In brief: Crash, arrests end flight from police
Spokane police arrested two 17-year-old males late Saturday night at Manito Park after they fled an officer, nearly hitting him with their vehicle, according to a Spokane Police Department news release.
Officer Tim Ottmar approached the suspects in their car after the park had closed and smelled a strong odor of marijuana. While speaking with the occupants, which included two juvenile females, the male driver sped off, the release said. Ottmar, who was not injured, saw the vehicle crash into a tree near East 17th Avenue and South Grand Boulevard. The four occupants fled on foot.
Ottmar found a gun inside the abandoned vehicle. A K-9 unit tracked down the four teens, and the two males were taken into custody. The driver, a convicted felon, was charged with attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle and first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm. The other male was charged with second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm. Both were booked into juvenile detention.
Gunfire reported outside bar
Spokane police are investigating a report of gunfire around 1 a.m. Sunday outside the Swaxx bar in north Spokane.
Officers were on the scene, at 21 E. Lincoln Road, minutes after the initial call and determined that individuals in a maroon SUV had fired three or four shots in the air and fled. No one was injured.
No suspect description or other details were provided by witnesses. Detectives continue to investigate the incident. Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Check at (509) 456-2233.
Pedestrian robbed on CdA street
Coeur d’Alene police are looking for several suspects in a Sunday morning robbery of a man walking down the street.
A white, late-model, four-door sedan with Idaho license plates stopped next to the man in the 900 block of East Mullan Avenue about 7:55 a.m. A female passenger in the back seat initiated a conversation with the pedestrian, while a male passenger got out and approached him from the side.
The male suspect forcibly took personal items and cash from the victim, then “patted his pockets” for additional valuables while yelling and posturing in a threatening manner, police said. The victim did not see the driver.
The female suspect was described as white, in her early 20s, and about 5-foot-5 and 200 pounds with dark hair. The male suspect was described as black, in his early 20s, and about 6-foot-2 and 220 pounds.
The vehicle left westbound on Mullan. Officers were unable to locate it. If anyone has any information on the crime, call the Coeur d’Alene Police Department at (208) 769-2363.
Two on motorcycles hurt over weekend
Two people were injured in separate motorcycle accidents over the weekend.
On Saturday evening, Gregory L. Van Tuyl, 59, of Oldtown, Idaho, failed to negotiate a curve and went off U.S. 95 in Benewah County. Van Tuyl was riding a Honda northbound near mile post 375. It’s not known if he was wearing a helmet, the Idaho State Police said.
Van Tuyl was taken to Kootenai Health.
On Sunday afternoon in Franklin County, Maren J. Baysinger, 45, of Lewiston, fell from a Harley-Davidson FXDWG 10 due to a medical condition. Baysinger, a passenger who was wearing a helmet, was taken to East Adams Rural Hospital in Ritzville.
The incident occurred on Highway 260 three miles southwest of Washtucna, the Washington State Patrol said.
Plane crash kills two near Oregon coast
TOLEDO, Ore. – Police said two people died when a small plane crashed near the Oregon coast, and a third passenger was critically injured.
Toledo police Chief David Enyeart said in a statement that the plane went down Saturday at 4:20 p.m. in the parking lot at the Georgia-Pacific paper mill in Toledo. It had been traveling east after taking off from the Newport Municipal Airport.
The injured passenger was taken by helicopter to a Corvallis hospital.
The names of those aboard won’t be released until relatives are notified.
The chief said the National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration have joined the investigation.