Victim stabbed in North Side vehicle struggle

A North Side resident on his way to work today confronted a car prowler and ended up going for an unexpectedly violent ride, Spokane County sheriff’s deputies said. Deputies tracked the prowler to a residential area near Hillyard and arrested Benjamin A. Farnum, 22, for second-degree assault. The resident reported that he was leaving for work about 5 a.m. when he saw a man looking into the windows of his vehicle in the 1500 block of East Center Road. He challenged the man and then attempted to stop him from leaving in a pickup truck. The resident tried to remove the keys from the pickup ignition, but he and the prowler became entangled. The prowler pulled a knife and stabbed the resident and then tried to drive off with the resident hanging from the vehicle. The vehicle went into a field where the struggle ended. The prowler drove off, but a teenage girl who had been a passenger told deputies where to find the prowler. Farnum was arrested at a home in the 500 block of East Columbia Avenue. The pickup was nearby, said Sgt. Dave Reagan, sheriff’s spokesman. The assault victim was treated by paramedics at the scene, Reagan said.