Snow helps police find suspects
Gardeners and commuters may grumble about the spring snow. But Coeur d’Alene police aren’t complaining – not since it helped them track down a group suspected of robbing and beating a man early today.
Officers were contacted at 2:15 a.m. by the victim, who told them he’d been robbed by five people who beat him with a handgun, hit and kicked repeatedly. The assailants demanded his money, car keys and watch, then left on foot.
Officers followed tracks to a nearby house, and eventually arrested three men and two women, all in their early 20s.
The five, who were booked into the Kootenai County Public Safety Building on robbery charges, are: Justin Russell, 21; Daniel Garnett, 21; Mitchel Michael, 22; Jacqualin Bachtel, 23; and Shannon Smith, 24.
The victim, whose name was not released by police, was treated at Kootenai Medical Center.
– Staff reports
Lewiston
Court rules ‘hooch’ a private residence
A man’s hideout is his castle. And the Idaho Supreme Court says it doesn’t matter if it’s made of brush on public lands.
David Pruss, whose alleged crimes included shooting up logging equipment in the Weippe area and running from the law for weeks during the summer of 2005, was arrested after authorities surrounded his shelter in the woods. They say he fell for a trap, allegedly stealing a can of coffee that had been rigged with a transmitter.
But the case fell apart in 2006 when deputies seized firearms and other evidence from the tent-like structure made from a blue plastic tarp placed over a frame of branches, and camouflaged with limbs – a hooch, as the court called it.
A Grangeville judge suppressed the evidence because authorities didn’t obtain a warrant.
The state lost its appeal Thursday in the state Supreme Court. The justices ruled that an expectation of privacy extends to any dwelling, “even if it is a temporary structure like a tent, travel trailer, or the hooch in this case.”
– Lewiston Tribune
Pullman
March of Dimes walk aims to aid babies
Pullman is hosting its first March of Dimes “March for Babies” walk on Saturday.
The event, to raise funds for the nonprofit March of Dimes organization, will begin at noon at the Glenn Terrell Friendship Mall on the Washington State University campus.
March of Dimes works to prevent birth defects, premature births and infant mortality.
March for Babies is the new name of the nonprofit’s signature annual event, WalkAmerica. Walkers can register at www.marchforbabies.org. For more information on the Pullman event, contact wsumarchofdimes@gmail.com.
– Staff reports