Man who jumped into Spokane River during winter apparently to evade police drowned, medical examiner says

The Spokane County Medical Examiner’s Office determined the 32-year-old man who police say jumped into the Spokane River after officers tried to arrest him in February drowned.

Sol Bagby was recovered March 21 from the river after his body was found floating north of Seven Mile Road, according to the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office.

Spokane police officers responded the afternoon of Feb. 10 to a domestic violence call at a home on West Water Avenue in Peaceful Valley, Spokane police Lt. Barton Stevens said. They found a suspect, Bagby, by a riverbank close to the Water Avenue home.

Officers called out to Bagby and tried to get him to return from the riverbank, Stevens said. Instead, he entered the water, tried to swim away and got carried down the river.

Stevens said Bagby sunk below the water, and the Spokane Fire Department was called to rescue the man, but first responders never found him.

The medical examiner’s office ruled the death an accident.