Bottle rocket incident leads to traffic death

Spanaway, Wash. A driver angry that a 12-year-old Tacoma boy was shooting bottle rockets at cars early Friday got out of his vehicle and chased the boy into traffic, where he was struck and killed by another car, authorities said.

Witnesses tried to revive the boy, identified by the Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office as Garnet Wilis II. Two men were arrested shortly afterward for investigation of manslaughter, the Washington State Patrol said.

The episode happened around midnight near an intersection on Washington 7 in Spanaway, a small town south of Tacoma. Wilis and his 12-year-old cousin had been hiding in bushes and shooting bottle rockets into traffic, trooper Johnny R. Alexander said.

Quake rattles St. Helens

Mount St. Helens National Monument, Wash. A magnitude 3 earthquake rattled Mount St. Helens on Friday, triggering rockfall and sending an ash plume above the crater rim, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.

The quake occurred at 5:22 a.m., the largest recorded at the volcano in several months. Its cause was not immediately known.

In the past two days scientists have placed new Global Positioning Systems and a seismic station on the east and west sides of the glacier. Gas-emission readings earlier this week showed little change.

Reward in vandalism case

A $300 reward is being offered for information leading to the identification of culprits who vandalized Manito Park this week.

Early Wednesday a group of vandals chopped several four-year-old trees and threw a beer bottle through a glass door at the park greenhouse, police spokesman Dick Cottam said in a press release. They also pulled up about 20 plants from a garden and threw them in a fountain.

Total damage could reach $2,000, Cottam said.

The park manager told police that he believes the vandals may have caused other damage to the park in recent weeks, and they may be four white men about 18 years old, who have damaged other park property in the past, Cottam said.

The manager told police that three of the men are slender and about 5-foot-10. Of those, two had shoulder-length brown hair. Another had shoulder-length blonde hair and often wears a tie-dyed shirt.

A fourth possible vandal was described as about 5-foot-5 and thin with curly brown hair and earrings, Cottam said.

The reward is being offered by Secret Witness, a nonprofit organization not affiliated with law enforcement. Callers do not have to give their name to be eligible for the cash reward. Anyone with information can call Secret Witness at (509) 327-5111.

Argonne off-ramp closed

The westbound Interstate 90 off-ramp at Argonne will be closed today for utility work.

Farther east, the westbound loop on-ramp on the northbound portion of Sullivan Road will be intermittently closed today.

And I-90 traffic headed west near Sullivan will be reduced to one lane.

Crews will be moving the concrete barriers and painting new stripes in preparation for paving.

Boys face jail over fires

Four boys could face jail time in connection with wildfires set in east Spokane on Wednesday.

Spokane Fire Investigator Lt. Chris Phillips said the boys – three 12-year-olds and a 14-year-old – have admitted setting four fires on Beacon Hill in the area of Minnehaha Park.

Fire officials said they found the fires before they grew out of control. The largest was about 8 square feet.

The boys likely will be charged with second-degree reckless burning and could face fines and time in juvenile jail, Phillips said in a recorded message to the media.

The Spokane Fire Department also will seek restitution for the cost of fighting the fires, Phillips said. And the family of one of the juveniles will be cited for illegal fireworks violations, he said.