UPDATE: Detectives Work to Identify People Who Stopped at Cenex Around the Time of the Sexual Assault
Spokane Valley Major Crimes Detectives want to be very clear, the two males and one female in these photos are NOT being investigated in relation to this crime. However, Detectives would like to identify and talk with them, as it appears they arrived at the store around the time of this brutal crime and may be able to provide important information regarding this investigation.
The male in the red coat and the female wearing the red pants arrived at the store together in the pictured white car.
The male in the dark coat, black beanie, and red backpack, arrived on a bicycle and may have spoken with the suspect while at the store.
Again, we would like to stress, these three are NOT being investigated nor believed to have knowledge of the brutal sexual assault. Investigators would like to identify these three and talk with them about any information they may remember during the time they arrived at or were inside the store.
Detectives Rob Satake would like these three, or anyone who can help identify them, to call him at 509-477-6319.
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Suspect Arrest at Scene of Early Morning Violent Assault
Spokane Valley Deputies responding to an alarm at the Cenex Zip Trip early this morning arrested 36-year-old Michael D. Rush who was still inside the store. The store clerk/victim, who had been viciously beaten and sexually assaulted, was found inside the bathroom of the business.
Early this morning, just before 5:00 a.m., Spokane Valley Deputies responded to a panic alarm at the Cenex Zip Trip Store, located at 8215 E. Trent, in Spokane Valley.
Already in the area, Deputies arrived quickly and found the 24-hour store dark inside with the front door unlocked. When they began to enter, they contacted a male later identified as Rush, exiting the bathroom. Rush was immediately detained as Deputies worked to locate anyone else inside the business.
The injured adult female (early 40s) victim was found inside the bathroom partially dressed. She told Deputies she had been beaten, strangled, and sexually assaulted, by Rush. She received immediate medical attention at the scene and was transported to local hospital for serious but, believed to be, non-life-threatening injuries.
Spokane Valley Major Crimes Unit Detectives were called to the scene to continue the investigation.
Rush, a convicted felon and a Level 3 Registered Sex Offender from Chelan County, was transported and booked into the Spokane County Jail for Rape 1st Degree and Assault 2nd Degree.
This investigation is ongoing and no additional information is available at this time.
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