Police trace items to vehicle break-ins

A witness to a Spokane Valley vehicle prowling Wednesday provided information that led to the arrest of two men and the recovery of stolen items.

A resident in the area of 11900 E. Mansfield Ave. called police shortly after midnight to report that men in a white Subaru with a gray stripe had just broken into a vehicle, said police spokesman Cpl. Dave Reagan.

An officer began to search the area and spotted the car near Montgomery and Farr Road. The driver allegedly responded by turning off the headlights and speeding away.

The car crashed into the stairway of an apartment house of 9314 E. Montgomery Ave., Reagan said. Two men ran from the car. One was tracked down by a police dog and the other was spotted as he tried to walk away from the apartments, he said.

The Subaru turned out to be stolen, and when the owner arrived to pick it up, she said the items in the back of the car didn’t belong to her. Police found items they could trace to three different vehicle break-ins. The items recovered included firefighter gear belonging to a Fire District 10 volunteer firefighter and a set of golf clubs valued at $2,300.

The cars that were broken into include two in the 2300 block of North Wilbur and one in the 8900 block of East Broadway. The suspects told police they had broken into other cars as well, Reagan said.

Police arrested 19-year-old Mickey H. Santos, 2807 E. Boone Ave., and booked him into the Spokane County Jail on charges of first-degree possession of stolen property and two counts of second-degree possession of stolen property.

Damien D. Lo, 22, of 3110 N. Cedar St., was booked on charges of first-degree possession of stolen property and attempting to elude a police vehicle.