Standoff with bounty hunters ends with tear gas at Spokane motel

An early-morning standoff at a Spokane motel ended when bounty hunters broke a room window, threw in a tear gas canister and then forced their way inside to capture two people.

The standoff happened at the Econo Lodge Inn & Suites, 1503 S. Rustle Road. The two people inside the room were identified as Justin Jordan, 34, of Spokane, and Shanda Hanson, 32, of Idaho. Hanson was wanted in Idaho, and the pair had reportedly checked into the motel using fake names. Both have extensive criminal histories.

Bounty hunter Shaun Beveridge said he and his partners received a tip Tuesday night that Hanson was staying at the motel. They found her and Jordan in the parking lot of the Motel 6 across the street, and Jordan tried to run them over in a stolen SUV, he said.

Jordan and Hanson ran into their room at the Econo Lodge and barricaded the door with a dresser and a TV, Beveridge said. The bounty hunters, who aren’t law enforcement officers, called Spokane police at about 2 a.m.

Officers arrived and told Hanson to come out, but left when she refused, said Officer Teresa Fuller, a spokeswoman for the Spokane Police Department.

“We said, ‘Sorry, you’re on your own,’ ” Fuller said. “We don’t assist bondsmen because they have their own rules, and a lot of times their rules are a lot more lax than ours.”

Fuller said officers couldn’t arrest Hanson because her warrant was out of Kootenai County. But Beveridge said he was disappointed by the initial police response.

“I was thinking, ‘Wow, that’s really good police work,’ ” Beveridge said. “We had a bad guy, a wanted man who was stealing cars and guns, and a wanted woman, and they didn’t do anything?”

During the standoff, Jordan was calling in bomb threats to a local hospital in an attempt to distract law enforcement, Beveridge said.

At about 4:30 a.m., the bounty hunters smashed a window and tossed in the tear gas canister, then used a key to enter the room. They found Hanson face-down on the bed, covering her face with pillows to avoid the searing gas, Beveridge said. Jordan had barricaded himself in the bathroom and wrapped a towel around his head.

The bounty hunters apprehended the pair and again called police. Hanson was taken to Kootenai County. Detectives later found several guns, numerous knives and other stolen property in the room.

Meanwhile, motel management is frustrated by the bounty hunters’ actions and believes they illegally damaged private property, according to one employee who spoke on condition of anonymity. In addition to the broken window, the room was saturated with tear gas. And because the motel uses a central ventilation shaft, guests in neighboring rooms had to be moved.

The employee said two bounty hunters dressed in tactical gear entered the motel lobby during the standoff and demanded a key to the room where the fugitives were staying.

The bounty hunters identified themselves by giving a business card to the night clerk, but the clerk assumed they had proper authority and handed over the room key, the employee said.

Beveridge argued that he and his partners were forthcoming. “We never, ever tell people that we are law enforcement,” he said.

The bounty hunters were contracted with Quick Release Bail Bonds in Coeur d’Alene. Owner Chris Skinner said Wednesday evening he hadn’t received a complaint from the motel.

A spokesperson for the state Department of Licensing, which oversees the bond enforcement industry, couldn’t be reached for comment Wednesday.

Fuller said bond agencies work independently of the police department. “I honestly couldn’t tell you how often they do something like this.”