Woman stabbed at apartment

A Spokane apartment manager was stabbed while trying to get visitors to leave her apartment building Saturday night, police said.

Spokane police spokesman Dick Cottam said the stabbing happened on the 500 block of West Sinto about 9 p.m., 15 minutes after the manager and her boyfriend found several people, who don’t live in the building, partying.

Cottam said the manager asked them to leave, and a man and a woman began arguing with her in the parking lot. The dispute escalated, and the manager and the unknown woman began fighting. The manager told police the woman stabbed her in the stomach several times before leaving and walking south on Howard at Sharp. The manager was treated and released at an area hospital.

The assailant was described as a black woman in her early 20s, about 5 foot 8, medium build, and wearing a yellow shirt with black writing on it.

Anyone with information on the suspect is asked to call the TIPS line at 242-TIPS.

No one injured in fire at hotel

A fire burned a mattress and blackened walls Sunday at the Comfort Inn hotel on North Division in Spokane.

A smoke detector sounded at 4:30 p.m. and when firefighters arrived, they saw black smoke pouring out of a second-floor window, said Capt. Greg Anderson of Spokane County Fire District 9.

When firefighters reached the hotel room, they found a “Do Not Disturb” sign on the door, and feared someone was trapped inside, Anderson said. However, nobody was in the room when officers entered.

While evacuated hotel guests watched, fire crews threw a burned mattress out the room’s window.

Employees at the hotel, 7111 N. Division, refused to comment on whether guests would be allowed back into their rooms Sunday night.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation, though officials believe it is likely related to cigarettes, Anderson said.