Canadian lottery scam costs woman nearly $7,000
A Spokane Valley woman lost nearly $7,000 last week after she fell for a Canadian lottery scam.
The 55-year-old woman received a phone call from a man who told her she’d won the lottery and if she sent him $950 she could collect her prize, Spokane Valley Police spokesman Cpl. Dave Reagan said.
Requests for money didn’t stop with that amount though, Reagan said. The woman forwarded a total of $6,873 via Western Union to the suspect.
The Canadian Lottery scam is common in the Spokane area, Reagan said. Anyone who receives notification of such an award should request additional information in writing.
Idaho man faces drug charges
Spokane Valley police arrested an Idaho man last Thursday on a drug charge after he was found not wearing a seat belt in a car an officer stopped for a traffic violation and no license plates.
Derrick D. Graham of Post Falls was charged with possession of methamphetamine, Reagan said. He also was wanted on a nonextraditable misdemeanor warrant out of Ephrata, Wash.
Syringes and cotton balls containing meth were found in Graham’s socks during a search, Reagan said. Graham, 22, gave police seven different false names before he was taken to Spokane County Jail. He was identified through his fingerprints.
He was taken to Spokane County Jail.
Women ask for help, get busted
Spokane Valley police arrested two women last week – one on three warrants, the other on a drug charge – after one of the women asked an officer for help pushing her stalled van off the roadway.
Stacey L. Rich, 1106 W. Second Ave., was taken to Spokane County Jail on felony arrest warrants for possession of stolen property, taking a motor vehicle without owner’s permission and identity theft, police said. Kristina M. Davis, 3318 E. Ninth Ave., was charged with possession of a controlled substance – methamphetamine.
About 7:30 p.m. April 13, while the officer helped Rich, 21, get the van off the road, he ran the license plate, Reagan said. He discovered the altered tags had expired in January. He learned about the warrants after she gave him her identification.
The officer searched the van and found a purse containing two baggies of methamphetamine, five syringes, a spoon with meth residue, cotton balls and rubber tubing, Reagan said. Davis admitted the purse belonged to her.
Both women were taken to Spokane County Jail.
Suspect in burglaries arrested
Police arrested a 30-year-old Spokane Valley man Saturday in connection with a church burglary and a residential burglary.
Charles Robert Kyle, 12721 E. 16th Ave., was charged with second-degree theft and residential burglary, Spokane Valley Police spokesman Cpl. Dave Reagan said. He was arrested after a woman gave police the license plate number of a van registered in his name.
The charges are in connection to stereo equipment stolen from New Line Assembly on Friday, and a digital camera and DVDs stolen from a residence in the 1100 block of North Fox, Reagan said.
Police think Kyle may also have been involved in the theft of a woman’s purse from St. John Vianney Church at 504 N. Walnut Road.
The woman told police she encountered a man fitting Kyle’s description last Thursday at the church, Reagan said. She noticed her purse had been stolen shortly after the man asked her to give him money and she refused. She gave police the license plate number of the van he was driving.
Spokane Valley police and property crimes task force members tracked the van to Kyle’s home on East 16th Avenue, Reagan said. Investigators found the stolen sound mixer, Sony stereo and a power cord for a stolen laptop computer in a search of the home.
Man, asleep at wheel, arrested
Spokane Valley police arrested a 36-year-old man on drug charges Saturday after he fell asleep behind the wheel of his car in a gas station driveway.
About 5:15 a.m. Saturday, an officer spotted a red Pontiac at a convenience story on Sullivan Road and Mission Avenue with the driver’s side door open, the car running and a man asleep in the driver’s seat, Reagan said. The officer recognized the man who was known to be armed in previous contacts with police.
The officer woke the man up and searched him for weapons, Spokane Valley Police spokesman Cpl. Dave Reagan said. During the search, he found a baggie containing methamphetamine.
Maurice J. Plank, 2304 W. Sanson Ave., was taken to Spokane County Jail on charges of possession of a controlled substance, Reagan said.
Two more baggies of meth were found in a black plastic case behind the driver’s seat, Reagan said.
