In brief: Probe of deputy’s fatal crash with bicyclist concludes

Spokane police have finished an investigation into a fatal crash between a Spokane County sheriff’s deputy and a bicyclist six months ago.

Ryan Holyk, 15, died in June of injuries sustained in the collision at Sprague Avenue and Vista Road on May 23. Joseph Bodman was driving the Spokane Valley police cruiser that struck Holyk, who witnesses said was crossing against a green light. Witnesses also said Bodman was not using his overhead lights.

Police said Bodman was driving to back up a sheriff’s deputy who had stopped a suspect with an outstanding domestic violence warrant when the crash occurred.

The findings of the Spokane Investigative Regional Response team have been forwarded to prosecutors, a Thursday news release said.

Information sought on tavern lot injury

Spokane Valley investigators want to learn more about an injured woman who may have been struck by a vehicle.

The woman was found about 11:30 p.m. Oct. 17 in Mike’s Welcome Tavern parking lot in Spokane Valley. She was intoxicated at the scene and told deputies she was sitting behind a parked vehicle that hit her, Spokane Valley police said in a news release.

Witnesses said the victim was alone in the parking lot before the incident. Investigators believe she may have sat or laid down behind a parked vehicle, and the driver may not have known she was there. She was seriously injured but has been released from a hospital.

Anyone who has information is asked to contact Cpl. Jeff Welton at (509) 477-3237.

CdA teenager possibly in danger

Coeur d’Alene police are looking for a teen believed to be an endangered runaway.

Rachel Adria-Lorrain Brink is believed to be in the company of Jared M. Carey, 18, who is wanted on two warrants for probation violations. Carey is driving a dark blue 2004 anniversary edition Subaru Legacy with Idaho license plate number K561421.

The two were last seen in Sheridan, Wyoming, on Tuesday. Anyone with information on Brink’s whereabouts is asked to call (208) 769-2320.

Guard helicopter crashes; two dead

BOISE – An Idaho National Guard spokesman said two crew members are dead after their Army National Guard helicopter crashed Thursday night in Boise.

Col. Tim Marsano confirmed the deaths but did not release any details on the two pilots.

Marsano said the pilots were on a training mission when the Apache combat helicopter crashed about 2 miles south of the National Guard base at Gowen Field near Boise International Airport.

Robbery suspect faces new charge

A man accused of robbing two coffee stands in late September is now suspected in the armed robbery of a Baskin-Robbins store in Spokane.

Andrew P.E. Stepak, 24, is suspected of robbing Baskin-Robbins at 2727 E. 29th Ave. on Sept. 29. He allegedly stole about $130.

Stepak was arrested Sept. 30 in connection with the coffee stand robberies . He now faces an additional armed robbery charge .

Bail in the new case was set at $75,000 Wednesday.

Hunter kills bear, cub that attacked partner

KODIAK, Alaska – A Washington state man shot and killed a bear mauling his hunting partner on a small Alaska island and then its cub that popped out from some brush.

KMXT reported Michael Snowden, of Sitka, suffered leg injuries in the brown bear attack Tuesday.

Snowden and Jeff Ostrin, of Camas, Washington, dragged a deer they had shot to a beach to be picked up, and stopped for lunch. The bears caught wind of the deer.

A sow came through the brush and attacked Snowden. Ostrin stepped back, took aim with his rifle and killed it. One of the bear’s two cubs then emerged, and the hunter fatally shot it.

State wildlife official Larry Van Daele said Ostrin is a hero for killing the bears, tending to Snowden’s wounds and getting help.

Wounded student out of hospital

TULALIP, Wash. – One of the students wounded in a shooting at a Washington state high school has been discharged from a Seattle hospital.

Harborview Medical Center spokeswoman Susan Gregg said 14-year-old Nate Hatch was released Thursday. Hatch was shot in the jaw when a student opened fire at Marysville-Pilchuck High School Oct. 24. Four students were fatally wounded. One student, 15-year-old Andrew Fryberg, remains in critical condition. The shooter took his own life.

Services were being held Thursday and today on the Tulalip Indian Reservation for Shaylee Chuckulnaskit, one of the students killed.

Suspect arrested after photos posted

PORTLAND – Authorities say a Washington state woman whose lifeless body appeared in online photos died of strangulation and blunt force trauma to the head.

The Kitsap County coroner’s office released the cause of death for 30-year-old Amber Lynn Coplin on Thursday.

Earlier in the day, the man accused in her death waived extradition to Washington state and was preparing to return to Kitsap County to face charges.

Authorities say Coplin’s live-in boyfriend, David Kalac, killed her and posted photos of her body online before fleeing to Oregon. He surrendered to authorities Wednesday night after a daylong manhunt.