Neighbors help in arrest of burglary suspects

A police dog, an alert neighbor and sheriff’s deputies rounded up four suspects Thursday morning who are accused of breaking into an unoccupied house in the 5600 block of East Bigelow Gulch Road.

The incident began when a couple checked on an unfamiliar car parked in the home’s driveway and confronted a suspected burglar, believed to be 30-year-old James Creighton, said Spokane County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Sgt. Dave Reagan.

The man allegedly brandished a knife, and the couple fled and called 911.

Deputies arrived and arrested Jeremy McIntyre, 34, Reagan said. Deputy John Cook’s canine partner, Ajax, found Frank Lloyd Mansell, 34, and Rhonda Marie Mason, 23, allegedly hiding under brush in a nearby forested area.

Meanwhile, a sweaty, out-of-breath man knocked on a neighbor’s door and asked to use the phone. A woman in the home, noting the man’s condition and all of the police down the road, concluded that the visitor was suspicious. Her husband offered the man a ride and delivered Creighton to the deputies, Reagan said.

Mansell, McIntyre and Mason were booked into jail on second-degree burglary and malicious mischief, Reagan said. Creighton was booked on suspicion of first-degree burglary and second-degree malicious mischief.