Man accused of shooting at newspaper carrier in Spokane Valley
Spokane County sheriff’s deputies arrested a 36-year-old man who allegedly fired a gun at a Spokesman-Review newspaper carrier early Wednesday in Spokane Valley.
No one was injured, though one bullet apparently went through a wall of a nearby home.
The suspect, Nicholas C. Fautch, was arrested during an afternoon traffic stop after leaving his residence in the same neighborhood, where the SWAT team had been preparing to execute a search warrant.
According to the sheriff’s office, the carrier was delivering papers in the 10900 block of East Augusta Avenue at about 4:30 a.m. She was preparing to drive into a cul-de-sac when a man, later identified as Fautch, jumped into the road.
The carrier told deputies she swerved to avoid hitting the man, he started yelling, and she apologized to him, explaining that she hadn’t immediately seen him.
When the carrier turned her car around to leave the cul-de-sac, the man was standing in the middle of the street, pointing a gun at her, she told deputies. Scared, she ducked and drove past him.
Then she heard what she believed were two gunshots and the sound of metal being struck, according to the sheriff’s office. She later checked her vehicle and found no damage. She thought a parked car in the area may have been hit.
Later in the morning, a resident reported having video of a man firing a weapon from a doorbell camera in the same area on Augusta Avenue.
A second resident reported finding a bullet hole in a wall of their home. It penetrated deeply enough to damage the drywall inside.
Detectives identified Fautch as the suspect and summoned the SWAT team to his residence at about 2:45 p.m., according to the sheriff’s office. A few minutes later, he left his home and deputies pulled over his vehicle.
He remained in the Spokane County Jail late Wednesday, facing charges of first-degree assault and reckless endangerment.
The sheriff’s office said anyone with information about the shooting should call Crime Check at (509) 456-2233. The reference number for the case is 10164400.