Meth Lab Found Near Middle School; Three Arrested
Sheriff’s detectives arrested two Idaho men and a female transient last Thursday after discovering a methamphetamine laboratory across the street from Centennial Middle School.
Officers found one-half ounce of finished meth and all the chemicals needed to produce more in a backyard shop at 1028 N. Ella Road.
The lab probably was in operation three months or less, said sheriff’s Lt. Chan Bailey.
Officers arrested Michael L. Tice, 40, of Wallace, James E. Sweet, 40, of Coeur d’Alene, and Tracie R. Petrie, 33, an apparent transient.
Tice and Petrie were charged with possession of methamphetamine.
Sweet will not face local charges, but he was booked into the county jail on fugitive charges related to meth possession warrants in Kootenai County.
Petrie also had a warrant from Kootenai County, for possession of amphetamines.
The owner of the home in front of the meth lab was not arrested.
The Spokane Fire Department’s hazardous materials team spent more than five hours Thursday night decontaminating the suspects, five Sheriff’s deputies and two dogs.
Fire officials returned the following day and spent seven hours cleaning up the site with representatives from the Department of Ecology, Solid Waste Management, the Health Department, the Washington State Patrol and the Sheriff’s Department.
Troopers assaulted, man arrested
A man stopped for erratic driving was arrested on charges of third-degree assault, resisting arrest and DUI after he allegedly began hitting the Washington State Patrol troopers who pulled him over.
Troopers stopped David B. Larson, 49, of Spokane, at 1:50 a.m. Sunday on Woodruff Road near Empire Avenue.
Troopers said Larson struck one officer on the back of the head and the other on the side of the head and eye when they started to give him field sobriety tests.
The officers subdued Larson with pepper spray.
Neither officer required medical treatment.
Larson was booked into the Spokane County Jail.
Man arrested after brother cut
A 24-year-old Spokane Valley man was arrested for second-degree assault Sunday after allegedly chasing his brother through the house with a knife and slicing the man’s thumb.
Aaron T. Spolar, of 1322 N. University Road, was angry with his 22-year-old brother, who he said cut his phone lines.
The men argued and threw bricks at each other before Spolar cut his brother with the knife. The victim then fled the scene. Officers have been unable to locate him.
Vehicle’s window shot out on I-90
A driver traveling eastbound on Interstate 90 near the Flora Road overpass had his passenger-side window shot out last week.
The window was completely shattered and the man suffered cuts to his right arm in the incident, which occurred at about 2:30 a.m. on July 16.
Sheriff’s deputies could not determine the type of weapon used to shoot at the window.
No arrests have been made.
, DataTimes