Sheriff’s Office reimbursed for Anthony Garver manhunt

The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office has been reimbursed by the state for $12,000 in overtime costs incurred during the hunt for escaped Western State Hospital inmate Anthony Garver in April.

Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich said he didn’t know the check, which arrived Tuesday, was coming. He’d last heard about his reimbursement request three weeks ago when state Sen. Andy Billig (D-Spokane) called and asked about it, he said.

“It was kind of a surprise,” Knezovich said. “I’m glad that it happened. I appreciate Sen. Billig stepping in and working on this issue for us.”

Garver was in Western State after he was found unfit to stand trial for murder. He was captured in the woods near his parents’ home in the foothills of Mt. Spokane after two days of searching by the Sheriff’s Office, the U.S. Marshal’s Office, the U.S. Border Patrol and the Spokane Police Department.