A 54-year-old Rathdrum man with a history of drunk driving and eluding convictions could stay in prison for the rest of his life depending on how well he adjusts to life behind bars.

Dwayne E. Best was sentenced in Coeur d’Alene’s First District Court to between five years and life in prison for one count of felony eluding — which included a sentencing enhancement for being a habitual offender — and a possible six years in prison for one count of felony DUI.

His criminal record includes eight DUI convictions, three eluding convictions and three domestic battery convictions.

The latest charges stem from an incident in Post Falls in February in which Best drove a blue Dodge Dakota pickup truck around 8 p.m. on a Sunday blowing through intersections, crashing into a power pole, striking a vehicle, crossing medians, driving over signs and then heading the wrong way on a one-way street.

Police pursued Best’s pickup truck, which traveled at speeds around 45 mph until the chase ended with his truck stuck in a yard near the intersection of William Street and Mullan Avenue.

Officers broke a window to remove Best from behind the steering wheel, where he sat, refusing to unlock the truck’s door. One of the officers received minor cuts from broken glass. Best’s blood alcohol content was .277, more than three times the legal limit to drive.

Defense attorney Jay Logsdon said his client had a series of personal misadventures, in addition to drug use, causing him to self-medicate.

“He hurt his back and his opiate addiction spun out of control,” Logsdon said.

Best said most of his criminal history is related to alcohol use.

“I have periods of sobriety,” he said. “I try to get back on my feet and something happens and I become a loser again.”

In the Feb. 19 incident, Best allegedly veered over a snow bank into the parking lot of the Post Falls AutoZone, sped through parking and crashed through a fence of a residential home. He smashed into a Post Falls Police cruiser, initiating $1,500 in damages, as he tried to further elude officers.

District Judge John Mitchell said although Best, in his 20-year criminal career, had never been sent on a prison rider, or rehabilitation program, he could not in good conscience opt for rehabilitation at this point.

“You made the decision to start and keep drinking,” Mitchell said. “You haven’t been able to do probation. I have to sentence for what you have done up to this point in life and this incident that got you here.”