News Bites for May 26

MOSES LAKE — A Moses Lake man was booked into the Grant County Jail Tuesday on suspicion of vehicular assault and DUI after he allegedly struck a motorcycle and left the scene of the accident.

Brandon Miner, 37, was arrested near Road N NE after he abandoned his truck and fled on foot, according to a post from the Moses Lake Police Department.

The collision occurred at the intersection of Stratford Road and Sunny Drive at about 6 p.m. The motorcycle rider was thrown off the bike and the bike itself was stuck in the grill of the truck, the post said.

“Officers rendered aid to the injured cyclist until the (Moses Lake) Fire Department arrived, then began to search the area. The 20-year-old motorcyclist would later transported to the hospital with a head injury,” the post said.

“Miner drove several miles out of town before stopping and pulling the motorcycle off the front end of his pickup and continuing to flee,” the post said.

He abandoned his truck near Road N NE and Road 6.9 NE, fleeing on foot. Law enforcement officers found the truck and began searching for Miner.

“Miner slid down the concrete wall into a canal and hid near the water,” the post said.

Officers spotted and arrested him. He was also booked on suspicion of hit and run with injury, evidence tampering and obstructing.

In a separate incident, a Moses Lake woman was booked into the Grant County Jail Tuesday on suspicion of trafficking in stolen property after she allegedly tried to sell stolen metal parts to a Moses Lake recycling business.

Magaly Diaz Luna, 38, was arrested after she allegedly stole metal irrigation parts from a Moses Lake business and tried to sell them, wrote Kyle Foreman, public information officer for the Grant County Sheriff’s Office.

Employees at the recycling business became suspicious when Luna brought the metal in for sale, having received notice from the irrigation business that parts had been stolen, Foreman wrote.

Employees at the irrigation business found a hole in the fence and several parts missing from a nearby pallet. The thefts apparently had occurred over the course of a couple months, he wrote. Subsequent investigation found Luna had sold parts to the recycling business several times in the past couple months. Employees from the irrigation business were able to identify the parts as having been taken from their business.

Employees at the recycling business delayed Luna’s departure until sheriff’s deputies arrived.

“Deputies credit area metal recyclers with maintaining a high incidence of suspicion when accepting scrap metal. Deputies also credit the communication between local businesses and recyclers to raise awareness when metal is stolen. This helps recyclers to be on the lookout for stolen metal that may come into their businesses,” Foreman wrote.

Luna was booked into jail on suspicion of first-degree trafficking in stolen property and second-degree possession of stolen property.

Foreman said both businesses are located in Moses Lake, but the GCSO was covering for the Moses Lake Police Department while the latter agency was having its annual meeting.