Wanted shooter, friend in custody after crash

SPOKANE VALLEY - A man sought by police in connection with a February shooting and a female companion were in police custody late Friday after they attempted to elude an officer and crashed on Sprague Avenue.

Joseph L. Bledsaw, 25, and his passenger Tanya M. Roybal, 26, were both injured when Bledsaw struck a median and rolled his 1997 Pontiac while attempting to flee law enforcement after 9 p.m. Friday, Spokane Valley police said. Bledsaw, listed by police as a transient, is a former Hayden resident.

An officer was attempting to stop Bledsaw for speeding, but Bledsaw took off eastbound from Sprague and Havana Street at speeds in excess of 60 mph, possibly because he has an outstanding warrant for first-degree assault, police said.

At Sprague and Fancher Road, Bledsaw struck a concrete median, police said. The car rolled several times and Bledsaw was ejected. The car then began burning, blocking the westbound on-ramp onto Interstate 90.

Officers pulled Roybal from the wreckage and determined she was wanted on a misdemeanor warrant charging her with third-degree driving while suspended, police said.

Detectives had been looking for Bledsaw since a Feb. 27 shooting incident at an East Sprague apartment complex. At that time, Bledsaw confronted a man about a noise complaint the man made to police against a female acquaintance of Bledsaw's. Bledsaw fired shots through the man's apartment wall, with one bullet narrowly missing a toddler sleeping inside.

For that shooting incident, Bledsaw, wanted for assault, was also wanted for reckless endangerment and unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, police said.

In Spokane County, Bledsaw has a five-year criminal history, which includes a single conviction for first-degree malicious mischief, police said.

Both Bledsaw and Roybal suffered injuries in the Friday night crash. Both were transported to a Spokane hospital for evaluation and treatment, police said. Bledsaw remained in the hospital Saturday night, said police spokesman Sgt. Dave Reagan.

A nursing supervisor said Saturday night that Roybal was treated and released.

Valley police traffic detectives handled the crash investigation.