Police Department

Arrests Made In Morning Crime Spree

Julie Humphreys, Communications Manager, 509.625.5868

Monday, July 17, 2023 at 8:06 a.m.

A morning long crime spree ends when SPD arrests 3 suspects in an armed robbery, 2 in a vehicle prowl, after they crash while fleeing officers

This morning, 7/14/23, shortly before 8am police officers responded to a call of a vehicle prowling that occurred in the 6600 block of N. Perry. A resident reported that he witnessed 2 people smash in the window of his vehicle. The caller confronted the suspects and was dragged by their vehicle as he attempted to contact them.

Several hours later officers responded to an armed robbery call at Friendship Park in the Nevada/Lidgerwood area. A victim relayed he was approached by several people and robbed at gunpoint. The suspects then fled in a vechicle matching the description of the one involved in the earlier vehicle prowl. Officers located the vehicle a short time later near Francis Ave and Nevada St. before the driver fled at a high rate of speed. Officers did not initiate a pursuit of the suspect vehicle after evaluating the risk to the public with existing traffic volumes and high speeds of the fleeing vehicle.  

Approximately an hour later, an SPD employee spotted the suspect vehicle at Northwest Blvd and Ash and alerted officers. The vehicle left at a high rate of speed prior to officers attempting contact. Officers again located the vehicle at Northwest Blvd and Alberta where a police pursuit was initiated. The short pursuit ended when the suspect vehicle crashed into an unoccupied car parked at Elm St. and Jackson Ave.  The driver fled on foot and was quickly apprehended by police. The other two suspects in the vehicle attempted to flee on foot and were also quickly apprehended. A gun was recovered just outside the car.  

Officers arrested the driver of the car, Manuel Cabrera Jr., 34, for 1^st Degree Robbery, Felony Hit and Run, 2 counts of Attempt to Elude, and 1^st Degree Unlawful Possession of a Firearm related to the robbery. He was also charged with 2^nd Degree Assault related to the vehicle prowling incident. Cabrera is a 18 time convicted felon with 52 total criminal convictions.

James Ben was arrested for 1^st Degree Robbery and two outstanding warrants. Additionally, he was charged with Malicious Mischief related to the vehicle prowl.

A third suspect who was in the vehicle when it crashed but not during the initial vehicle prowl, Alison L. Bay, 34, was arrested for a weapons violation. All three were booked into the Spokane County Jail this afternoon after being evaluated at a hospital for injuries. A fourth person, also in the vehicle when it when it crashed, suffered minor injuries but is not a suspect in the crimes.

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