In brief: Driver with road rage swings metal mace, court records say

A road-rage incident Monday in Spokane Valley ended with two men wrestling for control of a metal mace.

According to court documents, a man driving north on Eastern Road got into an argument with the driver of a pickup who ran a stop sign and pulled in front of him.

The pickup’s driver, David J. Hill, 34, allegedly threw a lighter at the man, and both got out of their vehicles, according to court records.

The victim told police that Hill brandished the mace and chased him into the street while swinging it at him.

Hill then allegedly hit the victim several times in the leg with the mace.

The fight continued into a parking lot at Park Road and Utah Avenue.

The men wrestled over the mace. Two witnesses called 911 reporting a man attacking another man with a mace.

A Spokane County sheriff’s deputy arrived and found Hill standing over the victim, who had blood seeping through his socks.

Hill admitted to grabbing a mace from his truck, but said it was defensive reaction to the victim getting out of his truck, court records say. He said he only struck the victim to get the victim to let go of him.

Hill was booked into the Spokane County Jail on a charge of second-degree assault.

Rachel Alexander

Link to car bombing draws prison sentence

The first defendant sentenced in connection with a car bombing in north Spokane last year received a five-year federal prison term this week.

Adam L. Hankins, 46, pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of an explosive in June.

Federal investigators learned of his ties to the explosion, allegedly tied to the sale of methamphetamine, through recorded phone calls from the Spokane County Jail.

No one was injured in the blast, which occurred in the early hours of June 29, 2013, in the 5800 block of North Monroe Street. Court documents have not revealed who owned the car torn apart by the device.

Another defendant in the case who has pleaded guilty to similar charges, Robert Showers, has yet to be sentenced. Aaryana Malcolm has also pleaded guilty to a drug charge uncovered during the investigation of the explosives.

Two other defendants are set to go to trial next month for related drug charges.

Kip Hill