Apparently drunken man crashes forklift into Spokane Valley Lowe’s

A 54-year-old man who appeared to be intoxicated crashed a forklift into a set of glass doors Tuesday night at Lowe’s Home Improvement in Spokane Valley, according to the Spokane Valley Police Department.

Store employees reported the man, later identified as Matthew Fischer, got on a store forklift parked in the garden center area, elevated the forks to about chest height and drove the forklift into the sliding glass doors, breaking and disabling the doors, police said in a news release.

Fischer then backed up and stopped, still sitting in the driver’s seat.

He appeared to be passed out behind the wheel when employees contacted Fischer, the release said. They shook Fischer to wake him and removed him from the forklift.

Deputies said Fischer slurred his words and smelled like alcohol. Fischer told deputies he was at his apartment or hotel room before going out to get food but didn’t know where he was or how he got to the store, located at 16205 E. Broadway Ave.

Video footage showed Fischer crashing the forklift into the sliding doors, according to court documents.

The damage was estimated at $5,000 to $7,000, police said.

Fischer was charged with felony first-degree malicious mischief and booked into the Spokane County Jail.

He made his first appearance Wednesday in Spokane County Superior Court and is scheduled for an arraignment March 6. Fischer was released from custody on his own recognizance, documents say.