Robbery attempt erupts in gunfire
An attempted robbery at a Cheney residence turned into an exchange of gunfire between the would-be robbers and the would-be victims Thursday afternoon.
The two men who attempted the robbery remain at large, said Cheney police Lt. Rick Campbell. At least one of the home’s residents may be arrested on drug charges.
Police responded to 210 Pine St. about 12:50 p.m. Thursday on a report of shots fired, Campbell said. The rear window of one of the men’s mid-1990s red Buick was shot out during the exchange.
According to a 20-year-old man who lives at the Cheney residence, he met one of the two men in Spokane about a week ago and invited him to Cheney to go skateboarding, Campbell said.
The man showed up Thursday with a friend. One of them wielded a gun, and the other had a club.
The two men tried to rob the Cheney residents and tie them up with zip ties, but the attempt failed, Campbell said.
When the two men fled, one of the residents ran outside to get a description of the their car. One of the men shot at him, and he fired back.
The Cheney residents, who rent the home, consented to a police search of the residence, Campbell said. Police found marijuana paraphernalia inside the home, including pipes, baggies and drug scales.
Anyone with information regarding the attempted robbery should call (509) 498-9235.
Liberty Lake
SCRAPS short on surgery funds
Another emergency surgery has left the Spokane County Regional Animal Protection Service strapped for money.
Animal protection officers are nursing a basset hound back to health after a surgery Tuesday evening. The dog was found wandering near Fish Lake and Cheney-Spokane Road, said Patricia Simonet of SCRAPS.
The dog had a large, abnormal growth on his chin. An officer brought the dog back to the shelter, and although funds for emergency surgeries were tight, a veterinarian at the Animal Clinic at Liberty Lake removed the large tumor. It is unknown if the growth was malignant.
While the surgery was important, SCRAPS director Nancy Hill said the agency is running low on surgery money.
“This year has been a year of many calamities,” Hill said. “We have had more injured than we did in all of 2005.”
The basset hound will be available for adoption Saturday at SCRAPS Animal Shelter at 2521 N. Flora Road, Spokane Valley. Those who would like to donate to the shelter’s Animal Medical Fund can call (509) 477-2752.
Spokane
General Store given extension
A federal judge has granted an extension to the General Store in Spokane so it can continue selling its remaining guns.
The store’s general manager, Nick Fjellstrom, said the license was extended about 60 days and now will expire on Aug. 1.
“The pickings are getting thin,” Fjellstrom said of the remaining guns at the store, 2424 N. Division St. “We went from about 1,500 guns to about 500.”
The General Store has traditionally been one of the largest gun retailers in the area, selling about 2,000 firearms a year.
However, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has taken actions to revoke the business’s license to sell guns after an investigation.
ATF inspectors found several discrepancies, including the store having no record for what happened to 88 guns.
“Upon discovering that 88 firearms were missing from its inventory, (store officials) promptly filed 2 theft/loss reports … one for 80 of the firearms and one for 8 of the firearms,” court documents show.
Fjellstrom blamed most of the records problems on clerical errors and said store employees are researching about 20 years of records to find the paperwork on the 88 guns, which have been listed as stolen or missing.
“If we can find most or all of the (paperwork), we have a great chance of reversing this thing,” he said.
Attorney must serve suspension
The state Supreme Court has ordered inactive Spokane attorney Mark E. Lehinger to begin serving a one-year suspension whenever he should decide to resume practicing law.
The decision, announced Wednesday, is based on Washington State Bar Association findings that Lehinger practiced law in 2003 while his license was suspended for failure to pay his dues, that he failed to tell his clients about his suspension and that he made false statements to the bar association.
Documents from Lehinger’s bar association disciplinary hearing indicate he introduced testimony that he had been suffering severe depression in 2002 and 2003, and wasn’t sure he wanted to continue practicing law.
A hearing officer rejected that as a mitigating factor but noted that Lehinger had no previous disciplinary record, that he had a “generally good reputation” and that his violation wasn’t motivated by dishonest or selfish reasons.
Lehinger was admitted to the bar in November 1985.
Woman arrested in motel quarrel
Cigarettes, strippers and cash led a woman to throw a trash can through a West Plains motel window early Thursday.
Elisa L. Faoutas first claimed her body was what shattered the window, but witnesses told deputies a different story, said Spokane County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Sgt. Dave Reagan.
Faoutas, 40, was booked into jail on one count of second-degree malicious mischief.
According to a deputy, Faoutas and her husband, who are transients, rented a room at Airway Express Inn, 3809 S. Geiger Road, on Wednesday and ran out of cigarettes, Reagan said.
They went looking for more and saw men smoking outside another motel room.
While asking the group for smokes, Faoutas’ husband offered to bring strippers to the room, Reagan said. One of the men gave him $60, and the husband left.
When the husband returned, the man who had paid for the strippers decided he wanted his money back, Reagan said.
The husband said it was too late.
The two men went to another room and argued about the cash, Reagan said. This apparently upset Faoutas, and she threw the garbage can out the window.
Sandpoint
ISP investigating county jail death
Idaho State Police are investigating the death of a Bonner County Jail inmate who committed suicide early Thursday morning.
Mark C. Hatler, 45, of Sandpoint, was found in his cell during a routine bed check, according to a press release from the Bonner County Sheriff’s Office.
Hatler was booked into the jail May 13 on charges of felony domestic battery, attempted strangulation and destroying a telecommunication device.
The press release said sheriff’s deputies and emergency medical workers attempted to revive Hatler.
Idaho State Police Capt. Clark Rollins said autopsy results Thursday showed Hatler’s death was consistent with asphyxiation by hanging.
Hatler was not on suicide watch at the jail, Rollins said.