In brief

Woman going wrong way on I-90 held

Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich gave state troopers a hand Thursday night when he spotted a driver going the wrong way on Interstate 90, near Ritzville, the Washington State Patrol said Friday.

According to the WSP, the eastbound Knezovich turned around about 6:10 p.m. and followed the driver several miles in dense fog. The incident ended about 10 minutes later when the errant driver sideswiped an oncoming car, the state patrol said.

Troopers arrested a 50-year-old East Wenatchee resident, who said she had no idea how she wound up going the wrong way, the WSP reported. The woman told officers she had been going from Wenatchee to Moses Lake but went to Coeur d’Alene by accident. She was on her way back to Moses Lake when she was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of drugs, troopers said.

Newport

Information sought on assault in car

The Pend Oreille County Sheriff’s Office appealed Friday for information in a case in which a woman was assaulted by a man hiding in her car.

Sgt. Alan Botzheim said the assault occurred about 10 p.m. Wednesday. Newport resident Cynthia Hofer had just gotten off work at the general store in Usk when she got in her car and was grabbed from behind, Botzheim said.

He said the assailant put an arm around Hofer’s head and face and ordered her to drive, but she refused and honked her horn. The man ran away before Hofer could get his description.

Botzheim asked anyone with information about the assault to call the Sheriff’s Office at (509)447-3151.

Colfax

Person killed in two-car collision

One person was killed in a two-vehicle head-on collision about 6:30 p.m. Friday in Whitman County.

The Washington State Patrol said the crash occurred in the southbound lane of state Route 195, about four miles north of Colfax.

The accident was still under investigation late Friday night, and no other information was available.

SANDPOINT

Man gets life sentence for ‘05 slaying

Kenneth Eugene Thurlow will spend the rest of his life in prison for the shotgun slaying of 25-year-old Christopher Elliott West last year.

First District Judge John Luster sentenced Thurlow on Friday in a Bonner County courtroom. Luster gave him the maximum sentence of “fixed life,” meaning there is no opportunity for parole, Bonner County Prosecutor Phil Robinson said.

In September, a jury convicted Thurlow of first-degree murder after about five hours of deliberation. Prosecutors claimed Thurlow, 46, and Christopher Alan Lewers, 23, both participated in West’s slaying on Aug. 21, 2005.

West was shot in the back of the head. His body was discovered at the Evergreen Towing yard in Sandpoint.

Lewers is awaiting trial on a charge of first-degree murder. In Thurlow’s case, the jury was not asked to conclude whether Thurlow was the person who pulled the trigger or whether he helped carry out the slaying.

Prosecutors did not seek the death penalty.

Idaho avalanche warning issued

The season’s first avalanche warning for the mountains of North Idaho was issued Friday by the U.S. Forest Service. The risk of an avalanche remains low in most portions of the Selkirk and Cabinet mountains, though the risk was listed as moderate on steeper, south-facing slopes.

The danger of snowslides is expected to increase in coming days as temperatures warm, winds pick up and the already-deep snowpack settles. Forecasts from the Idaho Panhandle Avalanche Center are available at (866) 489-8664.

How boy got gun, ammo investigated

Police are investigating how a special-education student at Lake Pend Oreille High School got the .22-caliber revolver and 200 rounds of ammunition that he brought to school this week.

The boy’s father, whose name wasn’t being made public because the student is a minor, says the teen’s employer may have given him the weapon. The employer’s name also was not released.

“We want the police to investigate why a man would give a minor a weapon,” said the father, who added that he doesn’t allow weapons in his own home because of objections from his wife.

Possession of a firearm on school property is a misdemeanor in Idaho. Students caught with a weapon at the school are automatically expelled for a year.

Sandpoint Police Chief Mark Lockwood says he’ll initiate an investigation into the matter Monday.

OLYMPIA

Driver robbed by woman faking distress

A motorist was robbed on an Interstate 5 onramp after she was waved down by a woman who appeared to be holding a baby next to her stalled car.

Police said the “baby” was actually a handgun wrapped in a blanket, and the woman who stopped to help had her wallet and cash stolen Thursday.

The robber fled in her own car, which was not broken down, and police said a male accomplice was likely driving.

The victim – whose name was not released by police – was uninjured.

Compiled from staff and wire reports