Attempted kidnapping Tuesday night near Gonzaga

SPOKANE — Police say a man attempted to kidnap a woman walking near Gonzaga University Tuesday night, chasing her into a bar where he then threatened to kill patrons. Officers responded to Geno’s Bar, located at 1414 N. Hamilton Street, where the suspect was allegedly armed with a gun. Prior to arrival, officers were told the suspect was throwing chairs at the bartender, breaking glasses and pulling an object from his pocket and threatening to shoot customers. The suspect was standing outside the back door when they arrived and when he caught sight of officers, he ran back inside the crowded bar and threatened a male customer. As police told customers to step away from the suspect, the Spokane man identified as Travis D. Floyd, 34, grabbed the male victim identified as Eugene Tracy around the neck and told police, “He’s not going anywhere!” Police said in a news release that Floyd began to fight with them when they moved in to stop him. That’s when K-9 Stryder, a 90-pound German shepherd, latched on to the suspect’s lower leg while officers put him in a neck hold. Floyd slipped into unconsciousness so officers could arrest him. According to court documents, Floyd had also attempted to rob the female victim of her cell phone as she was walking in the neighborhood. Floyd told the victim identified as Tracy Riddle that he had a gun and tried to bring her across the street. She refused and escaped into Geno’s. Floyd followed Riddle into the bar where he assaulted her across the face and repeated threats to the bar crowd that he had a gun and was going to shoot everyone. Floyd received medical assistance for the dog bite and was booked into Spokane County Jail for one count of first-degree robbery, one count of attempted first-degree kidnapping, eight counts of felony harassment and other charges. Police commended the woman for running into the bar for safety instead of allowing Floyd to kidnap her. When officers searched Floyd, they did not find a gun and could not find what he was pointing at the bar’s customers.