Coulee Cops

Grand Coulee Police

4/18 - A couple on Young Street agreed to give each other space following an argument. No crime had been committed.

- Police took note of an RV in poor condition towing an old van without any license plates parked on Grand Coulee Avenue. The RV license plate, obscured by the van, turned out to have expired in 2017. Police looked inside and saw garbage in the van, and began to request a tow. A man with dirty hands and soiled clothes approached police and said he just bought the van and was taking it to the Tonasket area. The man had a suspended license and the vehicle wasn’t street legal, but the man lucked out as a tow wasn’t available for that size of a vehicle at that time of night, about 9:50 p.m. The man said he would have the vehicle moved before the morning.

- Grand Coulee Police assisted Coulee Dam Police in arresting a man, near Coulee Boulevard and Miller Avenue in Electric City, for being in a car with a woman who has a court protection order against him. The woman said she was aware of the order but that it was from a year ago. The man was arrested and taken to jail. The woman wasn’t licensed and couldn’t take control of the car and so left on foot.

4/20 - A driver said his visibility was obstructed by cars along the road as he was pulling out from a coffee stand onto Midway Avenue. Believing he was clear to turn, he noticed an oncoming pickup, but it was too late to evade and the drivers collided. No one was hurt. Police did not cite the man turning onto Midway for the accident, being familiar with the high visibility issues there. Police helped the two drivers exchange insurance information.

- Police saw a car pulled over near the intersection of Grand Coulee Avenue and Spokane Way, with the driver’s door ajar and the man seemingly vomiting on the ground. Police determined he was past the legal limit after he blew a 0.18 on a breathalyzer test, over the 0.08 limit. The man was cooperative throughout the process and doesn’t have a history of such activity. He said he had about six beers at the bar in Electric City earlier. He may face the charge of being in physical control of the vehicle while intoxicated, however the officer’s report notes that, because of his cooperation throughout the process and being a driver in good standing, he is a good candidate for having the charge deferred. He was given a courtesy ride by police.

4/21 - At about 6 p.m., police went to the “Industrial Area,” of the Grand Coulee Dam along SR-155. There was confusion among Security Reaction Force officers when a man was making a delivery after normal hours. The driver was cooperative in showing police a purchase order being delivered to the area. A compromise was reached with SRF officers and the driver that the delivery would be made in the daytime the following Monday.

4/22 - Police saw a man walking in the area of Martin Road and Hill Avenue whom they knew was not supposed to be within 1,000 feet of a residence there due to a no-contact order that he had previously been arrested for violating. The man ran from police when told he was under arrest, and after running from police up and down hills, climbing over a wall, and falling over a branch, it eventually appeared he had made it to his mother’s home on Bowen Street, where he stays, before police could arrest him. He faces charges of violating the no-contact order and resisting arrest.

4/23 - Midway Avenue coffee shop employees told a tribal officer, who was getting coffee, that a red pickup that just left the stand was being driven by an intoxicated 16-year-old and headed south. Grand Coulee Police didn’t see the vehicle.

- Security footage showed a man in a dark, hooded sweatshirt cut a length of hose at a carwash and walk away with it at about 2:30 a.m. The owner of the carwash said it will cost about $100 to replace.

- Police assisted tribal and Coulee Dam police in looking for a vehicle said to be driven by two intoxicated people on River Drive. The vehicle was later found parked and unoccupied on Holly Street. 

4/24 - Grand Coulee and Coulee Dam officers responded to a report of screaming being heard at a Section Place camper. Police spoke to the people in the camper who all appeared fine and safe. They said they had yelled earlier when an indoor cat was trying to get out.

- Police received a report that a white guy and a black guy were smoking marijuana outside on Roosevelt Drive. Police spoke to a couple men who were cooperative although confused as to why marijuana is legal but can’t be smoked outside. Police didn’t smell any marijuana. The report was found to be unfounded. Police left.

Coulee Dam Police

4/16 - A Coulee Dam officer went to assist a Colville Tribal Police officer with a woman resisting arrest on Birch Street and River Drive. Tribal police had successfully arrested the woman and had her in the back of a patrol car before the Coulee Dam officer arrived, so assistance was not needed.

4/17 - Police helped a woman on Park Avenue get into her chair after she had a dizzy spell and called 911. A medical team arrived, and she declined a ride to the hospital because she had forgotten to take a medication that helps with dizzy spells.

4/18 - Police stopped a vehicle on Civic Way being driven by a 14-year-old girl. The car parked at the school, where two other juvenile girls got out of the car, as well. Police told the girls to go to class and called the driver’s mother. She said someone will get the car. The girl faces the charge of driving without a license. Police noted she has driven in the past.

4/20 - A suspicious man was reported on Mead Way near the daycare. He was thought to be intoxicated, was looking into windows, was on his phone, and walked away. Police determined no crime had been committed.

4/21 - While traveling south on SR-155 near milepost 26, police saw a car heading north crossing over the centerline. Police turned around and caught up to the vehicle in Coulee Dam on Columbia Avenue. The driver failed sobriety tests, at first denying drinking and saying he had been hit in the head with a toolbox in 2018, then admitting to having a shot of rum at the tavern in Electric City. He refused breathalyzer tests and was taken to jail in Grant County, where the alleged crime of driving under the influence had originally occurred.

4/22 - A man told police he fell asleep while driving on Stevens Avenue in Electric City, struck a car that was parked about 15 feet off the roadway, then walked home. Police took note of the distance the vehicles traveled, and it seemed from that he had been traveling faster than the 25 miles per hour speed limit. He was cited for wheels off the roadway and distracted driving. The incident occurred at about 4 a.m. when the owner of the parked car was asleep. 

- Police found a vehicle near the shooting range at Osborn Bay that had been seen driving in with a full trailer and leaving with an empty trailer. Police saw no large amount of garbage or items dumped in the area, and the driver explained that it was sand that had been removed from the trailer. No crime had occurred.

4/22 - An officer assisted tribal police on River Drive where they had contacted a man and woman about a domestic dispute. The man was wanted on a Spokane County warrant, was arrested and taken to the jail there.

4/23 - Police were unable to locate any kids throwing eggs at cars near Pine Street and Civic Way.