In brief: Police chase, catch men suspected of firing guns

Two men suspected of firing guns in the 1800 block of West Gardner Avenue were arrested after they led police on a chase that ended at Main Avenue and Browne Street in downtown Spokane around noon Tuesday.

Police don’t know at whom the men were firing, Spokane police spokeswoman Monique Cotton said. “At this point, we’ve not identified a victim,” she said.

An officer spotted a car matching the description reported in the shots-fired call. The driver ran a red light downtown shortly before the occupants started throwing items from the car, Cotton said. The car crashed into two other cars near Main and Browne and both men ran from police.

Jesus Valencia, 29, and Lloyd Brice, 25, both of Stockton, Calif., were booked into the Spokane County Jail on charges of drive-by shooting. Brice faces an additional felony charge of hit and run.

Police recovered four firearms apparently thrown from the vehicle, Cotton said.

Construction worker falls to death in CdA

A construction worker fell to his death Tuesday afternoon at an apartment complex under construction on Seltice Way in Coeur d’Alene.

“He fell from a very high area,” Coeur d’Alene Police Department spokeswoman Sgt. Christie Wood said. Efforts were underway Tuesday evening to notify his next of kin, Wood said.

The construction site is located across from Mill River near Grand Mill Lane.

Police arrest teen in pharmacy robbery

Police on Monday arrested a 17-year-old male suspected of robbing a pharmacy inside the Albertsons store at 6520 N. Nevada St. on Friday.

Employees said two men entered the store and demanded prescription medication before running away.

Two people came forward after they saw surveillance footage of the robbery and identified the two suspects, Spokane police Sgt. Lydia Taylor said.

The 17-year-old is being held in the Juvenile Detention Center on a charge of first-degree robbery.

A second suspect has been identified but has not yet been located, Taylor said.

The pharmacy robbery is one of six reported in Spokane County since the beginning of the year.

North Idaho reports first flu fatality

A Bonner County man in his 50s died over the weekend from influenza-related complications.

He is the first person to die from the flu this season in North Idaho. Four people from Eastern Washington, including a woman from Spokane County, have died from the flu, a type of the H1N1 virus commonly called swine flu.

Idaho: No tax benefit for same-sex spouses

Same-sex couples legally married in other states but living in Idaho must file state income taxes separately, the House Revenue and Taxation Committee said Tuesday.

The committee concluded Idaho law recognizing only marriages between a man and a woman and its constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages required them to exclude gay couples from filing joint state returns.