Spokane Valley cabbie killed in Bonner County

SANDPOINT — A Washington state man was arrested Tuesday on a first-degree murder charge.

Jacob Corban Coleman, 19, of Puyallup is scheduled to make an initial appearance in the death of a Spokane cab driver in Bonner County Magistrate Court later today.

According to the Bonner County Sheriff’s Office, Coleman flew from Seattle to Spokane to start a new semester of college at Gonzaga University but was denied. Coleman reportedly became angry and began to have homicidal thoughts. As his anger festered, he hailed a cab from the Spokane Airport and asked to be driven to a fictious friend’s home in eastern Bonner County.

Once reaching Bonner County, Coleman asked the cab driver, identified as Gagandeep Singh, 22, of Spokane Valley, Wash., to stop at a Ponderay store, where he purchased a knife. The cab driver was directed to keep driving and look for the friend. When it became apparent Coleman had no particular destination, the sheriff’s office said, Singh stopped the cab and was stabbed by Coleman.

Coleman surrendered without incident. He is being held at Bonner County Jail.