Driver arrested in hit-and-run

SPOKANE VALLEY – A local man has been arrested in connection with a hit-and-run crash that left one pedestrian hospitalized Jan. 24.

John R. Townshend, 64, was arrested Jan. 29 and booked into the Spokane County Jail for felony hit-and-run with injury.

Although the name of the victim is public record, the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office refused to release the name. The woman remains hospitalized.

The arrest stems from a crash in the 5200 block of East Broadway Avenue, records show.

Deputies were called to the area after a vehicle – later identified as a Jeep – struck a woman, records show. On Jan. 25, they located a 2014 Jeep Wrangler with damage in the parking lot of Rodeway Inn, 6309 E. Broadway Ave.

“The damage had a unique design that was immediately recognized as appearing to match the parts located at the collision scene,” according to the Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies traced the Jeep to Townshend, records show, noting they located him Jan. 29 at the Trent Resource Center, 4320 E. Trent Ave., an address he had previously used as a home address.

At about 7 p.m., Townshend arrived in the Jeep and was arrested on a misdemeanor warrant, records show. The Jeep was impounded.

Following his arrest, Townshend allegedly admitted to being near the crash scene at about 7:45 p.m. Jan. 24, records show. He allegedly told deputies he was eastbound on Broadway Avenue, saw the woman and swerved to avoid her, but clipped her.

Townshend said he turned around to look for her, but that she had run off, records show.