Valley man holds theft suspects at gunpoint

A Spokane Valley man held two suspected car thieves at gunpoint Tuesday night after catching them breaking into his pickup, police said today. Paul M. Pittman, 31, and Charles D. Rogers, 35,were arrested in the 18800 block of East Fourth Avenue after a woman called 911 about 11:15 p.m. and said her boyfriend had caught them inside his pickup. When officers arrived, 911 received another call from a neighbor reporting an unusual pickup parked behind his home. Police determined the truck had been stolen from a car lot about noon Tuesday, and Pittman and Rogers both said they were passengers while the other drove the stolen rig. The man who caught them told police he awoke to the sound of a car door closing “and armed himself to investigate,” according to a news release. He found Rogers and Pittman in his truck “saw that the steering column around the ignition had been pried open and damaged,” the news release said. Police found shaved car keys on Rogers after his arrest. Both men were booked into jail on charges of possession of a stolen motor vehicle, attempted theft of a motor vehicle, possession of motor vehicle theft tools, third-degree malicious mischief and second-degree trespass.