In brief: Men plead guilty to fraud charges
Two Spokane men pleaded guilty this week to using the names of dead people to create driver’s licenses and fictitious checks that they then used to purchase items in stores in Idaho and Washington.
Alphonso Guster, 46, and Vladimir Bibas, 25, both pleaded guilty in Federal Court in Coeur d’Alene to several charges, including aggravated identity fraud. Guster also pleaded guilty to bank fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison. Bibas pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud, Assistant U.S. Attorney Nancy Cook said in a news release.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Secret Service and police departments in Lewiston, Moscow and Pullman. Sentencing has been scheduled for Nov. 9.
Bank robber flees on bicycle
A man robbed a north Spokane bank about 4 p.m. Tuesday and fled on a bicycle, according to police.
The man showed a gun at Washington Trust Bank, 7815 N. Division St., and collected an undisclosed amount of money, said Spokane Police Department spokeswoman Jennifer DeRuwe.
It isn’t known whether the robbery is related to the July 28 robbery of the Indian Trail branch of Spokane Teachers Credit Union or five other bank robberies in Spokane since 2009, some of which the robber left via bicycle, DeRuwe said.
The FBI is heading up the investigation.
Teens charged with arson in Sunday fire
A Spokane Fire Department special unit arrested two teenagers Tuesday for the arson of an abandoned house on East Pacific Avenue.
Brandon M. Winham, 19, and a 17-year-old acquaintance could face additional charges, according to the Spokane Fire Department.
Firefighters responded to the house on Sunday night just before midnight. The neighbor who called the Fire Department said she saw two people running from the house. Fire crews were suspicious because the house was empty but the fire started in a bedroom closet, according to previous news reports.
The two were charged with arson in the first degree, fire officials said.
Native people from throughout the Pacific Northwest and western Canada will gather this weekend in Spokane’s Riverfront Park for the 21st annual Spokane Falls Northwest Indian Encampment and Pow Wow.
There also will be a reception, “A Night at the River,” on Thursday from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture. The event will showcase Native dancing and drumming.
On Saturday at 9 a.m., the NATIVE Project/NATIVE Health will sponsor a fun run against diabetes in indigenous populations.
The first session of the powwow begins at 7 p.m. on Friday. Saturday’s session starts at 1 p.m. All events are free and open to the public.
Lawmaker to host meeting at school
U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers will hold a town hall meeting Thursday afternoon at Sacajawea Middle School in Spokane.
McMorris Rodgers’ office said the meeting, which is part of a new House Republican project to engage the public and seek their ideas, will focus on “jobs, spending, health care, government reform and national security.”
It is scheduled from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the school at 401 E. 33rd Ave.
Man sentenced for child porn
A 33-year-old Mead man was sentenced Tuesday for 170 images of child pornography found on his computers.
Bradley Forrest Harrison will serve five years in prison, 10 years under court supervision, and will be required to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life, according to the the U.S. Department of Justice.
Harrison downloaded the images in the fall of 2008, and an FBI Cyber Crime Task Force out of Illinois caught him sharing the pornography over the Internet.
Investigators discovered his two computers contained images of children, some younger than 12, engaged in sexually explicit activities, according the Justice Department office for the Eastern District of Washington.
In August 2009, a grand jury indicted him for receiving child pornography, and in March he pleaded guilty, according to the Eastern District office.
Power lines fall, trap motorists
A semitruck carrying a forklift brought two power lines down across traffic in Spokane Valley on Tuesday.
Just before 3 p.m., Avista received a call that lines were down across vehicles at Dyer Road and Alki Avenue, said Debbie Simock, an Avista spokeswoman.
The forklift on the flatbed of the semi caught a telephone line that brought together two power lines, said Jeff Bordwell of the Spokane Valley Fire Department. The line came down on top of one vehicle and around several others, trapping two people inside their vehicles, Boardwell added.
The people trapped called 911 with their cell phones. An Avista crew de-energized the lines so they no longer carried electricity. No one was injured, and the two cars had minimal damage, Boardwell said.
Afternoon crash injures motorcyclist
A collision Tuesday along the curves of Upriver Drive sent one man to Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center.
Around 4:15 p.m., a 2007 Chevy pickup carrying two passengers collided with a 60-year-old motorcyclist east of Plantes Ferry Park, said Detective Dave Thornburg, a Spokane County Sheriff’s spokesman.
No other details were available, and the crash remained under investigation.