Man charged with DUI, endangering children after SUV collides with power pole in Five Mile

A Spokane man is accused of driving under the influence and endangering three children who were in his SUV when it slid off a road and crashed into a power pole early Sunday in the Five Mile area.

According to the Spokane Police Department, officers responded at about 2:15 a.m. to the scene of the collision at Ash Street and Five Mile Road, near a Rosauers grocery store.

Officers found a crashed GMC Yukon and contacted Victoria N. Brown, 31, who had a small bump on her head and “was showing obvious signs of being under the influence,” police said in a news release.

Brown told officers she had been driving the SUV when it crashed, but officers determined that was a lie. A corporal contacted her husband, Shane T. Brown, 39, who also had a bump on his forehead and had started to walk away from the scene, according to the news release.

Shane Brown also was intoxicated and denied being the driver of the SUV, but officers reported the windshield was cracked in a “spider web” pattern, and some of his hair was embedded in the glass, according to the news release.

In the SUV, police found three children – a 12-year-old, an 8-year-old and a 5-month-old. They were unharmed but taken to a hospital for evaluation, then placed in the custody of Child Protective Services.

Victoria Brown, who has no prior criminal record, was booked into the Spokane County Jail on a charge of making false statements.

Shane Brown was booked on suspicion of felony hit-and-run, DUI and three counts of reckless endangerment. According to the news release, he has prior convictions of first-degree child molestation, fourth-degree assault, reckless driving, negligent driving, DUI and driving with a suspended license.