Don’t run car unattended

Starting Monday, Spokane police will be patrolling residential neighborhoods to educate drivers about the dangers of leaving their vehicles running unattended.

During the cold winter months, vehicle theft frequently becomes a crime of opportunity, said Spokane police Cpl. Tom Lee. Thieves walk or drive through neighborhoods, looking for unoccupied, running vehicles to steal.

Leaving vehicles running unattended in a public area can result in a traffic ticket for $101, but the goal of Spokane police’s patrols is to educate, Lee said.

“Avoid having your car stolen and possibly destroyed,” Lee said. “Only warm up your car when you are in it.”

Mechanics find the trouble: pot

When a 19-year-old took his Jeep Cherokee in for repairs, he apparently forgot about the drugs he stashed inside, police said.

Alton’s Tires mechanics found more than 2 ounces of marijuana when they opened the glove box to work on the heating system, said Spokane police Officer Teresa Fuller. Shane M. Bryant, who owns the 1989 Jeep Cherokee, was charged with felony possession of a controlled substance.

Bryant had no previous criminal record, Fuller said.

Bryant took the vehicle into Alton’s on Oct. 25, Fuller said. When the marijuana was found, employees called police. In addition to the marijuana, two drug scales also were seized.

Charges against Bryant were filed with the prosecutor’s office this week, and he will be receiving a summons for possession of a controlled substance, Fuller said.

Spokane Valley

Water line break leaves homes dry

A water pipe broke in Spokane Valley on Friday morning that initially left as many as 70 houses without water.

At about 6 a.m. a water pipe underneath Sprague Avenue near its intersection with Hodges Road cracked in three places, said Consolidated Irrigation District No. 19 manager Bob Ashcraft. Material placed underneath the pipes during recent sewer construction settled and caused the break, he said.

About 60 to 70 homes were without water because of reduced pressure, but once a crew was able to shut off water to the broken pipe that number dropped to fewer than 10, Ashcraft said.

A portion of Sprague in Greenacres was shut down while the repairs were made, and the line was fixed by 12:30 p.m., he said. The district will bill the contractor who did the sewer work an estimated $1,200 to $1,500 for the repair, Ashcraft said. The contractor also will have to fix the road that was dug up.

Spokane County

Reward offered for theft suspect

Secret Witness is offering a reward for information that leads to the arrest of a man wanted on multiple counts of theft.

David Felix Scioli, 48, leased living and bedroom furniture, as well as a 27-inch television, from a rental company then moved with it to a new location, said Spokane County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Dave Reagan. Scioli is wanted on three counts of theft of rental/leased property. The thefts occurred in 2004.

Scioli is described as 5 feet 7 inches tall and 195 pounds with brown eyes, Reagan said.

Anyone with information regarding Scioli’s whereabouts should call (509) 327-5111. Callers do not have to give their name to collect the reward, but should provide a code name or number.

Close elections grow even tighter

Spokane’s two nail-biter elections got a bit closer Friday as county elections officials continued the count of mail-in ballots.

Spokane County Commissioner Phil Harris moved closer to Democratic challenger Bonnie Mager, taking about 52 percent of the ballots counted Friday. Mager currently leads Harris by 1,784 votes out of more than 142,000 cast.

State Rep. John Serben did even better in his effort to catch Democratic challenger Don Barlow, taking nearly 57 percent of the votes counted Friday from the 6th Legislative District. Barlow now leads Serben by 423 votes, which is slightly less than 1 percent of the total votes cast.

Any race that is closer than one-half of one percent is subject to an automatic recount under state law.

Loon Lake, Wash.

Head-on crash kills 1, injures 3

One person was killed and three others were injured early Friday in a two-car collision on Highway 395 in Stevens County.

Jon Howard Strating, 57, of Colville, was killed about 1:45 a.m. when his southbound Subaru Legacy crossed the centerline on Highway 395 about four miles north of Loon Lake, according to the Washington State Patrol.

Strating’s vehicle collided head-on with a 1993 Chevy pickup driven by Randal W. Pentzold, 46. Pentzold and his passengers, Richard Pentzold, 48, and a 12-year-old boy, also named Randal W. Pentzold, were taken by ambulance to Deaconess Hospital.

The crash remained under investigation by the patrol, but troopers said everyone involved was wearing seat belts, and no drugs or alcohol were involved.

BELLEVUE, Wash.

Crane collapse investigated

Investigators searched through three severely damaged buildings on Friday and said it would take some time before they determined what caused a construction crane to collapse, killing a 31-year-old man in a fourth-floor apartment.

The King County medical examiner’s office identified the man who died as Matthew Ammon.

He had worked at nearby Microsoft Corp. for five months in the patent group of the software maker’s legal department, company spokesman Lou Gellos said.

Bellevue Fire Department Lt. Bruce Kroon said the crane operator suffered minor injuries and managed to pull himself out of the cage about 20 to 30 feet above the ground. Firefighters used a ladder to carry him to safety.

The crane operator, whose name was not released, told rescue personnel he was preparing to shut down for the night when he heard a crack and the crane went down, Kroon said.

The cause of the accident in this suburb east of Seattle remained under investigation, but Fire Chief Mario H. Trevino said it apparently involved “a catastrophic failure” of the crane.

The 210-foot crane collapsed Thursday evening, crushing the top floor of the Pinnacle Bell Centre, a 248-unit complex with stores on the ground floor and apartments above.

The crane first hit Plaza 305, an office building, then struck the sixth and seventh floors of the Civica Office Commons before crashing onto the Pinnacle Bell Centre, Kroon said. Severe structural damage was reported to all three buildings, and a restaurant, the Melting Pot, also was damaged.

Dozens of residents, diners and others were evacuated as firefighters went through the buildings to check for others who might have been hurt. Rescue dogs found no sign of anyone else who might have been trapped in any of the buildings.