Fire damages Spokane house
Fire in a Spokane home caused extensive damage and displaced a family of four Wednesday.
Crews were called to 417 S. Ferrall St. about 11:45 a.m., said Spokane fire Lt. Jeff Martin. No one was home at the time of the fire. Firefighters doused the flames within about five minutes of arrival, Martin said.
One room was destroyed, and smoke and heat damaged other parts of the house, Martin said. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
The Inland Northwest Chapter of the American Red Cross provided the family with food, clothes and hotel lodging, said Cynthia Dachtler, Red Cross emergency services director.
The nonprofit organization has assisted the victims of eight house fires in Spokane County this month. Dachtler said that number is high for this time of the year.
Police say Idaho man kidnapped ex-girlfriend
The Idaho State Police arrested a Bonners Ferry, Idaho, man Tuesday night after he fled from Spokane Valley with his 20-year-old former girlfriend.
The incident began about 5:45 p.m. Tuesday when Nicholas B. Murphy’s former girlfriend called 911 to report she was being held against her will by Murphy, who was driving her and another man to Bonners Ferry from Spokane Valley.
Spokane Valley police and Washington State Patrol troopers responded but could not catch up to Murphy’s Honda Accord before it reached the Idaho state line, Reagan said. ISP troopers heard the broadcast and stopped Murphy at Interstate 90 and Northwest Boulevard in Coeur d’Alene, Reagan said.
Spokane Valley police Officer Sarah Riojas drove to Coeur d’Alene and learned that Murphy and his ex-girlfriend had gone to a storage unit in the area of Pines Road and Montgomery Avenue to collect some property. The woman told police that Murphy offered her a ride home but instead drove east on I-90. Murphy refused to pull his car over, and she called authorities on her cell phone, Reagan said.
Riojas told ISP troopers that she had probable cause to arrest Murphy on Washington charges of unlawful imprisonment. Based on that, ISP booked Murphy into the Kootenai County Jail on charges of fugitive from justice and kidnapping, Reagan said.
Murphy will remain in Idaho until he can be extradited to Spokane County, Reagan said.
Suspects, stolen vehicles netted in raid
Spokane County sheriff’s detectives raided a home Wednesday on North Spotted Road, arresting three suspects and recovering three stolen vehicles.
They raided the home at 37110 N. Spotted Road about 9:30 a.m., finding a stolen Ford pickup in a barn, a stolen motorcycle and a stolen ATV on a trailer, sheriff’s spokesman Cpl. Dave Reagan said in a press release.
Detectives also reported finding a small amount of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia in the home of Charles E. Perry and Benjamin Roy Holcomb, both 39.
Detectives found the property littered with more than 60 vehicles, watercraft, motorcycles and tractors, including the three vehicles identified as stolen, Reagan said.
Perry was booked on one count of first-degree possession of stolen property. Holcomb was booked into jail on one count of possession of meth, Reagan said.
A woman living in a second home, 38-year-old Judy M. Hardy, was booked into jail after detectives learned she had outstanding misdemeanor warrants, Reagan said.