Officers arrest man who stole a large piece of heavy construction type equipment, ran over a fence, and attempted to drive away

Just past 10am on 11/03/23, SPD officers responded to a call at the 4400 block of East Trent on a trespass call. Employees at the machinery business encountered a man in a fenced outdoor area of the business, that houses large equipment, who refused to leave. By the time officers arrived on scene within 3 minutes, the man had climbed up into an estimated 17,000 pound rubber tracked crawler, ignoring police directives to exit. The man then put the machinery into gear, drove over the fence, and proceeded to drive along railroad property. Additional SPD officers arrived, including one with knowledge of large machinery. That officer noticed the crawler didn’t have a lockable throttle, indicating if the man’s hand came off the joystick, the crawler would stop. Based on the weight of the vehicle and the non-compliance from the suspect, officers were very concerned about further harm to property or people. An officer then jumped into the moving crawler through the driver’s side and pulled the man’s hand off of the joystick. The crawler stopped, officers removed the man and arrested him.

Matthew W. Cook (40) was arrested for 2nd Degree Burglary, Theft of a Motor Vehicle, and Felony Malicious Mischief. He was booked into the Spokane County Jail.