Police investigate Tonasket boy’s death

The Okanogan County Sheriff’s Office reported Wednesday that it is investigating the death of 22-month-old boy.

The toddler was brought to North Valley Hospital in Tonasket on Monday, Okanogan County Sheriff Frank Rogers said in a press release.

The boy wasn’t breathing, had no pulse and suffered multiple injuries. He was airlifted to Sacred Heart Medical Center, where he died Tuesday.

The boy lived with his mother and stepfather in Tonasket, Rogers said.

Rogers said no further information would be released Wednesday.

Train derails near Addy; no one injured

No one was injured and nothing spilled early Wednesday when a freight train derailed near Addy, Wash.

The Burlington Northern and Sante Fe Railway Co. train was on Kettle Falls International Railway tracks about 2:45 a.m. when 21 cars left the rails, said BNSF spokesman Gus Melonas.

Two of the cars were carrying ore, which did not spill, Melonas said. The rest were empty. None of the cars tipped, although three were leaning.

BNSF crews were working Wednesday to place the British Columbia-bound train back on the rails. The line was expected to reopen late today.

The cause of the derailment is under investigation. Melonas said the train, which originated in Spokane, was traveling slower than 35 mph when it left the tracks.

Police find fake checks, IDs; woman jailed

Police detectives arrested a Spokane woman after finding evidence in her home of forged checks, fake driver’s licenses and three firearms, authorities said.

Believing guns were in the home illegally, the department’s SWAT team executed a search warrant at 917 E. Rockwell, where they found 32-year-old Wendy Christine Iwanow, said Spokane Police Department spokesman Dick Cottam.

Detectives found several computers that had software used to produce fraudulent financial paperwork and numerous types of identification and stolen Social Security cards, Cottam said. Detectives also have security photographs allegedly showing Iwanow cashing fraudulent checks.

Iwanow’s work was fairly sophisticated – except for one driver’s license that included the spelling “licence,” Cottam said.

During the search, officers found a rifle and two handguns. Because Iwanow is a convicted felon, she can’t legally possess firearms. She was charged with forgery and unlawful possession of a firearm, Cottam said.

More charges may be added to the case as the investigation continues, he said.

Wife pleads guilty to burning man’s clothes

A Spokane County woman has pleaded guilty to reckless burning and fourth-degree assault for hitting her husband and burning his clothing on a couch in their West Plains home.

Marla Gail Rodgers, 34, also known as Marla Brackett, had been arguing with her husband, Robert J. Rodgers, last October when she slapped his face.

He left the home in the 4300 block of South Cheatham Road and was about to drive away when one of his stepchildren told him the house was on fire.

According to court documents, Marla Rodgers was burning her husband’s clothing on the living room couch while her 9-year-old son slept elsewhere in the home.

She told sheriff’s deputies she accidentally ignited the clothing with a cigarette, but her daughter said she put paper in a toaster to start the fire.

Robert Rodgers and a neighbor used a garden hose to extinguish the blaze.

A first-degree arson charge was reduced to second-degree reckless burning in a plea bargain that Marla Rodgers accepted Monday. Spokane County Superior Court Judge Linda Tompkins sentenced Rodgers to a year in jail with all but three days, which Rodgers had already served, suspended.

Man startles cops, blames invisible people

A 25-year-old man who claimed he was being chased by invisible people broke into the Public Safety Building on Wednesday morning only to find puzzled Spokane police officers inside.

Two officers were writing a search warrant about 4 a.m. Wednesday when they heard glass breaking.

They walked down the hallway and found a man with a tire iron who had just smashed out a small glass panel that allowed him to open a secure employee entrance on the west side of the building, police spokesman Dick Cottam said.

Officer Erin Blessing drew her gun and ordered the man to get down on the floor. Officer James Olsen handcuffed the man as other officers responded, Cottam said.

The man was identified as Robert Allen Cantrell, 25.

Cantrell appeared to be under the influence of a narcotic, Cottam said. Officers treated Cantrell’s hand, which was cut on the broken glass.

He was booked into jail on a count of second-degree burglary.

Cantrell told the officers he had been chased by several people he thought were invisible.

Officers checked the area around the Public Safety Building and agreed – they were invisible, Cottam said.