Crack pipe found in infant’s crib

Thu., Feb. 9, 2006

The Spokesman-Review

Authorities found a crack pipe in a 6-month-old’s crib during a raid of five Spokane Valley mobile homes early Wednesday.

Officers also found hypodermic needles under the crib, methamphetamine, cocaine, copper wiring and a stolen baseball bat, officials said.

Six children were taken into protective custody from the home with the crib, and nine people were arrested on drug charges, officials said.

Nearly 40 law enforcement officers from federal, state and county agencies raided the mobile home park at 205 S. Park Road around 5:30 a.m., Spokane County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Cpl. Dave Reagan said.

Detectives said the raid of home numbers 36, 53, 55, 59 and 81 would likely end a months-long investigation into a group of meth users and identity thieves.

The investigation began in March 2005 after a burglary at Brett Brothers Bat Co. warehouse on East Montgomery, Reagan said. Methamphetamine and one of the bats were found in trailer No. 81. Detectives also found spools of copper wiring they think were stolen, Reagan said.

– Jody Lawrence-Turner

Initiative covers devalued property

The Washington Farm Bureau filed an initiative Wednesday that would require state and local governments to repay landowners if they pass a law reducing the value of private property.

Bureau President Steve Appel, a Whitman County wheat farmer, said the initiative is aimed at “unfair and excessive regulations.” But Mike Peterson, executive director of The Lands Council in Spokane, warned it could allow developers to get around regulations on property the public thinks should be protected. The initiative must be reviewed by the state attorney general. Then supporters will have to gather about 235,000 signatures to get it on the November ballot.

– Jim Camden

Gun game lands teens in trouble

Spokane County Undersheriff Dave Wiyrick pulled his pistol Wednesday afternoon and disarmed four teenagers in an alley behind a strip mall on East Sprague.

It turned out that only Wiyrick had a real gun.

Wiyrick was making a traffic stop at Fourth and Evergreen when two security guards told him there was a youth with a rifle behind the businesses at Sprague and Evergreen, the Sheriff’s Office said. One of the businesses is a jewelry store.

Wiyrick saw four youths – three of whom apparently had weapons. He ordered them to drop their guns and get on the ground, according to Sheriff’s Office spokesman Cpl. Dave Reagan. Spokane Valley police officers discovered that all the suspects’ “weapons” were toys.

The teenagers were warned about the dangers of playing with toy guns in public places and taken home to talk with their parents, Reagan said.

– John Craig

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