Man convicted of assaulting, kidnapping man in downtown Spokane given probation, treatment

A 54-year-old man who assaulted and abducted a man last winter inside a downtown Spokane apartment was given probation as part of a mental health sentencing alternative.

Dedrick Belson pleaded guilty as charged to second-degree assault and second-degree kidnapping Aug. 16. He pleaded guilty the same day to another second-degree assault charge for an incident in 2020.

Spokane County Superior Court Judge Raymond Clary sentenced Belson on Oct. 16 to two years of community custody.

Under the sentencing alternative, Belson was diagnosed with a “serious mental illness,” and the “defendant and community would benefit from supervision and treatment,” according to court documents.

The sentence stems from Feb. 4 when a man was in his residence at the Coeur d’Alene Plaza Apartments, 228 N. Howard St., and Belson entered uninvited. Belson said the man was under arrest for “being a terrorist,” the victim told police.

Belson forced the man to empty buckets of clothing in search of some unknown “evidence,” the victim told authorities. Belson held a long object against the man, whose arms were forced behind his back, as Belson moved him to his own apartment unit nearby.

Belson was arrested on suspicion of first-degree kidnapping, first-degree burglary, second-degree assault and first-degree impersonation of a police officer. Police recovered a knife from Belson.

Spokane County deputy prosecutor Sharon Hedlund said Belson had been in custody since his February arrest. He was recently released.

Hedlund said these are Belson’s first felony convictions.

If Belson violates his conditions of community custody, he faces jail or prison time.