In brief: Two arrested after body found in trunk

The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office arrested a man on suspicion of murder Friday after finding the body of a woman reported missing March 7. The body was found in the trunk of a car near the Richard Allen Court Apartments on the lower South Hill.

The woman’s daughter, Rachael Colby, 29, was arrested and charged with rendering criminal assistance and trafficking in stolen property. Her boyfriend, Juan E. Sifuentez, 32, was charged with murder.

Detectives searched a storage unit at 8915 E. Montgomery Ave. for evidence connected to the crime, sheriff’s spokesman Deputy Craig Chamberlin said.

SWAT team standoff closes school, day care

Ness Elementary School and a Spokane Valley day care were locked down Friday afternoon while the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office SWAT team tried to get a wanted fugitive to come out of his house.

Broadway Avenue near Locust also was shut down for more than an hour while the SWAT team repeatedly called for Matthew Luu-Karber, 29, to exit. He was wanted on a Department of Corrections warrant for second-degree robbery, Spokane Valley police Chief Rick Van Leuven said. Deputies were stationed at the school and the day care to ensure children were safe, Van Leuven said.

The SWAT team found the man hiding in the basement when they entered the home. Luu-Karber received facial cuts when a window was broken out.

A man was arrested Thursday after a confrontation over a painted stolen car.

Roscoe Wood, 24, was booked into Spokane County Jail on charges of vehicle theft, malicious mischief and assault.

Investigators said Wood was painting a 1988 Acura Legend with red house paint and a squeegee inside a carport near the 5700 block of North Regal Street around noon.

Police said a bystander tried to box Wood in with a car, and Wood rammed the car with his painted car. The bystander held him at gunpoint until police arrived.

The Acura was the fourth vehicle Wood – a homeless man who has received drug treatment in the past – is alleged to have taken.

Wood told police a 1992 Buick Skylark he was driving that had also been painted red burst into flames Wednesday. He also is suspected of taking a pickup truck that struck another motorist April 7, and was arrested driving a stolen Chevy pickup near Mission Park on April 16.

Wood’s bail was set at $300,000 on Friday.

Accused cop car thief held on $80,000 bond

The man who allegedly stole a Spokane County Sheriff’s Office patrol car Thursday was ordered held on $80,000 bond Friday.

Taylor J. Davis, 26, was booked into the county jail after 10 p.m. Thursday. Police said he used an aerosol spray, possibly mace, against a man whose truck Davis allegedly attempted to steal in the parking lot of a Moran Prairie grocery store.

A deputy found Davis walking in the area and left his vehicle to chase him on foot. Davis allegedly circled back, got in the car and sped off with the deputy’s assault rifle and shotgun inside.

Davis ditched the patrol car and was arrested in the yard of a nearby resident. Nineteen keys were found in his jacket pocket, according to court documents.

Davis is held on charges of vehicle theft, robbery, theft of a firearm and unlawful possession of a firearm. He is a five-time convicted felon, police said.