Briefly

Mom jailed after 5-year-old found alone in apartment

Spokane police found a 5-year-old boy home alone early Monday morning, apparently abandoned by his mother.

Police said the boy appeared to be “bright” and “reasonably healthy.”

The apartment at 328 W. Eighth Ave. was filthy, with rotting food in the kitchen and narrow pathways through stacks of clothing and garbage, according to police. In the bathroom, officers found several syringes that tested positive for methamphetamine.

“The apartment was in shambles,” Officer Eric Kannberg said.

Police arrested Debbie D. Dempsey, 33, when she arrived home later that morning. She was charged with possession of a controlled substance and child endangerment, both felonies.

Dempsey told police she had gone to the store for groceries, Kannberg said. Police said the boy told them his mother often leaves, sometimes during the night.

The state’s Child Protective Services took the boy into custody and will hold a hearing this week to determine his placement. Police say CPS removed the boy from Dempsey’s care when he was 3, but later returned him to the mother.

Man pleads guilty to assault

A Spokane man who beat, bit and allegedly raped his girlfriend at knifepoint pleaded guilty Monday to second-degree assault with a deadly weapon.

Clayton Dennis Jones III, 38, is to be sentenced Dec. 15. His plea to Spokane County Superior Court Judge Linda Tompkins was in exchange for dismissal of a first-degree rape charge.

According to court documents, Jones was angry when his girlfriend confronted him Aug. 3 for failing to give her a ride home from work as promised after he took her car earlier in the day. She said he grabbed her by the hair, threw her against a wall and choked her. Then, the woman told police, Jones forced her to strip and perform a sex act while he held a 3½-inch folding knife to her throat. She said he hit her in the head with a wooden club, bit her and raped her again.

Rangers recover climber’s body

Ashford, Wash. Rangers racing against an expected snowstorm Monday recovered the body of a climber who died on Mount Rainier.

Aaron Koester, 21, of Monroe, died in an avalanche Sunday, though his companion, Matt Little, 23, of Monroe, survived after being buried up to his neck. Mount Rainier National Park spokeswoman Patti Wold said the two were on Ingraham Glacier, 11,000 feet up the 14,411-foot mountain, practicing for an ascent of Mount McKinley in Alaska.

Snow halts search for jet

Seattle The week-old search for a privately owned fighter-trainer jet with two men on board has been suspended as snow blankets the search area.

There have been no new leads on a crash site for the Czechoslovakian-built L-39 jet, the Aviation Emergency Services Division of the state Department of Transportation said Monday.