Man arrested after claiming to have killed

Spokane police say a man claiming to have committed robbery and murder broke into a South Hill home about 10 p.m. Monday.

The occupants fled unharmed, said Cpl. Michael Carr.

Police surrounded the house on the 400 block of East 16th Avenue and convinced the man to step onto the porch. He refused to obey officers’ commands and was “taken down” by a K9 unit, Carr said.

William L. Walen, 27, was bitten on the leg by a police dog and was being treated for minor wounds.

Police plan to charge Walen with two counts of burglary. They believe he burglarized a house on East 14th Avenue, then went to the house on East 16th.

Carr described Walen as “extremely intoxicated and possibly on some drugs.” There was no evidence he had committed murder.

Walen was carrying a paper bag in which he had claimed there was a handgun, Carr said. Instead, the bag held checkbooks and identification cards.

Past newspaper reports indicate Walen has served time for a number of crimes, including theft, forgery to obtain drugs, obstructing an officer and burglary.

– James Hagengruber

Spokane

Juvenile stabbed in fight, police say

Spokane Police responded to Holy Family Hospital about 3 a.m. Monday when a juvenile male was brought to the emergency room with stab wounds.

Police said that a friend of the victim had been arguing with the assailant. The victim approached the two to see what was going on, got in a fight and fell to the ground.

The assailant ran, and the victim was taken to the hospital by his friends.

The victim’s injuries – two stab wounds to the stomach, two to his right shoulder and one to his right tricep – were not considered life threatening.

– Lisa Leinberger

Seattle

Former tennis champ dies in fall from roof

A two-time high school state tennis champion died in a fall from a four-story condominium building after a night of drinking, police said.

Laith Al-Agba, 26, died of multiple skull fractures after a 50- to 70-foot fall from the roof of a condo in the city’s Fremont neighborhood on Saturday, police said.

According to a police report, Al-Agba climbed on the roof of a friend’s condo to get a view of the city, as he had done a few times before.

An officer at the scene described the roof as “fairly steep” and said it “appeared dangerous to walk on even if sober.”

Friends told police Al-Agba had had four beers over about three hours before they left a local bar around 1 a.m.

– Associated Press

Snoqualmie, Wash.

Black bear killed trying to cross I-90 traffic

A 325-pound black bear trying to cross Interstate 90 was fatally injured by a westbound car, the Washington State Patrol said.

Driver Justin Scott, 31, of Redmond, was unhurt but his car was totaled, a trooper said.

The bear, which had ventured onto the highway near the State Highway 18 interchange, crawled to the shoulder and died Saturday night, Trooper Jeff Merrill said.

Over the past three weeks, authorities had received a half dozen calls from motorists reporting a bear cutting across I-90. State Department of Fish and Wildlife agents had set a trap.

– Associated Press