In brief: Idaho teen pulled from pond dies
A North Idaho teenager pulled from the bottom of an old mill pond Wednesday died Friday morning, the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Department reported.
August “A.J.” Marksworth, 16, of Spirit Lake, died around 8:30 a.m., a news release from the sheriff’s office said.
Marksworth was found unconscious in water about 8 feet deep 10 to 15 minutes after he slipped under the surface of the lake’s mill pond late Wednesday afternoon. He and a friend, Nathan Thiers, 15, also of Spirit Lake, had been wading in the water when Marksworth stepped into a deep spot, the sheriff’s office said. Family members told deputies the teen was not a good swimmer and couldn’t tread water.
Thiers was treated and released from Kootenai Medical Center.
A donation account has been set up at Inland Northwest Bank in Spirit Lake to assist Marksworth’s family. Contact the bank at (208) 623-5700.
Post Falls man, 54, drowns in river
A 54-year-old Post Falls man drowned in the Spokane River on Friday evening while swimming near Corbin Park.
KHQ-TV reported that the man was swimming through a swift current when he began to struggle around 7:30 p.m. Other people in the popular swimming area tried to rescue the man but were unsuccessful. The Post Falls Dam was shut down as rescue workers searched for the swimmer.
Rescue crews found the man’s body 40 feet underwater. His identity was not released.
Boy seriously hurt in bicycle accident
A 14-year-old boy was severely injured Friday in a bicycling accident near Athol.
Deven Ratcliff, of Athol, was riding his bike west on state Highway 54 when he turned in front of a Ford F-250 driven by Julie Clemens, who was also westbound on the road, the Idaho State Police said in a news release.
Clemens, 68, of Sagle, could not stop in time and struck Ratcliff.
Ratcliff was taken to Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane, where he was listed in stable condition Friday evening.
He was wearing a helmet at the time of the accident, the ISP said.
Officer injured by man in stolen car
Police are looking for a man who injured an officer outside the Coeur d’Alene Casino on Friday while fleeing in a stolen Toyota 4Runner.
A Coeur d’Alene Tribal Police officer injured his arm when he was dragged a short distance before he let go of the driver’s door, according to the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Department. The officer had contacted the man after casino employees told him he’d tried to use a stolen credit card.
The man gave the officer the credit card and an identification card when the officer realized the car had been reported stolen and asked him to step out. The driver instead began to move forward slowly as the officer repeatedly asked him to stop.
The white, early-’90s-model 4Runner was last seen westbound on state Highway 58. The rear license plate is 24KGOLD and the front license plate is B07800L, both from Washington state.
The officer, whose name has not been released, was transported to Kootenai Medical Center with an arm injury.
Fire danger raised in Coeur d’Alene
The city of Coeur d’Alene raised the fire danger level from moderate to high on Friday as a new weather system brings a threat of lightning this weekend.
The alert comes after a home on Abercrombie Court was struck by lighting during a storm on Thursday night. No one was injured, fire officials said.
Burning permits will not be issued. Recreational fires must be at least 25 feet from any structure or combustible material and no larger than 2 feet in diameter, fire officials said.
Also on Friday, the National Weather Service issued a red-flag warning for fire danger in the Columbia Basin, Palouse and Okanogan regions through Sunday afternoon.
Spokane, Coeur d’Alene and areas to the north are outside the red-flag warning area.
Three citations for dogs left in hot cars
Three Spokane County residents were cited on charges ranging from unsafe confinement to animal cruelty for keeping their dogs in hot cars on Thursday.
In each case, the animals were rushed to veterinarians who confirmed they were suffering from heat stress, a news release from Spokane County said.
Owners cited left dogs in cars where the temperature inside was between 107 and 115 degrees.
“People need to understand that the temperature inside a car can quickly climb to over 100 degrees. Even leaving a dog in the bed of a pickup can result in severe burns,” said Nancy Hill, director of SCRAPS.