Police: Felon fleeing officers injures 2 in crash

Spokane police arrested a repeat offender Thursday night for driving recklessly, eluding police and causing a collision that blocked a northside intersection for hours. William Ellis Brinton, 47, sustained serious but non-life threatening injuries and was arrested for vehicular assault and attempt to elude. Shortly after 6 p.m., Brinton was spotted driving recklessly and running a red light at Division and Garland streets. When an officer attempted to pull over his vehicle, Brinton continued the reckless driving and refused to stop, police said. The officer stopped pursuing the suspect at Wellesley and Addison streets, near NorthTown Mall, when Brinton drove into oncoming traffic, according to a police news release. Within a minute, police say, Brinton caused a collision a few blocks to the east, at Nevada and Hoffman streets, where he ran a stop sign and crashed into an SUV. Brinton as well as two people in the SUV he hit were taken to local hospitals with non-life threatening injuries, police said. Brinton has an 18-year criminal history with arrests on more than 140 charges, including eight charges of attempting to elude police. This is his eighth arrest for eluding police, said Major Craig Meidl. “And that doesn’t include the ones where we stopped pursuing, he got away, and we were never able to determine who the driver was,” Meidl said in an email.