Creach son questions Valley police contract

The son of pastor Wayne Scott Creach, killed by a Spokane County sheriff’s deputy last month, urged the Spokane Valley City Council on Tuesday to change its police services contract with the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office. Alan Creach said the council should talk to Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich about the practice of allowing officers to “trespass” by parking patrol cars on private property without informing the property owner. He also told the council he was unhappy with the investigation by the Spokane Police Department, calling it full of “gaping holes.” “I am not confident that we are getting what we are paying for,” he said of the city’s contract with the Sheriff’s Office. “If getting my father shot is what we’re paying for, I would recommend we suspend our payments.” Creach, 74, was carrying a pistol when he confronted Deputy Brian Hirzel, who was in an unmarked patrol car in the parking lot of Creach’s nursery Aug. 25. The deputy says Creach refused repeated orders to drop the gun and get on the ground.