In brief: Fire damages North Side home

A fire heavily damaged a home in the 1800 block of East Empire Avenue shortly after 9:15 p.m. Saturday. Multiple crews from the Spokane Fire Department responded to find “heavy fire” on the back side of a single-family home, according to Battalion Chief Bill Donahoe.

All the people inside the home were able to get out before firefighters arrived. Firefighters protected a neighboring house while fighting the fire in the home’s attic, first floor and basement, Donahoe said. The cause of the fire is still under investigation. There was extensive fire and smoke damage throughout the home.

Murder suspect found dead in cell

A Spokane County Jail inmate was found dead in his cell Saturday morning, according to a Spokane County Sheriff’s Office press release.

Detectives were called to the jail after Tristen N. Jordan, 25, was found dead in his cell at 6:30 a.m. The detectives did not find anything suspicious, said spokesman Sgt. Dave Reagan.

Jordan had been in jail since January on charges of second-degree murder. Authorities allege Jordan shot and killed his girlfriend, 20-year-old Samantha Clark Franco, in December. He was caught by police after shooting himself in the head near a dorm on the Gonzaga University campus. Jordan was treated at Harborview Medical Center for about three weeks before returning to Spokane and being arrested.

Jordan’s cellmate told deputies that he saw Jordan moving in his bunk at 4:30 a.m. The cause of death will be determined after an autopsy and toxicology tests, said Reagan.

Carjacking suspect chased, captured

A carjacking suspect led police on a chase early Sunday morning, but his attempt to escape on foot was foiled by a Spokane Police Department search dog.

A man reported that he was parked outside the Holiday Gas Station at 9620 N. Division Street just before 3:30 a.m. while a friend was inside. He was approached by someone who pulled a gun on him and told him to get out of his silver Toyota Camry, according to a Police Department press release. Police responded and spotted the car 25 minutes later driving north on Division past the same gas station where the car was stolen.

There was a short chase until the suspect jumped from the still moving car and ran, the press release said. Police officers, assisted by the Washington State Patrol, searched the area and found a handgun holster in an apartment complex courtyard just east of Ritter’s Nursery.

The dog, Leo, and his handler, Officer Craig Hamilton, found the suspect inside the fenced nursery. Justin S. Brown, 29, was booked into jail on charges of first-degree robbery, second-degree burglary and first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm.

The gun believed to be used in the carjacking was later recovered in the same area the holster was found.

Woman killed in highway rollover

One woman died in a single-vehicle rollover accident Sunday morning on Highway 395 about 22 miles south of Ritzville, Wash.

Jacklyn E. Spencer, 25, was pronounced dead at Kadlec Hospital in Richland, according to a press release from the Washington State Patrol. Bradley S. Spencer, 29, was driving a 2002 Ford Explorer north on Highway 395 when the car left the roadway on the left side, the press release said. Spencer overcorrected to the right and then overcorrected again before the Explorer rolled twice, ejecting three passengers who were not wearing seat belts.

Passengers Talia R. Spencer, 6, and Ari S. Spencer, 4, were airlifted by MedStar to Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane. A fourth passenger, 3-year-old Mia Spencer, was not injured.

The cause of the accident is still under investigation.

Trees, brush burn in Wandermere

Fire crews battled a five-acre fire in the Wandermere area Sunday afternoon. A helicopter and an air tanker were called in to drop water on the burning trees and brush, said Guy Gifford, a spokesman with the state Department of Natural Resources. Crews from the DNR and Spokane County Fire District 9 fought the blaze. As of 5:30 p.m. the fire was no longer spreading and about 65 firefighters were getting a fire line in place around it, Gifford said. “They should have it contained in the next hour.”

The fire near the intersection of Hazard Road and Stearns Road was reported just before 2:30 p.m. No homes were threatened and the cause is under investigation, Gifford said.