In brief: Police officer quits, suspending inquiry

A Spokane police sergeant under an internal investigation has resigned.

Chet Gilmore has been on administrative leave since Jan. 29 for an undisclosed reason as police investigated. His resignation Monday suspended the investigation, which was not a criminal matter, according to a news release.

“Spokane Police Department employees, both civilian and commissioned, are held to a high standard of behavior,” the news release said. “Misconduct will not be tolerated as the Spokane Police Department works to reduce crime and protect the community we serve.”

Gilmore was a member of the department’s Special Victims Unit, according to previous reports.

Slide danger closes I-90 at Lookout Pass

Interstate 90 through Lookout Pass has been closed on the Montana side due to avalanche danger.

The closure was from the mountain pass to St. Regis, Mont., a 33-mile stretch of highway that winds through the Bitterroot Mountains.

The Monday evening closure could last into today or later.

Travelers trying to get to Missoula or other points in Montana are being asked to use U.S. Highway 95 to state Highway 200, or U.S. Highway 2 as an alternate route.

Kitchen camera records school theft

Security cameras caught a school kitchen worker stealing $50 worth of chicken fajita filling last week, according to sheriff’s deputies.

The footage led to the arrest of Jacqueline Love, 50, who also is accused of carrying a methamphetamine pipe in her purse and a pawn shop receipt for a missing $400 food mixer from Brentwood Elementary School.

Mead School District installed a camera after complaints about missing equipment.

Love has no criminal record. When a deputy showed her the pipe and informed her of a drug charge, Love said, “I should have left it in the car,” according to court records.

Man held in threats at Goodwill store

A 51-year-old man is accused of burglarizing a Goodwill store while dressed in a Spokane Fire Department vest.

Police said Curtis Burgett threatened customers Friday with a baseball bat in the store where he had been earlier banned for trying to steal goods.

According to police, Burgett had been causing disturbances at the downtown Goodwill location throughout the day Friday. Around 4 p.m., he entered the store for a third time, claiming to be an employee with the fire department there to check the sprinkler system, according to police.

Burgett attempted the ruse at several other businesses before his arrest, according to police.

Owner of pit bull pleads not guilty

The owner of an emaciated pit bull euthanized last month after it was found in the West Central neighborhood pleaded not guilty to animal cruelty charges Monday.

Teresa Roe, 34, told investigators she owned Crash, the 4-year-old brown-and-white dog found unable to stand or walk on Feb. 1. It weighed 31 pounds – less than half its healthy weight – and was hypothermic.

Veterinarians were unable to place an IV and the dog’s temperature did not register on thermometers, according to court records.

Roe told investigators Crash grew sick around Christmas and stopped eating. She did not take him in for medical treatment.

Man arrested again in cellphone robbery

Police arrested a suspected cellphone robber for the second time in four months.

Emmanuel Phillips, 26, faces a charge of first-degree armed robbery for walking up to a man at the Safeway store in the 10100 block of North Newport Highway on Wednesday and offering to sell him an iPhone, according to court documents. Phillips allegedly then claimed to have a gun and demanded the man’s cellphone and wallet before running off.

A companion returned to the victim, told them Phillips is “on some pills” and handed him back his items, the man told police.

The victim followed the two men to an apartment and called police, who arrested Phillips during a traffic stop two days later, according to court documents.

Phillips received a year of probation after pleading guilty to second-degree robbery in a similar incident at a Spokane gas station in August.

Woman dies after Friday’s avalanche

MISSOULA – A woman who was rescued about three hours after her Missoula home was destroyed by an avalanche has died.

Michel Colville, 68, died Sunday night at St. Patrick Hospital, Missoula police said Monday. Her husband, Fred Allendorf, remained hospitalized in serious condition.