Driver loses control of truck
Numerous people narrowly escaped injury Thursday morning when a 77-year-old man lost control of his full-size Chevrolet pickup, crashed through three fences and then caved in the side of a Spokane Valley mobile home, said Spokane Valley Police spokesman Sgt. Dave Reagan.
The driver, Billy Lee Benefield, may have suffered a medical emergency before losing control of the truck as it was eastbound in the 8000 block of East Appleway about 8:15 a.m.
The pickup left the north side of the roadway and crashed into a chain link fence, narrowly missing an SUV parked there for sale. The pickup re-entered the roadway, crossed Appleway and left the south side of the roadway. It crashed through a second fence and struck the concrete end-piece of some Jersey barrier hard enough to knock it over.
The truck re-entered Appleway, crossed the roadway and ran off the north side again, smashing through a third fence, flying off a low embankment and smashing into the side of a single-wide home in the Vista Mobile Home Park. The occupants in the home were at the opposite end of the residence when the truck crashed through the wall.
Investigators found Benefield conscious and alert, and he told them he had taken an antibiotic prescribed by his dentist. He was on his way to a dental appointment when the crash occurred.
Heroin seized in motor home search
Drug investigators executed a search warrant on a Spokane Valley motor home Wednesday morning and seized an eighth of a gram of heroin, said Spokane Valley Police spokesman Sgt. Dave Reagan.
The warrant was obtained after detectives allegedly made several undercover purchases of heroin from Guy Whitacre, a 46-year-old male living in the RV which was parked at 503 S. Carnahan Road.
Although the warrant did not cover the residence, detectives obtained consent to search the home and found Jimmy Dean Miller, 41, and Trisha L. Jackson, 32, hiding in the basement. Both had outstanding warrants for their arrest and were booked into jail.
Whitacre was arrested for possession of heroin with intent to deliver and three counts of delivery of heroin, all felonies.