Region in brief: Police seize drugs, cash after car, foot chase
A police pursuit of an assault suspect early Friday turned into a foot chase that netted a quarter-pound of methamphetamine after the suspect bailed out of a moving SUV, sending it smashing into a parked car, according to Spokane Valley police.
Police spotted a man in a Ford Expedition matching the description of an assault suspect about midnight Friday near Trent Avenue and McDonald Road. But Nicholas J. Kloepfel, 24, drove away in the SUV, according to police, then unsuccessfully tried ramming a Spokane County Sheriff’s Office K-9 patrol car. A spike strip stopped him near Forker and Progress roads, according to police, but he continued fleeing on foot. Police say the SUV struck a parked car.
Police arrested Kloepfel near Sullivan Road and Trent Avenue. Along with 113 grams of meth, police found marijuana, hallucinogenic mushrooms, electronic scales, drug-packaging material and nearly $17,000 cash.
Kloepfel remains in the Spokane County Jail on drug charges.
– Meghann M. Cuniff
Spokane
Woman faces charge after man stabbed in head
Spokane police arrested a 33-year-old woman Thursday night after a man said she stabbed him after he fell asleep.
The unidentified man awoke to pain and realized the woman was stabbing him in the head with a butcher knife, police said. Officers arrested Angela S. Smith and charged her with first-degree assault.
The incident took place about 10:52 p.m. Thursday at 703 E. Hartson Ave., Officer Brian Eckersley said in a press release.
The 26-year-old man later told police that he was drinking with Smith in her apartment when he apparently fell asleep.
The man “woke up when Smith stabbed him in the head with a butcher knife,” Eckersley said. “He received defensive wounds to his arms and injury to his head.”
The man was taken to a hospital. Officer Rich Meyer arrested Smith, who was charged with first-degree assault. Meyer also collected evidence from the scene, Eckersley said.
The suspect’s motives and her relationship to the man were being investigated Friday.
– Thomas Clouse
Monroe intersection changed to four-way stop
The intersection of Monroe and Queen in north Spokane has been temporarily converted to a four-way stop to accommodate the diversion of heavy traffic from nearby road construction.
Spokane police advise motorists to take precautions at the intersection, because it’s the only four-way stop on Monroe and some drivers may continue through it without stopping, particularly during the first couple of days. The intersection of Wall and Wellesley will be closed Monday for construction, officials said.
– Staff report