Drunk Man Steals Seattle Police Car, Cayuse Pass Set to Re-Open – Northwest News Roundup May 2 Afternoon

Here is the latest breaking news from the Associated Press and Newstalk 870

Drunk Seattle Man Steals Police Car

SEATTLE (AP) — Police say a man who appeared very intoxicated took off for a short time Thursday afternoon in a Seattle police car.

The incident began with a report the man had assaulted several people on a bus and then fled on foot through the Battery Street tunnel.

Two officers found the man in the tunnel and attempted to stop him. He fought them off, jumped in a patrol car and took off.

Police chased their own car about a mile until the driver crashed into a retaining wall the Queen Anne neighborhood where the 35-year-old Seattle man was finally taken into custody.

Cayuse Pass Set to Re-Open After Avalanche Control Work

SHORELINE, Wash. (AP) — The Transportation Department says it will reopen Cayue Pass at noon Friday, giving drivers an entrance to the east side of Mount Rainier National Park.

Workers have been clearing snow up to 12 feet deep off Highway 123 for more than two months.

The Transportation Department also said Thursday it expects to reopen nearby Chinook Pass on Highway 410 by Memorial Day weekend.

Both passes are closed in the winter by avalanche danger.

Clarkston Man Held in Connection With 3-Year Old Murder of His Wife

LEWISTON, Idaho (AP) — A Washington state man who authorities say killed his estranged wife three years ago and an Idaho man who police say helped in the slaying have been charged with first-degree murder.

Fifty-one-year-old Charles Capone of Clarkston, Wash., and 49-year-old David C. Stone of Moscow were also charged Wednesday in 2nd District Court in Idaho with conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and failure to notify officials of a death.

Authorities say 40-year-old Rachael Anderson — a mother of four — in April 2010 was lured to Capone's Moscow auto repair shop where she was drugged and then killed. Her body has not been found.

Latah County Prosecutor William Thompson Jr. says evidence in the case is mostly circumstantial.

Both men are being held in the Latah County Jail.

14,000 Oregonians Informed They Have Committed Unemployment Fraud

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — The state Employment Department mailed 14,000 notices this week to people who have committed unemployment fraud. The letters notify recipients of recent legislation that allows the department to intercept all or part of their federal tax refund to repay the debt. Department spokesman Craig Spivey told the Statesman Journal it's "kind of a last-ditch effort" to reach people who owe a collective $55 million.