In brief: Comcast official apologizes for rude name change

A Comcast official apologized Wednesday after a service representative apparently changed the name of a customer in Spokane to “Asshole” on her printed bill. 

The matter was  first reported by consumer advocacy blogger Christopher Elliott, who said the customer, Lisa Brown, contacted him after first trying to deal with Comcast directly. Elliott identified Brown as a “volunteer for a missions organization.” 

Brown told the blog that she’d tried to cancel the cable portion of her account and was sent to a Comcast “retention specialist.” Brown told Elliott that she wasn’t rude, and doesn’t understand why the customer service rep changed the name on her bill to “Asshole Brown.” Brown couldn’t be reached for comment Wednesday.  

Comcast spokesman Steve Kipp said in a statement, “We have spoken with our customer and apologized for this completely unacceptable and inappropriate name change. We have zero tolerance for this type of disrespectful behavior and are conducting a thorough investigation to determine what happened. We are working with our customer to make this right and will take appropriate steps to prevent this from happening again.”

According to Elliott, Comcast offered the apology as well as a full refund for the last two years of service and two more years for free. 

Strangling reported days after woman dies at hotel

A woman told police her boyfriend tried to strangle her at a room in the Downtowner Motel – only 10 days after another woman died at the same motel, allegedly strangled by her boyfriend.

Police were called to Room 103 at the Downtowner Motel at 165 S. Washington Street on Sunday evening by a woman who said her boyfriend, Robert C. Screws, had repeatedly tried to strangle her. The woman told police Screws hit her several times in the face before stuffing a sock in her mouth, according to court documents.

She reported that Screws then tried to strangle her with a towel and with his hands. During the struggle he ripped out some of her hair and broke the phone when she tried to call for help, according to court documents. Police reported finding a chunk of her hair on the bathroom floor as well as the broken phone and signs of a struggle. An officer also saw bruising on the woman’s neck.

Police went to an apartment of one of Screws’ friends Monday night at 1907 W. Broadway. An officer found him in an alley. Screws allegedly flicked a lit cigarette at an officer before throwing a half-full can of Bud Light, according to court documents. The beer hit the officer in the head and spilled down his uniform, the documents said.

Screws is being held in the Spokane County Jail on $22,500 bond on charges of second-degree domestic violence assault, interfering with the reporting of domestic violence, unlawful imprisonment and third-degree assault on a police officer. He also is facing an unrelated charge for first-degree theft.

Michael W. Baesman is accused of strangling Shawna Wyatt at the Downtowner earlier this month.