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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Two arrested in pair of domestic incidents

Compiled from staff and wire reports The Spokesman-Review

Spokane Police arrested two domestic violence suspects in two separate incidents Saturday.

Dale Eugene Stovall, 50, was taken into custody after his wife said he arrived at her College Avenue apartment, beat on the door and hit her at about 1 a.m. Saturday, the Spokane Police Department said in a news release Sunday. Stovall, 3117 W. Wellesley Ave., was out of jail on bond from an earlier assault on her, the wife told police.

Stovall was violating a protection order by being in the woman’s apartment, the release said. He blamed the victim for getting him into trouble and then allegedly stole money from her when he left, police said. Officers arrested Stovall on suspicion of violation of a protection order and first-degree domestic violence burglary.

Also Saturday morning, police arrested Melanie A. Durham, 45, after a man told police she cut him with a knife after a dispute.

Officers said Durham, 110 S. Madison St., threw a wooden block of kitchen knives at the man, then grabbed one knife and cut his hand, arm and foot. The victim was treated and released.

Durham was booked into jail on suspicion of felony assault.

2-year-old killed by car on road

Tulalip, Wash. A 2-year-old boy was struck and killed by a car after he ran 100 feet down a driveway and onto Marine Drive, the Snohomish County sheriff’s office reported.

Family members, a Tulalip tribal police officer and an off-duty police officer tried to save the boy but he died at the scene Saturday afternoon.

The car was driven by a 25-year-old Marysville woman, sheriff’s office spokesman Rich Niebusch said. She was not hurt.

Niebusch said the driver was not speeding.

Authorities did not release the name of the child or the driver. The accident was under investigation.

Man dies in river accident

Longview, Wash. A 56-year-old man has died after being thrown from his mule into the north fork of the Toutle River.

The body of Robert A. Ferneding was found shortly after 5 p.m. Saturday after volunteer crews spent most of the windy day searching, Capt. Mark Nelson of the Cowlitz County Sheriff’s office said.

Ferneding was crossing the river with his son, Daniel, 17, and Jesse Seekins, a 28-year-old friend from Amboy, Wash., about a mile upstream from the Hoffstadt Creek Bridge, Nelson said. Ferneding’s mule slipped or fell, throwing him into the river around 11 a.m. Saturday, Nelson said.

His son and Seekins searched for nearly an hour before calling authorities. Neither was hurt; the mule also survived. Ferneding’s body was found about a mile downstream from where he fell into the river.