Man’s body removed from lake
The Bonner County Sheriff’s Office recovered the body of a man from Lake Pend Oreille on Saturday.
Identification of the victim was being withheld pending notification of next of kin.
It was unclear Monday if the victim was Bruce Hamilton, a 53-year-old Puyallup, Wash., schoolteacher missing since June 29. Authorities searched for Hamilton’s body last week using sonar equipment.
Hamilton had been in a canoelike boat that later was found empty about two miles from the launch site.
According to a news release from the Sheriff’s Office, the body of a white man was found in about 175 feet of water and was recovered by sheriff’s divers with the aid of a remote-operated vehicle.
Minnesota man faces arson charge
Spokane firefighters responding to a fire Sunday morning at 515 W. Riverside Ave. found a man inside the burning building who said he had started the blaze to get warm.
Fire crews found 30-year-old Andrew M. Goihl, who said he was from Wyoming, Minn.
Goihl, who had been arrested on suspicion of burglary on Aug. 29 at the Spokane Club while wearing nothing but red boxer shorts, said he had been living in the West Riverside building for two days prior to the fire, police spokesman Dick Cottam said in a news release.
Goihl was booked into jail Sunday on a Washington charge of first-degree arson.
‘Reluctant hero’ eschews spotlight
A mechanic at a downtown car dealership showed no hesitation two-and-a-half weeks ago when he knocked a purse snatcher off his bike, but he wanted no attention Monday when Spokane Police Chief Roger Bragdon came with a certificate of appreciation.
Aaron B. Kay, 30, accepted the certificate in private, Bragdon said.
“This is the case of the reluctant hero,” Bragdon said.
At about noon on Aug. 24, a woman who recently had had major surgery was walking on Monroe Street near Second Avenue when two adult men rode by on bicycles, police spokesman Dick Cottam said.
One of the men grabbed the woman’s purse and started to ride away.
Kay heard the woman scream, saw the man on the bicycle with the purse and ran after him. He took the man off the bike and returned the purse to the woman, who was injured and was taken to the hospital, Cottam said.
Kay held 43-year-old Matthew B. Barshaw until police arrived. Barshaw was booked into jail on one count of first-degree robbery.
Tools recovered, thanks to witness
Spokane Valley Police detectives recovered $15,000 to $20,000 worth of construction tools Monday after a witness followed a suspect to an East Trent residence.
Sgt. Dave Martin said Monday that the witness saw a suspect steal a 6-foot-by-12-foot Haulmark construction trailer in the 4300 block of East Congress at about 1:30 a.m.
The witness followed the stolen trailer to a home at 7721 E. Trent Ave. and went to a pay phone to call police.
By the time officers arrived at the residence, the truck and stolen trailer were gone. However, detectives executed a search warrant and recovered the stolen construction tools, sheriff’s spokesman Cpl. Dave Reagan said.
Investigators have not named a suspect. Anyone with information regarding the stolen trailer, possibly being towed by a tan Ford Ranger pickup, should call 911, Reagan said.
Car owner’s nose broken by prowler
A man who caught a couple breaking into his car ended up with a broken nose.
Spokane County sheriff’s deputies were dispatched Saturday night to 4707 E. Upriver Drive after a security guard reported a car prowling
The victim said he had interrupted a couple breaking into his car. When he pulled the woman out of the car, the male prowler punched him in the nose, knocked him down and continued punching, sheriff’s spokesman Cpl. Dave Reagan said.
The security guard arrived and used pepper spray to detain the male suspect – identified by the Sheriff’s Office as David B. Hill, 27, of Ritzville, Wash. – until deputies arrived. Angelique M. Harlan, 32, of Ritzville, was arrested later in Millwood.
Both were charged with second-degree robbery, Reagan said.
Candidate forum tonight in Valley
The six contenders for the Position 6 seat on the Spokane Valley City Council have been invited to a candidate forum tonight.
Bill Gothmann, John Kallas, Ron Lippencott, Ed Mertens, Chuck Parker and Dale Strom are campaigning to fill the seat being vacated by Councilman Mike Flanigan.
The primary election is Sept. 20.
The 6 p.m. forum will be at the Spokane Valley Church of the Nazarene at Sullivan Road and 20th Avenue.
The Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring the event, which is free, and the public is welcome.
Former Letterman painter sentenced
Choteau, Mont. A former painter on David Letterman’s ranch was sentenced to 10 years in prison Monday for overcharging the talk-show host for painting work, as part of a plea agreement in which prosecutors dismissed more serious charges accusing Kelly Frank of plotting to kidnap Letterman’s young son and nanny.
Reading from a statement, Frank apologized in court Monday “for the grief that this has caused,” but he again denied he ever had intended to carry out the kidnapping.
Frank, a felon, was arrested in March after investigators said he had told an acquaintance of his plan to abduct Letterman’s then 16-month-old son, Harry Joseph, and the boy’s nanny and hold them for ransom.
Under an agreement reached with prosecutors in July, Frank pleaded guilty to felony theft for overcharging Letterman for painting and to a misdemeanor charge of obstruction for lying to investigators who initially questioned him about the alleged kidnapping plot. In exchange for the guilty pleas, prosecutors dropped charges of solicitation to kidnap.