17-year-old student accused of choking woman, dragging her into north Spokane alley

A 17-year-old Rogers High School student is accused of attacking a woman on her walk home, dragging her into an alley and pinning her to the ground in north Spokane, according to court documents.

The boy was charged with suspicion of first-degree kidnapping and second-degree assault.

The woman reported she was walking home on Perry Street the afternoon of Jan. 16 after getting off a Spokane Transit Authority bus outside Rogers High School when someone grabbed her from behind, dragged her into an alley and tried to rape her, court records show.

She told police the attacker wrapped one arm around her face, covering her eyes and mouth, and the other around her neck. He then dragged her into the alley while choking her for about 10 seconds before throwing her down, she told police. She said she fought back, flailing and scratching backward at her attacker, as he dragged her, documents say.

She told police he pinned her down and she screamed for help when the suspect made a “shushing noise,” so she stopped yelling. The attacker let her up after holding her on the ground for about 15 seconds, she said in documents.

The attacker then apologized to her. He also pointed out a flower lying in the alley and asked if it was hers, then pointed out one of her acrylic nails that broke off during the assault before he walked away, she told police.

A detective wrote that he found a plastic flower that is commonly worn in a woman’s hair as well as a music ear bud, which she reported she lost during the attack, in an alley near Rockwell Avenue and Perry Street.

She told police she believed the suspect intended to rape her.

A police officer responded to the woman’s home and noticed her acrylic fingernail was broken off and bleeding, and one of her cheeks was red, according to documents. The officer also noted dirt “caked” in the woman’s hair and plant matter on her sweatpants.

Surveillance footage from a nearby home captured a male, whose appearance was consistent with the suspect’s description, walking in and out of the alley at about the time the assault happened, according to documents. Security footage from another home also showed the suspect walking by the residence.

Two Spokane Public Schools campus safety officers, including one assigned to Rogers High School, reviewed photos from the security footage and identified the attacker. The Rogers officer said he was wearing the same clothing as depicted in the videos at school the day of the assault, documents say.

The woman was also shown a still photo from one of the home security cameras and told police that was the person who attacked her.

Police arrested the boy at a northeast Spokane home where they noted he did not appear surprised and did not question the reasons for his arrest, according to documents. He was taken to the Spokane County Juvenile Detention Center.

Investigators recovered clothing and shoes from the boy’s apartment that matched what he was wearing the day of the incident.

He made his first appearance in Spokane County Superior Court on Jan. 23 and is scheduled for an arraignment Tuesday.