Briefly

Police cadets collecting for kids

Members of the Spokane Police Academy are collecting toys, clothing and other items for children in emergency foster care.

Cadets will be at Krispy Kreme, 15401 E. Indiana Ave., on Saturday and Monday to accept donations that will be given to Sally’s House.

Children stay at Sally’s House, which opened in 2002, for two weeks on average until they are placed in a permanent foster home. The shelter is a joint program between The Salvation Army and the state Department of Children and Family Services.

For more information about the collection or Sally’s House, call 325-6826.

Suspect sought in Spokane Valley robbery

Spokane Valley Police detectives are seeking a man in connection with the robbery of two women at a Spokane Valley hotel on Wednesday.

Detectives want to interview Nicholas J. Kloepfel, 21, in the case. His last known address was 1922 E. Joseph Ave.

The victims, who are mother and daughter, told police they met Kloepfel at the Spokane Valley Mall and went with him about 4:30 p.m. to a room at the Mirabeau Park Hotel, 1100 N. Sullivan, said police spokesman Dave Reagan in a press release. At the hotel, two other men appeared and the two women were robbed.

The victims were forced to the floor, and their purses were taken, Reagan said. The men fled in a newer blue Mitsubishi SUV, Reagan said.

Kloepfel is described as 5-foot-10, 180 pounds with brown hair and blue eyes.

One of the other men was described as white, 6-foot-1 and 250 pounds. He wore a gray sweatshirt and black jeans.

The third man was described as white and 5 foot 8. He wore a black sweatshirt and light blue jeans.

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

Troopers say man tried to force car off road

Washington State Patrol troopers arrested a man Thursday morning after witnesses said he forced one car off the road near Deer Park in an apparent road rage incident.

Troopers responded at 6:09 a.m. to a call of an erratically driven vehicle on state Route 2 south of Diamond Lake.

At the intersection with Milan Road, they found two collisions. Witnesses told troopers that a vehicle driven by Kenneth R. Mueller, 32, struck another vehicle several times before forcing it to stop in the northbound lane of Route 2 about 6:20 a.m., Trooper Jim Hays said in a press release.

The southbound lanes were blocked by another collision apparently caused by drivers distracted by the first collision, Hays said.

Troopers searched Mueller’s vehicle and found marijuana and drug paraphernalia, Hays said. He was arrested on charges of reckless driving and possession of a controlled substance.

Only minor injuries were reported from both collisions, Hays said.

Police arrest man suspected of bilking elderly

Spokane police have arrested a man suspected of using stolen checks to defraud the elderly out of thousands of dollars.

James R. Covington, 42, was arrested Wednesday night when an officer pulled his vehicle over at Nevada Street and Lyons Avenue, police spokesman Dick Cottam said in a press release.

Covington, who provided a false name, admitted he had no license, no registration and no insurance, Cottam said. When he refused to show officers his hands, they tried to handcuff Covington but he began to fight, Cottam said.

One of the officers shot Covington with a Taser and they put him in handcuffs. Covington continued to kick, Cottam said, so officers placed him in leg restraints and took him to jail.

Detective J.D. Anderson has probable cause to charge Covington on nine separate felony cases, mostly for using stolen checks, Cottam said.

One victim, a woman in her 90s, told police she found a strange man standing in her hallway on Oct. 22. She hit the man with her cane and the suspect ran from her house, Cottam said. Later, the woman discovered her checkbook was missing.

Several of those checks had been cashed for more than $5,000 by a suspect that investigators believe is Covington, Cottam said.

Covington is also a suspect in several other felony investigations regarding stolen checks, Cottam said.

On Wednesday, Covington was charged with refusing to cooperate, resisting arrest and failing to have proper paperwork for driving, Cottam said. The investigation is continuing.

Cancer expert to speak at Davenport Hotel

An expert on cancer research from the American Cancer Society’s home office in Atlanta will speak Saturday at the Davenport Hotel during a free community forum.

T.J. Koerner, national director of research information management, will speak at 11 a.m. A panel of cancer doctors will answer questions after Koerner’s remarks. The forum is scheduled to end at 2 p.m.

Seating is limited. To register, call the American Cancer Society toll-free at (800) 227-2345.

Departing Palouse surgeons to be replaced

Two surgeons are leaving the Palouse for Coeur d’Alene, but the area’s hospitals have recruited replacements and will hire temporary surgeons until the new ones start.

Dr. John Lundeby and Dr. Kevin Johnson will move to the Coeur d’Alene area at the end of the year, closing their Palouse Surgical Associates offices in Moscow and Pullman.

They are leaving for business and family reasons, according to a press release issued jointly by three Palouse hospitals.

The doctors provided general and vascular surgery at Gritman Medical Center in Moscow, Pullman Memorial Hospital in Pullman and Whitman Hospital and Medical Center in Colfax.

Other types of surgery won’t be affected by the move – including orthopedic, gynecological, podiatry and urology surgeries.

The hospitals plan to hire temporary, traveling surgeons until the arrival of two permanent surgeons.

The new surgeons recruited to the area are Dr. Geoff Stiller and Dr. Rick Malyzsek. Stiller received his medical degree from the University of Minnesota Medical School in 1996. Malyszek received his medical degree from Hahnemann University School of Medicine in Philadelphia in 1996. Both doctors were interns and residents at Graduate Hospital in Philadelphia.

Police still searching for Sandpoint man

Sandpoint Local police still have no idea where a missing Sandpoint man has gone.

Bloodhounds looked Wednesday for Daniel Harry Clune, 29, who was last seen early Saturday morning at the Long Bridge Grill. The bar is at the south end of the bridge over the Pend Oreille River.

Sandpoint Police Chief Mark Lockwood said Thursday that the dogs picked up on Clune’s scent, taken from some of his clothing, but that the scent ended as they got close to the water and the bridge.

“We don’t know where he is,” Lockwood said. “It’s certainly possible he fell into the river but there’s nothing to indicate that.”

Clune, a software programmer who worked from his home, didn’t log-in to work Monday. That’s when friends reported him missing.

Lockwood said the last activity on Clune’s bank account and cell phone was Friday night.

A press release describes Clune as 5 feet 6 inches and 140 pounds with brown, very short hair. He has brown eyes and was last seen wearing a blue zip-up sweatshirt, blue jeans and a blue beanie-style hat.

Anybody with information about Clune’s whereabouts is asked to call Bonner County Dispatch at (208) 265-5525