Briefly
Father arrested in assault on infant
A 20-year-old Greenacres man was arrested Tuesday night on suspicion that he assaulted his 3-month-old son, Spokane Valley police reported.
James Vincent Adams was booked into the Spokane County Jail about 7:30 p.m., said Cpl. Dave Reagan.
The infant was listed in critical condition and was on life support late Tuesday. He was rushed to the hospital about 9 a.m. after the mother called 911 and said her baby was not breathing.
Hospital staff discovered the infant had skull and rib fractures, and was comatose, Reagan said. Major crimes detectives were called and detectives interviewed both parents, Reagan said. Adams was booked into jail on suspicion of first-degree assault of a child.
Adams is expected to make his first appearance in court today. It was unknown whether he has a criminal record.
In April, The Spokesman-Review reported in a series of stories about several cases in which men were convicted of abusing children. In the past two years, caregivers have been charged with beating and killing five Spokane children. Several other children have been seriously injured in recent months.
A Spokane man was arrested April 28 for allegedly shaking his 11-week-old son, causing swelling of the brain. That man, Leigh Sean McGuire, 26, also was convicted in 1997 of squeezing another of his children, a 6-week-old girl, so hard that he broke her ribs.
Teen arrested after BB gun shooting
Spokane Valley Police arrested a 17-year-old girl Tuesday for allegedly shooting a 36-year-old man in the head with a BB gun while he was stopped at a red light.
The man called police about 3 p.m. and said he was hit by a BB while waiting at the light at 32nd Avenue and University, said Cpl. Dave Reagan.
The pellet entered through an open truck window, but did not injure the man, Reagan said. The victim said he heard a “thunk,” felt something hit his right temple, and looked down and saw a BB on the seat beside him.
The man said he saw several teens run into a nearby home, and pulled around the corner from the house and waited for police.
A 17-year-old girl at the home admitted to officers that she had fired the BB pistol, Reagan said. She was arrested on charges of reckless endangerment and was released into her mother’s custody. Police seized the pistol, Reagan said.
Bear shot after wandering into city
Spokane police officers shot and killed a small black bear Tuesday morning after it wandered into a northeast Spokane neighborhood.
The bear was discovered in the area of Francis Avenue and Crestline Street about 4:30 a.m., police spokesman Dick Cottam said.
Officers tried to contain the bear, but it ran into the back yards of several homes near Whitman Elementary School and through several small parks, Cottam said.
Police notified the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, and agents made plans to attempt to tranquilize the bear when it was discovered in the back yard of a home in the 1600 block of East Crown.
The agents told police they did not have enough tranquilizers to subdue the bear, which had managed to crawl under a camper but continued to move. The agents ordered a police marksman to shoot the bear with a 12-gauge shotgun after growing concerns about children encountering the animal on their way to school, Cottam said.
Woman’s injury under investigation
Spokane police are investigating an incident from Monday night in which a 22-year-old woman fell, jumped or was pushed from a car in northeast Spokane and suffered severe head injuries.
One man connected to the incident was arrested after he refused to take a breath test to determine his blood alcohol level.
James M. McMahon, 23, was driving the car when the woman was injured near Wellesley Avenue and Wall Street, police spokesman Dick Cottam said. McMahon was booked into the Spokane County Jail.
The woman, who was in satisfactory condition at a local hospital, was interviewed again Tuesday. It is still unknown whether she jumped, fell or was pushed from the car, Cottam said.
Legislative hopeful drops out of race
Democrat Sheila Collins is dropping out of a local legislative race just two weeks after she got in.
Collins said Tuesday she was suspending her campaign for an open House seat in the Sixth Legislative District to help care for an ailing family member.
“It’s time to focus on the family,” she said. “It’s not an easy decision, but a right one.”
A Spokane business consultant and former county Democratic Party treasurer, Collins announced a campaign May 4 for the seat being vacated by Republican state Rep. Brad Benson. Over the weekend, however, meetings with other family members convinced her she couldn’t devote the time needed to the campaign and help care for a relative.
Collins ran for the Legislature once before, in 2002, losing to first-term Republican Rep. John Ahern. She faced a Democratic primary against Spokane School District Board Member Don Barlow. Insurance broker John Serben is running for the seat as a Republican.
Low water pressure hits area homes
A few thousand Spokane Valley residents had difficulty getting ready for work Tuesday when they lost water pressure. Spokane County Water District No. 3 got the first report of trouble at 5:40 a.m. and had the problem fixed by 6:30 a.m.
The pumps that refill the district’s reservoir didn’t activate, said general manager Ty Wick, and water pressure dropped as the reservoir was drawn down. Residents in the Ponderosa, Painted Hills, and 16th and Dishman-Mica neighborhoods, known as the low zone, were affected.
“The control that operated the low zone lost power sometime yesterday and made it freeze in that position,” Wick said. “Not everything was affected the same. The ones in the higher elevations are the ones who got the most impact.”