Region in brief: Suspect in robberies pleads not guilty

OxyContin addiction drove a young man to rob elderly women in grocery store parking lots to support his habit, court documents allege.

Ryan X. Burgess, 21, pleaded not guilty to first-degree robbery, first-degree theft and two counts of second-degree robbery Tuesday in connection with four incidents in late September.

In each case, the victim said Burgess approached her in a grocery store lot and took her purses or demanded money. One alleged victim is a 96-year-old woman who uses a walker, according to a probable cause affidavit.

Burgess told detectives that his OxyContin addiction ruined his life and that he used all robbery proceeds to buy the drug, according to the affidavit. He remains in Spokane County Jail while awaiting trial.

Meghann M. Cuniff

Three pit bulls shot after mauling horse

Three pit bulls mauled a miniature horse last week before being shot to death in Elk, Wash., the Pend Oreille County Sheriff’s Office reported Tuesday.

The incident led sheriff’s deputies to a marijuana- growing operation on the dog owner’s property, according to a news release.

The man, Justin R. Howell, lives next door to the horse owner, who told a sheriff’s deputy he’d fired several warning shots before shooting Howell’s dogs.

Two of the dogs died at the scene.

A sheriff’s deputy took the third dog to a veterinarian, where it died from the gunshot wound, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

The horse was being treated for severe injuries.

Howell told deputies he has a medical marijuana permit, but detectives said they found more than 50 plants and several pounds of dry marijuana, which exceeds the amount allowed for medicinal use.

Deputies also said they seized a police-issued bullet-proof vest.

Howell was arrested on a charge of manufacturing a controlled substance and cited for having a dog at large.

Meghann M. Cuniff

Teen hurt when car hits cow on highway

A 14-year-old boy suffered minor injuries Tuesday night after a car he was a passenger in struck a cow on a Ferry County highway.

Charlotte R. Koontz, 45, of Republic, was westbound on State Highway 20 about 10 miles east of town about 7 p.m. when her 1995 Chevrolet Corsica hit a cow standing in the road, the Washington State Patrol said.

The teenage passenger, Austin Prine, of Kettle Falls, was transported to Ferry County Memorial Hospital with minor injuries, officials said.

The teen and Koontz were wearing seat belts, WSP said.

Koontz was able to drive her car from the scene, the WSP said.

Sara Leaming