Pickup strikes, kills motorcyclist

A Spokane man died early Sunday after a pickup struck his Harley-Davidson, the Washington State Patrol said in a news release.

At about 3 a.m., Larry Franklin Martin, 53, was thrown from the 1973 motorcycle after the pickup rear-ended him on northbound State Road 2 near Laurel Road, police said. He was taken to Deaconess Medical Center, where he died.

He had been wearing a helmet, according to the WSP report.

The driver of the 1990 Ford pickup, Chad Irwin McDonald, 33, of Elk, Wash., was not injured.

Police said the motorcycle became lodged underneath the truck. An investigation into the crash is continuing.

Burglars enter homes through windows

Three Spokane homes with unlocked or open windows were burglarized Thursday and Saturday, police said.

A 36-inch TV and clothing were stolen from an apartment on North Colton Thursday. Someone entered the bedroom through a window and its screen was lying on the ground, police spokesman Dick Cottam said.

On Saturday morning, a resident on North Hawthorne Street told police someone had entered his house through a living room window and had stolen a television and stereo equipment.

Later that day, police received a call that someone had entered a residence on West Fourth Avenue through a bedroom window, but nothing was taken.

Most burglaries happen during daylight hours, police said, and usually take three to five minutes to complete. As the weather gets warmer, more people leave windows and doors open while they are in the yard or another part of the house.

“Bad guys know that windows and doors are open when it’s hot too,” said Cottam.

When people leave blinds or windows open, thieves often will look in to determine what to take. “People just don’t look at their house the way a burglar does,” Cottam said.

Mail theft suspect shot by police officers

Federal Way, Wash. A man who allegedly was seen searching mailboxes in a neighborhood here was shot by police officers Sunday afternoon.

Two officers responded to a call around 3:30 p.m. of a man stealing mail along an arterial street in the city, said Federal Way Police Cmdr. Andy Hwang. They arrived and found a man matching the suspect’s description, a male in his 20s carrying a backpack with mail protruding from inside the bag.

When the two attempted to detain the man, he pulled out a handgun and pointed it at the officers, Hwang said. It was unclear whether the man shot at police, he said.

The officers simultaneously drew their service revolvers and fired several shots at the man, who ran a short distance before collapsing, Hwang said. He was taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. “I think he is in critical condition,” Hwang said.

The officers, one 49 years old with 19 years’ law enforcement experience and the other a 23-year-old with two years’ experience, have been placed on paid administrative leave pending an investigation by the Auburn Police Department, Hwang said.

•In Tacoma on Saturday, a man was shot and killed by an officer during a routine traffic stop. Pierce County medical examiners would not identify the man Sunday until his next of kin was notified.

The officer, who Tacoma police officials did not identify, was at Tacoma General Hospital, recovering from a gunshot wound to the leg.