3 flown to hospital after car hits tree on Bainbridge Island

Three Bainbridge Island teens were airlifted to Harborview Medical Center early Saturday after the car they were riding in left the road and struck a tree.

Bainbridge Island police said the driver and a passenger in the back seat suffered critical injuries when the Saab sedan went out of control along Sportsman Club Road near High School Road about 3:30 a.m.

The car crossed the center line and struck a large cedar tree on the opposite side of the road.

The driver and his front-seat passenger had to be extricated from the vehicle. Police said alcohol and high speed appeared to have contributed to the accident.

Man found in car

an apparent suicide

A man was found dead in his car in downtown Edmonds on Friday afternoon in what police say was an apparent suicide.

Edmonds police responded to a report of a man slumped over in his vehicle, parked on the shoulder of the road in the 200th block of Sunset Avenue North. They found a man in his mid-20s with a gunshot wound to the head and a shotgun resting between his legs.

The man's name was not released. The case remains under investigation, but police said all indications are that the man took his own life.

Flower, garden show

The 18th annual Northwest Flower & Garden Show concludes its five-day run from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. today at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center, Seventh Avenue and Pike Street.

New features of the show this year include an "Ask the Experts" area where master gardeners will examine plants and answer questions, and "Sproutopia: A Place for Kids!" with hands-on demonstrations, performances and story time for children.

Among the more popular exhibits are 24 elaborate display gardens by Northwest nurseries and landscape professionals.

Admission is $19 for adults, $8 for students up to 25 (with student ID) and $3 for children ages 6-17. A half-day admission charge of $11 may be purchased after 2 p.m. Information: 206-789-5333 or gardenshownw.com.

FBI investigating

death of inmate

The FBI is investigating last month's death of a Spokane County jail inmate after autopsy results suggest the fatal injuries were suffered during a fight with corrections officers.

Benites Saimon Sichiro, 39, had fought with guards on several occasions since his Jan. 27 arrest on three misdemeanor warrants, authorities said.

An autopsy showed that lacerations to his liver, suffered at the jail, led to internal bleeding. The cause of death was blunt-force trauma to the inmate's trunk, Medical Examiner Sally Aiken said. The source of the injury was not known.

The death was being investigated by the sheriff's office and the Spokane Police Department. Sheriff Mark Sterk requested oversight by a Washington State Patrol detective.

The FBI was called in because it frequently investigates deaths of crime suspects in police custody, The Spokesman Review newspaper reported Saturday.

Sichiro died at a hospital after fighting with deputies while resisting a move to another jail cell Jan. 29.

In the new cell, he climbed onto a desk, the sheriff's office said. Diving onto the concrete floor from a desk is a common method for inmates to injure themselves, so a nurse asked officers to place him in a restraint chair.

He fought again with jailers before losing consciousness, the sheriff's office said.

Seattle Times staff and The Associated Press