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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

In brief: Driver, 85, killed in van-semi collision

An 85-year-old woman died Saturday when she hit a semitruck at the intersection of Prairie Avenue and Pleasant View Road near Hauser.

The accident was reported at 3 p.m. The woman was driving a 1995 Aerostar van west on Prairie Avenue and apparently failed to stop at a stop sign, according to the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office. She hit a northbound semi driven by Rupinder Shokar, 43, of British Columbia.

The woman’s car hit the side of the semi’s trailer and she died at the scene, a news release said.

The woman’s name will not be released by the Sheriff’s Office until her family has been notified of her death.

Suspect accused of wielding knife

A woman suffered minor injuries to one hand after a man pulled out a knife and threatened her with it Saturday.

The woman was working in a massage business in the 300 block of West Indiana Avenue, said Spokane police Cpl. Jordan Ferguson. She screamed when the man pulled the knife, and she and a co-worker fled the business.

The man was located under the porch of a nearby home on Washington Street, prompting a brief standoff with police. “They were doing their best to wait him out,” Ferguson said.

The man, whose name has not been released by police, eventually came out and was taken to a hospital for an unrelated medical issue. A knife was recovered at the scene. He is facing charges of unlawful imprisonment and second-degree assault.

The woman refused treatment for her injury, Ferguson said.

She and the suspect did not know each other, Ferguson said. “We have absolutely no idea what his motivation was,” he said.

Man flees accident, fearing arrest

A man spent nearly 24 hours on the run in the North Idaho woods after fleeing the scene of an accident because he thought he had a warrant out for his arrest.

It turned out he wasn’t wanted by the law, but when Kootenai County sheriff’s deputies caught up with him Saturday evening he was arrested for leaving the scene of an accident, according to a Sheriff’s Office news release.

Spokane resident Jeremy Jernick, 43, was driving a Chevy Suburban with his girlfriend and her three sons around 10:30 p.m. Friday, about 3 miles east of Chilco, Idaho.

His girlfriend later told deputies that Jernick had tried to turn the Suburban around at the end of a narrow road after she and the children had gotten out. Its rear tires slid over the edge of the road and the SUV rolled down a hillside with Jernick inside.

The woman called for help but Jernick fled the scene. Search-and-rescue crews, including search dogs and an airplane, looked for Jernick until about 6 p.m. Saturday because they thought he might be injured, the news release said.

A woman reported finding Jernick near U.S. Highway 95 and Bunco Road around 7:30 p.m. Saturday. He was booked into the Kootenai County Jail.

Four arrested amid protest of shooting

PASCO – Police arrested four people during a demonstration marking two months since the fatal officer-involved shooting of an immigrant farmworker in Pasco.

The Tri-City Herald reported they were arrested after they refused orders to move from the street onto the sidewalk during a rally and march Saturday.

Protests have continued since three Pasco officers shot and killed 35-year-old Antonio Zambrano-Montes on Feb. 10, after they encountered him throwing rocks in a busy intersection.

Police have held back from the protesters during previous demonstrations, but police Chief Bob Metzger said this time the group became a threat to public safety by blocking traffic.