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Man fleeing police crashes near campus

Crime

Man fleeing police crashes near campus

A man fleeing police crashed into a median near the intersection of Northwest Boulevard and Hubbard Avenue.

“Taskforce detectives and deputies had been trying to capture a wanted felon, they made a traffic stop on his vehicle,” said Captain Dan Soumas, of the Kootenai County Sheriff Department. “He fled and it was a pursuit.”

The chase was initiated in the north part of Coeur d’Alene at 3:33 p.m., and ended at 3:41 p.m.

The driver of the vehicle, Patrick Dalton, 30, Clarkston Wash., exited his vehicle after the crash and further attempted to elude officers on foot.

“The driver took off in the woods, and they just surrounded the place,” said Bodi Dotson, a former NIC student who witnessed the collision.

Shortly after, a k-9 unit apprehended Dalton.

Witness Claudia Brennan, an agent at Windermere Real Estate, said Dalton was then loaded into an ambulance for what appeared to be dog-bite wounds.

“It all happened so fast,” Brennan said. “It was like something out of NYPD Blue.”

Dalton has been charged with drug trafficking, possession of methamphetamine and felony eluding.

Dalton is wanted for escape in Washington, in addition to being sought by the State Department of Corrections in Nez Perce County, Idaho.

An unnamed male passenger has been charged with felony possession of a controlled substance.

A second passenger, a young female, was charged with misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance and frequenting.

There were no reported injuries from the crash.

 

Christina Villagomez is the current Managing Editor and former News Editor at the Sentinel. Described by a previous employer as being a jack-of-all-trades-writer and a bit of a spark-plug, Christina enjoys writing hard news stories when she's not attending board of trustee meetings in her spare time. Christina was previously a staff writer at the Panhandle Sun, and is the three-time winner of the Most Cheerful Award at her old elementary school as well as several Idaho Press Club Awards and a Region Ten Mark of Excellence Award from The Society of Professional Journalists for her news writing.

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