Man charged in attempted church burglary
Spokane Valley Police arrested a man for allegedly breaking into a church and trying to steal a television Saturday night.
Robert Eric Reed, 38, of 19217 E. Nixon Ave., used a hammer to break a window at Good Shepherd Church, 810 S. Sullivan Road, said Spokane Valley Police spokesman Sgt. Dave Reagan.
Reed injured himself on the broken glass, cutting his arm and bleeding around the window. A neighbor said they had seen the man run south along Sullivan, Reagan said.
Officers checked the Spokane Valley Hospital and Medical Center and found Reed, who said he had received his injury while working in his garage.
But a friend who drove Reed to the hospital told officers Reed had gone to a church to steal a television and slashed his arm trying to break a window, Reagan said.
When confronted again, Reed told officers that they could arrest him if they believed they could, which they did, Reagan said.
Reed was booked into Spokane County Jail on a felony count of second-degree burglary. Officers found droplets of blood inside his vehicle, as well as a hammer possibly used in the burglary, Reagan said.
Police seek burglar who tried to open ATM
A burglar tried unsuccessfully to break into an ATM at a Spokane Valley grocery store Monday.
A surveillance tape at Barney’s Harvest Foods, 11205 E. Dishman-Mica Road, shows a man in dark jeans and a black hooded sweatshirt trying to pry open the front door with a screwdriver about 3:30 a.m. According to a release from Spokane Valley Police spokesman Sgt. Dave Reagan, the suspect then left and came back with a crowbar.
Police and the store’s owner, alerted by a burglar alarm, arrived at the store later to find the front doors pried open, Reagan said.
The tape showed that once inside, the burglar tried to pry open the ATM. After five or six minutes of struggling with the machine, he left the way he came in, Reagan said.
The manager told police that nothing else inside the store had been damaged or stolen.
Anyone with information on the break-in is encouraged to call the police at 242-TIPS.