CRIME & SAFETY

The Spokane Police Department is enforcing a new city ordinance that makes public use of illegal drugs a misdemeanor. In the past three weeks, officers have initiated 80 citations or arrests for people openly using drugs on city streets. Depending on the circumstances, people are either cited and released or taken to jail.

Spokane Police and investigators with the Spokane County Medical Examiner's Office have solved a human remains/cold case using genetic genealogy for the second time in several months. The case involved an unidentified male with burn marks to his torso and significant head trauma found in a railroad tunnel in January 1980. Despite fingerprints and an autopsy being conducted, the man was buried as a John Doe. Thanks to a grant in July 2022, the Medical Examiner's Office obtained a DNA profile from the body after it was exhumed. Othram Inc., a forensic lab specializing in working with degraded specimens, provided viable leads which led to the identification of the John Doe as Donald Leroy Pearson, born in 1924. His children shared that their father was not present in their lives, and his siblings were deceased. The case remains open with few leads to the suspect.

SPOKANE, Wash. — A lost mushroom picker in Boundary County was rescued by a Spokane County Sheriff's Office helicopter Saturday morning when he was found three days after going missing. Boundary County Sheriff, Dave Kramer, reported that the lost mushroom picker, Bourathaphon Inthanthanya from Redding, California, is on his...

SPOKANE – The cause of death in a former Okanogan County and Spokane County deputy has been has been confirmed by a medical examiner. A month after his death, Spokane County’s medical examiner revealed that Craig Chamberlin had died of natural causes. The 52-year old’s cause of death...

May 31—One man was injured in a shooting at Second Avenue and Havana Street early Wednesday, the second shooting at that location this year. Spokane Valley deputies responded to reports of several gunshots on the 4300 block of East Second Avenue at about 2:30 a.m. Wednesday, the Spokane Valley Police Department reported in a news release.

SPOKANE, Wash – A parent’s worst nightmare has become a stark reality for a Spokane Valley family. Their 2-year-old son, Thor, died after more than a week of fighting for his life.

SPOKANE VALLEY, Wash. -- Spokane County Sheriff's deputies arrested a suspect in Spokane Valley for indecent exposure and a felony warrant for kidnapping. On Tuesday around 11 a.m., deputies responded to a business on N. Sullivan Road and E. Broadway Ave. for reports of a man urinating in front of the window of a business and seen by a female employee.

SPOKANE, Wash. – A car crash in north Spokane has caused a power outage, knocking out electricity for over 1,300 customers. Traffic lights in the area are also out. The details of the crash are not known, though Avista reports the outage began just after 8:40 a.m. Crews are on scene now working to restore power, and the estimated time of restoration is 11:30 a.m. today.

SPOKANE, Wash. - The man arrested Tuesday in connection with a shooting in the Logan neighborhood of Spokane over the weekend appeared in front of a judge Wednesday afternoon, facing first-degree assault, drive-by shooting and unlawful possession of a firearm charges.

COLBERT, Wash. — The Department of Natural Resources is fighting a fire in Colbert that has burned about three acres of timber. As of 11:45 a.m., no homes were threatened. The fire, dubbed the Midway Fire, was reported Saturday morning near Midway Road. In addition to local units, some...

SPOKANE, Wash. -- A crash on North Division Street and East Francis Avenue this morning has been cleared. The Spokane Police Department wanted folks to be aware of a crash backing traffic up on N. Division St. and E. Francis Ave.

SPOKANE, Wash. — The suspect in a 40-year-old cold case died in the Spokane County Jail, according to the Spokane Police Department (SPD). Tracy Pruitt was awaiting trial in jail when he died on the morning of May 19, 2023. Pruitt was accused of killing Spokane businessman Archie Rutherford at his South Hill home in 1982. As a result of his death, however, prosecutors are requesting the murder charge against him be dropped.

SPOKANE, Wash. — A 40-year-old Spokane woman pled guilty to illegally obtaining $360,000 in COVID relief funding for small businesses. Marisa Beck pled guilty to stealing money from small business relief funding, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington Vanessa R. Waldref announced Wednesday. Beck stole a total of $368,829 by submitting false payroll and revenue to get the relief funds.

MEAD, Wash. — Three students were involved in a multi-vehicle crash outside Mt. Spokane High School on Wednesday morning. A three-car crash involving students was reported just before 9:00 a.m. on May 31 on Mt. Spokane Park Dr. According to WSP and the principal, one student was transported to...

SPOKANE VALLEY, Wash. - Police found a man with a gunshot wound at E. 2nd Ave. and Havana St. on Wednesday, May 31. The Spokane Valley Police Department responded to a call after gunshots were heard in the area at around 2:30 a.m. Police arrived and found a man shot in the torso. Officers provided medical aid and the man was taken to the hospital. Police also say this may have been a drive-by shooting and more than one car could have been involved.

The 11-month old and 11-year-old along with the mother survived the crash. Sadly, after over a week in the hospital, the 2-year-old they call Baby Thor died.

SPOKANE VALLEY, Wash. - Washington State Patrol says a 2-year-old who was hospitalized due to a crash on Tuesday, May 23 has died. Amanda Hendricks and her three boys, Kaleb (11 years), Obidiah (11 months), and Jeffery Thor (2 years), were crossing SR 27 near East 24th Avenue when WSP says they "failed to recognize the vehicle," and were hit by a car driven by a 16-year-old girl.

SPOKANE, Wash. – Jeanine Hendershot has had a difficult year to say the least. She lost her Grandson Tyler to heart failure, so when the sign commemorating his memory was vandalized, she said it was heartbreaking. “He had no right to do that. It wasn’t his to take,” said...

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — Search for survivors at site of Iowa building collapse completed, rescuers move to shore up structure for recovery.

SPOKANE, Wash. -- Spokane Police and SWAT arrested a wanted person at a home in the Comstock neighborhood on the South Hill Tuesday afternoon. Spokane Police say they arrested 33-year-old Ryan Shaules, who is a suspect in a shooting that happened near E. North Foothills Dr. and N. Hamilton Street.