a charge of driving under the influence because there was a smell of alcohol on her breath, said Cpl. P.C. Lasswell.

The girl was westbound on Buckeye Avenue about 9 p.m. when she attempted to turn south on Pittsburg Street. After making the turn, she lost control and hit a home on the east side of street, 2624 N. Pittsburg.

The car toppled a fence, mailbox and the porch steps and smashed into a Chevy Blazer parked in the driveway.

The teen was taken to Deaconess Medical Center but tt was unclear if she had sustained any injuries, Lasswell said. Three passengers were uninjured.

Lasswell said an 18-year-old in the Explorer was cited for being a minor in possession of alcohol because he, too, had the smell of alcohol on his breath.

Mary Curtis, who lives in the damaged home, said it’s the second time in the three years that a car has toppled her fence. Kathy Miller, who lives across the street, said a vehicle also has crashed through her yard.

“They come barreling through there all the time,” Miller said. “We just need a four-way stop here.”

Police release name of man killed on Division

Spokane Police on Tuesday released the name of the man killed earlier this week when he attempted to cross Division Street north of Francis Avenue.

Robert Harold McLean, 62, was struck at about 5 p.m. Sunday by a southbound pickup at Houston Avenue and Division Street, police spokesman Dick Cottam said in a press release. He was pronounced dead at Sacred Heart Medical Center, about 15 minutes after the accident.

Investigators continued their investigation into the incident on Tuesday, Cottam said. Police have not cited the driver of the pickup.

Witnesses told police that McLean, who was headed west, stepped into the road when traffic was stopped at a light two blocks to the north. But the light turned green just after he entered the road, police said at the scene on Sunday.

A streetlight directly over the crash scene was not lighted.

County to repay hotel for tax overpayment

Spokane County commissioners unanimously approved Tuesday a settlement to repay Davenport Hotel owner Walt Worthy more than $225,000 in property taxes.

Commissioners agreed that the Davenport Hotel had been over-valued by the County Assessor’s Office in 2003 and 2004.

Worthy complained about the property’s assessed value in 2002 and filed a lawsuit against the county in 2003, later adding the 2003 valuation used for 2004 taxes to the complaint.

The assessor’s office subsequently reviewed its appraisal and determined that Worthy was right.

The overpayment for the two years totals $225,839.70 plus interest.

Suspicious backpack closes ferry terminal

Seattle

A report of a suspicious package on the ferry Puyallup closed the busy Bainbridge Island ferry terminal for about three hours during evening rush hour Tuesday before a bomb unit determined it was a thermos in a backpack, a state ferries spokeswoman said.

The terminal reopened about 6:45 p.m. and ferry operations resumed.

The fact that the thermos was metal slowed the bomb squad’s progress, said Susan Harris, a spokeswoman for Washington State Ferries.

“If it had been something like a sandwich or an orange or ‘War and Peace,’ “concerns would have been resolved more quickly, she said. “They had to do a few more things than they usually do.”

A State Patrol bomb unit was called in after a young man was spotted dumping a backpack into a garbage can on the ferry, Trooper Scott Harter said. The young man then was reported to have “fled from the boat.”

The report came at about 3:45 p.m.

The patrol treated the incident as a possible bomb situation – evacuating the ferry and establishing a 300-foot perimeter around it.

Vehicle traffic on the Bainbridge side was diverted to Kingston, as was the second ferry on the run, the Tacoma, which carried 1,500 walk-on passengers and a full load of 218 cars.

The six-mile run from Seattle across Puget Sound to Bainbridge Island is the system’s busiest “by far,” Harris said, serving thousands of commuters each day.

Women harassed by caller claiming to be cop

Coeur d’Alene Police are investigating two reports of local women being harassed by a man claiming to be a police officer.

The latest incident was Sunday evening when a man called a Coeur d’Alene woman and identified himself as an officer needing information to help catch a sexual predator. The caller eventually asked the woman to remove clothing, according to a statement from Police Sgt. Christie Wood.

A similar call occurred Oct. 13 to a different woman. The caller said he was a Spokane police officer and that she had an unpaid parking ticket. The man called back three times, eventually leaving a lewd message, Wood said.

Police and detectives routinely call citizens asking for information, Wood said. Anyone wishing to verify the identity of an officer should call 769-2320.

If the caller is obscene, hang up and dial *57 to trace the call, Wood said. The incidents should also be reported immediately to police. Information on either of the obscene calls should be reported to the city’s tip line at 769-2296.