Man who crashed into Subway shop arrested

A knife-wielding man was arrested Friday after a police chase ended with his car striking a Subway sandwich shop in downtown Spokane.

Charles D. Fletcher, 43, is accused of waving a large hunting knife at passing motorists and scratching their cars while screaming near Ninth Avenue and Grand Boulevard about 9:22 p.m., according to court documents.

Spokane police were responding to the area when they heard the suspect, who was driving a white Ford Bronco, had just entered Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center with the knife. The man ran back outside and fled in the Bronco when he saw the police car, and officers pursued him down the lower South Hill and tried to stop him.

Fletcher lost control of his car going the wrong way on Third Avenue and crashed into the Subway at Browne Street, where he was arrested. Fletcher also crashed into a car at Third and Browne and slightly injured the driver.

Fletcher was booked into jail for hit and run, attempting to elude police and three counts of first-degree assault.