Teen tied to downtown 7-Eleven shooting now accused in unprovoked assault of 83-year-old man downtown

An 18-year-old accused of shooting a man outside a 7-Eleven gas station earlier this year in downtown Spokane is now accused of an unprovoked attack that left an 83-year-old man with significant injuries, according to Spokane police.

Richard S. Smith was arrested Thursday on suspicion of second-degree assault and booked into the Spokane County Jail for the alleged May 18 assault, a Spokane police news release said.

Officers responded shortly before 4 p.m. May 18 to the area of Third Avenue and Monroe Street and found the injured 83-year-old, police said.

The victim told investigators that he had stopped to put letters in a mailbox when he heard a man yelling. For unknown reasons, the man walked up and punched him in the face, knocking the elderly man to the ground and causing “significant injury” to one of his arms and his face, the release said.

The suspect, later identified as Smith, left the area before officers arrived.

The Violent Crimes Task Force officers found Smith in the downtown area Thursday afternoon and arrested him.

Smith also was arrested in February after police say he shot and injured a man after an altercation outside 7-Eleven on Division Street and Second Avenue.

Smith is scheduled for trial in July for first-degree assault related to the shooting. He remained in jail Thursday night.