North Spokane crime spree ends in police pursuit, 3 arrests
Spokane police netted three arrests Friday after a vehicle prowl, assault and armed robbery led to a police pursuit and ended in the suspects crashing a vehicle.
Officers responded shortly before 8 a.m. to the prowl in the 6600 block of North Perry Street, according to a Spokane Police Department news release. A resident reported two people smashed his vehicle window, confronted the suspects and was dragged from their vehicle as he tried to confront them.
Police were dispatched to an armed robbery hours later at Friendship Park in north Spokane. The person robbed told police he was held at gunpoint. The suspects fled in a vehicle that matched the description of the one involved in the vehicle prowl, police said.
Officers located the vehicle near Francis Avenue and Nevada Street, but the driver sped away, according to officers. A police employee spotted the vehicle at Northwest Boulevard and Ash Street, and officers again located the vehicle at Northwest Boulevard and Alberta Street.
A short police pursuit ended when the suspect’s vehicle crashed into an unoccupied car parked at Elm Street and Jackson Avenue. The driver and two suspects in the vehicle fled on foot and were apprehended by police. Police recovered a gun outside the car, officers said.
The driver, Manuel Cabrera Jr., 34, was arrested on suspicion of first-degree robbery, felony hit-and-run, two counts of attempt to elude police, first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm and second-degree assault. Cabrera is a 19-time convicted felon with 52 total criminal convictions, the release said.
James Ben, whose age was not provided, was arrested on suspicion of first-degree robbery, malicious mischief and two outstanding warrants, police said. Alison Bay, 34, was arrested on a charge of a weapons violation. All three were booked into the Spokane County Jail after being evaluated at a hospital for injuries.
A fourth person, also in the vehicle when it crashed, had minor injuries but was not charged.