In brief: Driver suffers burns, dies after crash
A 22-year-old Wilbur, Wash., man died after the truck he was driving went off a Lincoln County road Saturday, hit an embankment and caught fire.
Kacey T. Starzman was southbound on State Highway 21 eight miles north of Wilbur about 2:15 a.m. when his 2003 Dodge Ram pickup left the road to the right on a curve, according to the Washington State Patrol.
The truck hit the dirt embankment and ignited, causing Starzman to suffer severe burns. He was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where he died Saturday afternoon, WSP said.
The cause of the crash is under investigation.
Sara Leaming
Crime spree suspect apprehended in tree
The U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force, with the help of the Spokane Police Department, arrested a Spokane man Saturday wanted in connection with a spree of crimes including bank robbery and carjacking.
Over the past two days authorities allege Brian E. Gorder has been responsible for a burglary in Spokane County, the robbery of a Washington Trust Bank on North Maple Street, shoplifting from Sears and Burlington Coat Factory, and was involved in a carjacking at the North Division Kmart store. He reportedly used a handgun during two of the incidents.
On Saturday authorities located Gorder near Wellesley Avenue and Lidgerwood Street, and the Spokane Police SWAT team stopped a vehicle in which he was a passenger. Gorder ran from the car and was later located hiding in a tree in the 200 block of East Longfellow Avenue.
He was arrested without incident and booked into the Spokane County Jail for first-degree robbery with other charges pending.
Sara Leaming
USFS officers notice tracks, rescue driver
A Post Falls woman was hospitalized Friday after the pickup she was driving rolled 400 feet down a hillside in Bonner County.
Sandra L. Thompson, 50, was in serious condition Saturday night at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane.
Thompson was driving west in the 6000 block of Johnson Creek Road in the Clark Fork area about 6:30 p.m. when she swerved to avoid hitting an animal and ran off the road, the Idaho State Police said.
Shortly before 10 p.m., two U.S. Forest Service officers on patrol in the area noticed tire tracks leaving the road along with debris. They got out of their vehicle to investigate and heard Thompson screaming, the ISP said.
Scott Maben