Airman found on roof of Spokane building, charged with trespassing

An Air Force survival student is suspected of breaking into a downtown Spokane building, terrifying a partially clothed woman who awoke to find an intruder staring at her, and then eluding residents until police arrived.

Officers found Airman Jason R. Turkovich, 22, hiding early Saturday on the roof of the mixed-use building at Main Avenue and Division Street. Also on the roof was a large arrow fashioned from bricks and other debris pointing south, and a broken window that authorities believe is how the intruder got into the locked building.

Turkovich was cited by Spokane police for misdemeanor criminal trespass and released to the Air Force. He was not booked into jail.

Residents say Turkovich yelled “Article 31” repeatedly as Spokane officers took him into custody, an apparent reference to a section of the U.S. military code requiring crime suspects be advised of their rights under military law.

Audrey Connor, a photo archivist for The Spokesman-Review, lives on an upper floor of the building and described the entire experience as “ ‘X-Files’ status weird.” She hasn’t been sleeping well since.

“I woke up and there was a guy standing in the doorway looking at me,” she said.

Connor, who wasn’t fully clothed, began yelling, and the man left. She alerted her roommate down the hall, John Waite, who grabbed a baseball bat and began searching for the intruder.

Waite, a business owner who has previously run for City Council, said he checked the building, including the roof, and saw no one. “I walked all the way around and I could not find him, so I don’t know where he was hiding,” he said.

Waite found a narrow window leading to the roof access that had been taken out near an unlocked door. He relocked the door and replaced the window.

Connor said she then began hearing noises on the roof and screamed for help. Waite saw the man trying to get back inside through the same window leading to the roof and called police.

When police arrived, they found Turkovich on the roof of the building.

Connor said she was disturbed that Turkovich hadn’t tried to flee but instead went up to the roof and then tried to get back in though the window again. “He tried to stick around,” she said. “That’s terrifying.”

Capt. David Liapis, chief of Fairchild’s public affairs office, said Turkovich is a student at the base’s survival school. He said he does not know what unit Turkovich is attached to.

“They come from all over the Air Force,” he said. “The incident was not related to any actual military training.”

Liapis said it was his understanding that Turkovich was engaging in “roof running” and was trying to get off the roof when he was caught by police.

It will be up to Turkovich’s home unit to impose any discipline in addition to whatever penalties would be imposed if convicted of the pending criminal charge, which could include a letter of reprimand in his personnel file, reduction in rank or forfeiture of pay, Liapis said.

“Obviously airmen are held to a high standard,” he said.

Spokane Police Department spokesman Cpl. Jordan Ferguson said the decision was made to charge the airman with criminal trespassing because a charge of burglary requires proof of prior intent to steal something or assault someone.

Turkovich reportedly told police that he was just trying to get out of the rain. “He told the supervisor on scene that he was cold and was looking for a blanket and a place to get out of the weather,” Ferguson said.

Waite said Turkovich took a large roofing knife from inside the building. “He did steal something and they know it,” he said. “They patted him down and it was in his bag.”

Ferguson said that even though Turkovich allegedly took the knife it’s not enough to support a burglary charge. “You can never prove that he entered into there looking to steal anything,” he said.

Waite said he was told that the man had gotten onto the roof of the nearby Saranac building and made his way from roof to roof down the block. Waite said what most concerned him was that the man, who Waite said appeared to be drunk, tried to get back inside the building.

“I had locked him out and he tried to get back in,” he said. “I felt like that was being disregarded. This is a very dangerous situation. These guys are trained. What if I wasn’t there and it was Audrey by herself?”

Connor said she didn’t believe that the police officers who responded took what she said about Turkovich’s behavior seriously. She said he seemed “out of it” and confused about what had happened and wasn’t in handcuffs when she saw him with police.

Waite said he was also left thinking the police could have done more. “It seems like they were not putting any effort into this thing because he was from Fairchild,” he said.