Thieves hit Scarpellos, Simply Northwest
Neighboring Spokane Valley business owners reported the theft over the weekend of items including electronics, jewelry and cash.
A burglar or burglars broke into Scarpellos, 11880 E. Sprague Ave., and a neighboring business, Simply Northwest, on Sunday, said Spokane Valley Police spokesman Cpl. Dave Reagan.
A Scarpellos employee arrived at the business about 7:30 p.m. Sunday and noticed items out of place, Reagan said. He then discovered a back door and a window of the business had been broken.
Missing were batteries and several chef’s knives, Reagan said. A Tracer laptop computer, a Sony digital camera, credit cards, cash, silver jewelry and an entire line of bullet-cartridge pins worth more than $750 were taken from Simply Northwest.
Anyone with information should contact Spokane Valley police at 242-TIPS.
Men face burglary, theft charges in stolen can case
Two Spokane Valley men already facing charges in connection with the theft and sales of hundreds of wooden Brett Brothers bats were arrested again last week after aluminum cans were stolen in Opportunity.
On April 11, a witness saw two men inside the fenced storage area behind Charlie’s Bar and Grill, 122 S. Bowdish Road, about 11:30 a.m., said Spokane Valley Police spokesman Cpl. Dave Reagan. One man climbed over the fence, then caught a garbage bag full of aluminum cans that the other man tossed to him.
The witness contacted the bar owner, who drove to the Valley Recycling Center where he found the two men and confronted them, Reagan said. The men fled without collecting the $6.30 from the sale of aluminum cans.
Scott D. Zweigardt, 36, and Michael A. Curry, 38, were arrested April 13 on felony charges of second-degree burglary and first-degree trafficking of stolen property, police said.
In March, police arrested Zweigardt and Curry in connection with the Thanksgiving Day burglary of Brett Brothers Sports Equipment, 9514 E. Montgomery Ave., Reagan said. Hundreds of the wooden bats were stolen.
When investigators went to arrest Zweigardt, they noticed that a wooden Brett Brothers bat was mounted over the door of his home, police said.
Woman reports being robbed in her car, run off road
A Spokane Valley woman told police a man forced her off Kenney Road on Monday then stole money from her purse and a silver chain that hung from her rearview mirror after revealing he had a pistol.
The 34-year-old woman wasn’t injured in the robbery, said Cpl. Dave Reagan, spokesman for the Spokane Valley Police Department.
The woman was driving on Kenney Road south of Sprague Avenue when a two-tone Lincoln passed her, then pulled in front of her and slowed down, forcing her to stop in order to avoid a crash, Reagan said. A young black man then jumped out of the car, indicated that he knew the woman and where her children went to school and displayed a pistol in his waistband.
The woman told police she thought she knew another black man who was standing nearby, Reagan said. A white male appeared to be driving the car.
Drugs found on woman riding in stopped car
Spokane Valley police arrested a 38-year-old woman on multiple drug charges after a traffic stop for an unsecured license plate.
On April 14, a woman was riding in a car driven by Eric Schauman, 24, said Spokane Valley Police spokesman Cpl. Dave Reagan. An officer stopped the car because the license plate was about to fall off.
Schauman didn’t have a driver’s license or identification, Reagan said. The officer then noticed the woman in the passenger seat wasn’t wearing a seat belt and asked for her identification in order to cite her.
She opened her purse for the officer so he could see that she didn’t have any identification either and he saw an unlabeled prescription bottle.
Further investigation revealed that the pills weren’t prescribed to the woman, Reagan said. The officer also found a glass pipe and meth in the purse and electronic scales in a laundry basket in the back seat.
Kirsten D. Miranda, 620 W. Augusta Ave., was charged with three counts of possession of a controlled substance for schedule IV drugs, cocaine and methamphetamine, said Reagan.
The officer took the woman to be booked at the jail, Reagan said. A corrections officer found cocaine in the woman’s bra.
Schauman was cited for driving without a valid operator’s license and failure to show proof of insurance and released.