Second suspect sought in robbery
Police were searching Wednesday for the second of two men who entered a woman’s home shortly before noon Tuesday and robbed her at gunpoint.
One suspect, 39-year-old Deion McQueen, was arrested Tuesday afternoon at 6509 N. Calispel. Officers were led to that address by a license plate the victim recorded when the robbers fled.
Court documents say the unidentified robber struck 36-year-old Andria K. Bill in the head and threw her daughter to the floor of her home in the 1400 block of North Atlantic Street. Bill’s son, 19-year-old Jeremy A. Bill, told police he had purchased marijuana from McQueen, according to a police affidavit.
McQueen and the gunman allegedly demanded money and wound up taking a safe, a set of keys and two cell phones. A Money Tree receipt that had been in the safe was found in McQueen’s car, according to police.
Officers asked anyone with information about the robbery to call (509) 242-TIPS.
Police chase leads to arrest
A man wanted for escape led Spokane police on a pursuit reaching 70 mph on city streets in north Spokane.
The chase ended when the man crashed at Augusta and Ash, said Spokane police Officer Teresa Fuller. The vehicle was hit by another car after the man ran a stop sign.
No one was injured in the crash, Fuller said.
Forest J. Shields, 24, was booked into Spokane County Jail on the escape warrant, and new charges of attempting to elude, possession of a controlled substance, Fuller said. Sandra K. Dickey, 37, who was also in the car, was arrested for two unrelated warrants.
The pursuit began about 9 a.m. near the intersection of Calispel and Nora when officers attempted to make a traffic stop on a reckless driver, Fuller said.
Chewelah, Wash.
Ski area plans Friday opening
A second Inland Northwest ski area has announced plans for an opening day this week.
The 49 Degrees North Mountain Resort in Chewelah, Wash., will launch its 2006-07 ski and snowboard season on Friday with two chairlifts operating. The opening comes on the heels of Lookout Pass’ season debut today.
Three chairlifts will be open at 49 Degrees North on Saturday and Sunday, the resort announced in a news release.
The resort’s new-used four-person chairlift, accessing an additional 600 acres of terrain in the Sunrise Basin, will not open until at least the end of November, resort owner John Eminger said this week.
Still, the opening this week of limited operations marked one of the earliest season kickoffs in the past decade, resort officials said.
Spokane County
Man who fled trooper captured
A man who fled from a Washington State Patrol trooper on Wednesday morning was arrested about 5:30 p.m. after he tried to flag down cars for a ride.
A WSP spokesman said several motorists reported Cameron Dee Howard’s attempt to hitch a ride on Route 904, about four miles southwest of Cheney, and Howard fled again when a Cheney police officer arrived to investigate.
WSP troopers, Spokane County sheriff’s deputies and Eastern Washington University police formed a perimeter and quickly captured Howard.
Howard, 33, was wanted on two Grant County warrants charging him with drug possession and possession with intent to deliver.
Howard was arrested about five miles from where he ran into a heavily wooded area about 11:40 a.m. when a trooper found drug paraphernalia and attempted to handcuff him, according to the WSP.
The trooper had stopped because Howard appeared to be working under the hood of a car at the intersection of Route 904 and Interstate 90, about 20 miles southwest of Spokane.
Coeur d’Alene
NIC discrimination suit dismissed
A discrimination suit a former student filed against North Idaho College in 2005 has been dismissed.
Maria Emerson, 50, claimed in the suit that she was terminated from the college’s nursing program due to alleged discrimination based on her age, disability and South American heritage.
Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge Larry Boyle said in dismissing the suit that Emerson’s claim of age discrimination was moot because “there were older students who successfully completed the nursing program.”
Boyle’s written opinion also rejected Emerson’s contention that she was discriminated against because of a hearing disability, saying she had never sought treatment or been diagnosed with a hearing problem.
Emerson had also claimed her instructor was “unfavorable” to her once the instructor learned she could speak Spanish. She said the instructor had quit putting “good” and “happy faces” on the assignments Emerson turned in, according to court documents.
Boyle said Emerson’s own testimony was that the instructor was “hostile” toward her before learning of her origin.
He said the fact the teacher didn’t put happy faces on Emerson’s work wasn’t proof of discrimination.
The college’s attorney had argued that Emerson was terminated from the program because she turned in assignments late, failed to complete tests and contaminated a sterile area while visiting an operating room to observe.