In brief: Third person this week to be struck by car dies

A pedestrian died Friday night after being struck by a vehicle on U.S. Highway 2 north of Spokane.

The accident occurred 16 miles north of Spokane around 8:15 p.m., near the highway’s intersection with Deer Park Milan Road, according to the Washington State Patrol.

The pedestrian was not identified, and the circumstances of the crash were unknown late Friday.

This marks the third pedestrian killed by a vehicle in Spokane County this week. Ray H. Wise, 75, died Thursday after being struck Tuesday night by a truck at the intersection of First Avenue and Cedar Street in Spokane. An unidentified man was struck and killed while crossing Hayford Road in Airway Heights on Wednesday.

Kirkpatrick makes Phoenix job shortlist

Former Spokane police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick is a finalist for police chief in Phoenix.

Kirkpatrick left Spokane in early January after having served as police chief since Sept. 11, 2006.  She called her departure a retirement but said she was open to other options.

By that time she had already applied for the Phoenix job – applications were due in mid-December, according to Arizona media reports.

Kirkpatrick is one of seven candidates to be interviewed next week. Others include the acting Phoenix police chief and the city’s assistant police chief.

Meghann M. Cuniff

Man with drugs driving stolen Bobcat arrested

A suspected medication and laughing-gas thief who fled in a piece of heavy machinery was arrested early Thursday in north Spokane County, officials say.

Joseph Franklin Knapp, 30, told Deputy Dan Dutton he was working for the state when he was stopped about 1 a.m. while driving a Bobcat northbound on the shoulder of U.S. Highway 395, according to the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office.

Knapp said he’d finished moving snow near West Fourth Street and Northwest Road in Deer Park, but Dutton knew the Deer Park roads were clear of snow and that the city had its own road department.

Dutton then noticed two bottles of nitrous oxide and other medications, syringes and needles in the front loader of the Bobcat.

Dutton detained Knapp as other deputies checked the area of Deer Park and Riverside. A medical facility in the Riverside area was found with its door torn off. Dutton suspects Knapp stole the laughing gas and medication from the facility.

The Bobcat at the Winco on North Nevada Street in Spokane.

Meghann M. Cuniff