In brief: Pileup, spill on I-90 blocks traffic lanes

A four-vehicle crash involving two tractor trailers spilled about 50 gallons of fuel on Interstate 90 Monday evening.

No one was injured in the collision, which blocked three lanes of eastbound traffic just west of Division Street beginning at 5:11 p.m. The crash fractured a diesel fuel tank, which spread the fuel over about 100 yards.

Hazardous materials experts with the Spokane Fire Department built dikes to stop the fuel from flowing into stormwater drains.

The spill was contained by fire officials, as well as officials with Washington State Patrol and the Washington state Department of Transportation.

Meghann M. Cuniff

Intersection crash injures officer

A Spokane police officer was treated for minor injuries after a driver ran a flashing red light and crashed into the officer’s patrol car early Monday.

Officer Chris Bode was taken to a hospital as a precautionary measure, where he was treated for a bump on his head and neck pain.

Bode was westbound on West Second Avenue with a flashing yellow light when he entered the South Monroe Street intersection about 2:10 a.m. and was struck by a southbound vehicle.

Neither speed nor alcohol was a factor, police said.

The offending driver, whose name has not been released, was cited for failing to stop for a flashing red signal. The driver was not injured.

Meghann M. Cuniff

Man sentenced for lewd conduct

A Post Falls man will spend at least five years in prison for sexually abusing a 16-year-old girl.

Terence William Turner, 39, was sentenced Friday to 15 years in prison with eligibility for parole after five years for lewd conduct with a minor. He will receive credit for time served in the Kootenai County Jail, where he has been held since his arrest in March.

Turner’s previous criminal history includes only misdemeanor traffic offenses. At sentencing, Judge Lansing Haynes cited Turner’s “use of violence” during the abuse, according to the Kootenai County Prosecutor’s Office.

Prosecutor Barry McHugh said in a prepared statement Monday that the sentence was “appropriate given the long-term nature of this unconscionable conduct, the lack of accountability by this defendant, and the continuing risk of predatory conduct by the defendant.”

Meghann M. Cuniff