In Brief: Truck repossession attempt leads to assault charge

A 29-year-old Spokane man jailed on suspicion of assault told police he rammed another motorist Sunday during a botched repossession attempt.

Police responded to a vehicle crash in the 700 block of East Carlisle Avenue and found damage to a pickup truck and an SUV. Seth M. Waddell told police he had tried to block the SUV to repossess it.

The driver of the SUV, an orange Chevy Avalanche, told police Waddell rammed his truck and then two men in the pickup, whom he did not recognize, swore at him. The SUV driver said he then sped away. An eyewitness told investigators the pickup tried to “crush” the passenger side of the Chevy, according to court documents.

Waddell is not licensed as a collection agent with the state Department of Revenue. His passenger, who was not arrested, has a nonspecific business license with the state, according to online records.

Kip Hill

Man charged with DUI after I-90 crashes

A 32-year-old Spokane Valley man with a pair of 60-year-old female passengers crashed into two cars on Interstate 90 near the state line Sunday afternoon and attempted to run from police, according to the Idaho State Police.

Tyler K. Busby was jailed on suspicion of driving under the influence, leaving the scene of an accident and striking a highway sign. Authorities say Busby caused two rear-end collisions traveling west on the interstate around 4 p.m., each time leaving the scene until finally crashing his 2003 Toyota sedan into a sign and trying to flee on foot.

One of the drivers of the other cars was treated at the scene, according to a news release. No other injuries were reported.

Busby has a criminal history, including a February conviction of theft for stealing beer kegs from an Idaho bar and trying to sell them as scrap metal, according to records.

Kip Hill

Portable toilet blast injures Spokane woman

A Spokane woman suffered chemical burns and minor injuries when an explosive device detonated inside a portable toilet during a Saturday softball tournament in a Portland suburb.

Police say the incident that hurt Kari Finch, 40, was most likely a prank that went too far.

“Whoever set off the device might have thought it was cool or funny at the time,” said Sgt. Bob Ray of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office. “It’s anything but that.”

Police are investigating the explosion along with two others in nearby mailboxes. Finch gave police a description of a teenage boy who left the toilet just before the explosion at the International School of Beaverton in Aloha, Oregon.

Associated Press