A 19-year-old Spokane Valley man was booked into the Spokane County Jail early Saturday after he used a pilfered fire department wrench to open 10 or more fire hydrants throughout the city.
Steven Ray Brown, 14200 block of East Desmet, was arrested about 2 a.m. and booked on a felony count of First-Degree Malicious Mischief and misdemeanor counts of Minor in Possession of Alcohol and Possession of Marijuana.
Five companions, some of them juveniles, remain under continuing investigation by the Spokane Valley Fire Department.
Officer Todd Miller was parked in the area of Long Road and Indiana about 1:50 a.m. Saturday listening for a noisy car that had been reported in the area. He saw a red Subaru pull to the side of the roadway, kill its headlights, and then take off again moments later.
He noted on his radar that the car was doing 37 mph in the posted 25 mph zone, and that its driver failed to signal a turn. He stopped the car and identified the driver as 19-year-old Justin L. Myles, 1300 block of South Bannen.
Myles exhibited signs of intoxication, and was ultimately arrested for Driving While under the Influence of Alcohol. While being processed for the DUI charge, he told Officer Jason Petrini that he had been involved in the hydrant issue and that a fire department wrench was inside the car.
As all four passengers were also exhibiting signs of alcohol consumption, and all were underage, officers search the car for more evidence of the drinking violation. They found the wrench, which one passenger said had been found left on a hydrant by firefighters.
Brown told Officer Miller that he alone had used the wrench to open hydrants, apparently to save the other four from being arrested. He was placed under arrest and driven to jail while other officers waited for parents to collect the other three.
A 19-year-old passenger, Mitchell Gunion, was cited and released for Minor in Possession of Alcohol, and the two 16-year-old passengers were referred to Spokane County Juvenile Court for the same charge.
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