In brief: Police dog finds hiding suspect

Tue., April 5, 2011

A Spokane police dog tracked a man for two blocks after a domestic dispute Saturday, leading to the suspect’s arrest.

Maximus, Officer Paul Gorman’s K-9, found Leo Kenneth Landon, 30, hiding in the backyard of a home in the 1600 block of West 11th Avenue, after responding to a domestic dispute at 1617 W. 12th Ave. at 11:13 p.m., police said.

Landon’s wife told police her husband had a felony warrant for escape and had run northbound as officers arrived. Officers set up a perimeter around the neighborhood and brought in Maximus.

Landon “quickly surrendered” when he heard the dog, police said.

Landon was booked into jail for a felony warrant for escape from community custody.

Meghann M. Cuniff

Authorities say puppy story a hoax

Authorities say reports of a Dalmatian puppy abandoned in a trash bin last week were false.

The woman who brought the 6-week-old puppy to the Spokane Humane Society adopted the dog from a friend but decided she didn’t want it and didn’t have money to pay a release fee, said Jackie Bell, development coordinator for the Spokane County Regional Animal Protection Service.

Police are considering false reporting charges against the woman, whose name has not been released pending the criminal investigation.

The woman had said she’d found the puppy in a large trash bin at a gas station near Freya Street and Francis Avenue on Wednesday. The Humane Society was offering a $2,500 reward for information on the abandonment, but an investigator with SCRAPS talked to people who knew the woman and determined the story was a hoax, Bell said.

Staff reports

Democrats end stalling over bills

BOISE – Idaho House Democrats gave up their stalling tactics Monday, saying that since majority Republicans wouldn’t give in and hold hearings on two bills they wanted, the best thing was to get the Idaho legislative session over with quickly before the majority “can do any more harm.”

The Democrats had forced full reading of bills in the House since last week, slowing progress to a crawl, demanding hearings on a never-introduced bill to raise Idaho’s cigarette tax by $1.25 a pack and a measure calling for an advisory vote on school reform. Republicans refused, saying they didn’t think the bills had enough support to warrant hearings.

The minority then sponsored its own informational Statehouse hearing Monday afternoon on the cigarette tax and invited the public to testify; more than 60 people showed up and testified for or against the tax increase.

Betsy Z. Russell

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