Burglars Can’t Evade Deputies or K9 Bane
Spokane Valley Deputies arrested two burglary suspects after they attempted to flee in a vehicle, intentionally crashed in a fence of another business disabling their SUV and then fled on foot. K9 Bane captured the driver and then led deputies to the location where the passenger was hiding where he was arrested.
On April 5, 2019, at approximately 1:40 a.m., Spokane Valley Deputies responded to the report of a burglary in progress. The caller worked for an offsite security company and observed two suspects arrive in a maroon Expedition with a trailer circling the Auto Nation Subaru parking lot, located at 9916 E. Sprague, via video.
Sergeant Thurman, the first to arrive, observed two suspects jump the locked security fence of the business.
As other Deputies began to arrive, the suspects jumped in the vehicle and left at a high rate of speed. With Deputies now in pursuit, the driver of the Expedition, later identified at 20-year-old James D. St. Peter, accelerated and recklessly swerved side to side without concern for anyone’s safety, as he attempted to evade the police vehicles.
Ahead of the pursuit which was now traveling west on Broadway approaching Park Rd., Deputy Richmond deployed spike strips, attempting to end the pursuit safely but St. Peter suddenly swerved, cut through the 7-11 parking lot and continued southbound on Park Rd.
St. Peter then made another erratic and reckless move and abruptly turned west into a concrete business parking lot and intentionally crashed into an industrial, six-foot-high chain-link fence/gate. The collision deployed the airbags and disabled the vehicle.
Deputy Hilton and his partner K9 Bane pulled up behind the vehicle as St. Peter and the passenger, later identified as 24-year-old Nukona C. McCraigie bailed out of the vehicle, ran past the damaged gate and fled on foot. Deputy Hilton ordered them to stop, that they were under arrest and if they did not stop, K9 Bane would be deployed to apprehend them. Ignoring the commands, both St. Peter and McCraigie made the poor choice to continue their attempt to escape.
Deputy Hilton released K9 Bane who rapidly closed the distance and made contact with St. Peter who fell to the ground. St. Peter continued to resist, fighting with K9 Bane in an attempt to break free of his hold. Deputy Hilton took control of Bane as Deputy Stolz place St. Peter in handcuffs.
With St. Peter secured, Deputy Hilton and K9 Bane turned their attention toward capturing McCraigie. Assisting Deputies had already established a perimeter around the area and were broadcasting K9 announcements advising McCraigie to surrender while cutting off avenues of escape. K9 Bane, now on a tracking lead began his search of McCraigie. He led Deputies northeast, through the industrial lot and around several pieces of large machinery to a corner section of fencing where K9 Bane attempted to climb the 6’ fence. As Deputy Hilton notified the perimeter units of the track’s location and direction, he observed McCraigie stand up in the field on the other side of Park Rd. and place his hands in the air. Deputy Schmidt took McCraigie into custody without incident.
During the subsequent investigation, Deputies learned the trailer pulled by the SUV had been stolen earlier in the evening but not yet discovered/reported as stolen. The owner/victim was contacted and wanted to pursue criminal charges.
The SUV was seized to be processed by Spokane Valley Investigative Unit Detectives pending a search warrant.
McCraigie, who was found to be in possession of someone else’s WA State ID and Social Security Cards, was transported and booked into the Spokane County Jail for Burglary 2nd Degree, Possession of Stolen Property 1st Degree, Identity Theft 1st Degree, and Resisting Arrest.
St. Peter received medical attention prior to being transported and booked into the Spokane County Jail for Burglary 2nd Degree, Attempting to Elude a Police Vehicle, Possession of Stolen Property 1st Degree, Malicious Mischief 2nd Degree, and Resisting Arrest.
