A Spokane homeowner called sheriff's deputies on Friday the 16th after she found a man trying to crawl through the doggy door into her house. She told the deputies who responded she was working from home when she heard her doorbell ring three times. When she looked out and saw a man she didn't recognize, she didn't answer the door, but she kept watching as the man walked from her porch and disappeared around the front of the house.
She went back to work, but suddenly heard what sounded like what someone pounding on the doggy door in the back of her home. She went to see what was happening and the man had pulled the doggy door from the wall and had crawled through it and into her home. When she yelled at him, her turned and ran off. She ran to the front door as the man took off in his car, but she had just enough time to snap a picture.
An alert neighbor also saw the man and his car and provided that info to the responding Spokane County Sheriff deputies. Deputies searched the area but weren't able to find the suspect or the green/grey van with a white stripe he drove off in.
The next day, Deputy Alex Velikodnyy noticed a van matching the picture parked at a gas station near 3rd and Thor. He stopped the vehicle and contacted the driver, later identified as 54-year-old Bobby J. Holt, near 4th on Ferrall. Holt was detained and read his rights. He admitted that the van was his and he was driving it the day before.
When Holt was asked specifically about the burglary, he said he let a friend borrow it for part of the afternoon, but he was unable to give deputies the friend's name.
A check of Holt's name turned up a felony Washington DOC warrant and information that his driving privileges were suspended. He was arrested for the warrant and driving with a suspended license. A search of the van found a syringe cap, with a white powdery substance inside. The substance was field tested and showed positive results for methamphetamine. Holt also had $700 in cash, and two small memory drives in his pocket.
Meanwhile Deputy Dan Middlebos provided the homeowner and her neighbor with a photo lineup, and they both positively identified Holt's van.
Holt was transported and booked into the Spokane County Jail for Residential Burglary, Possession of a Controlled Substance, Driving while Suspended 3rd Degree and his felony warrant.
Holt’s vehicle was impounded as evidence and a search warrant was requested. On February 18th, Deputy Velikodnyy executed the search warrant and located electronic scales, numerous baggies, loose pills and more methamphetamine. With the additional information, Deputy Velikodnyy completed paperwork recommending Holt be charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance with Intent to Deliver.
(story: Matt Pusatory, KHQ Local News Web Producer; image: KHQ.com)