'Too drunk' to be driving

COEUR d'ALENE — A repeat offender was arrested for felony DUI charge following a near head-on crash with an Idaho State Police trooper early Saturday morning.

The Kootenai County Sheriff's Office reported that Kootenai County Sheriff’s deputies and Idaho State Police troopers were notified of a wrong-way driver on Interstate 90, near milepost 10, just after 2 a.m.

An ISP trooper who had a prisoner in custody was traveling on I-90 to the jail. The trooper reported he was nearly struck head-on by a passenger car traveling westbound in the eastbound lanes of travel.

Deputies and troopers responding to the area began shutting down the eastbound on-ramps as the silver Mercedes coupe approached at freeway speeds. Deputies activated their emergency lights and were able to get the car to stop near milepost 7.

Upon contacting the driver, identified as Shannon M. Defrance, 46, of Spokane, he immediately told the deputies that he was “too drunk” to be driving. Following field sobriety evaluations, Defrance was arrested for suspicion of DUI, with a blood alcohol content nearly two times the legal limit.

Because of Defrance’s two prior convictions for DUI, he was booked into the Kootenai County jail for a felony charge of DUI. Additionally, he was booked on a misdemeanor charge of driving on an invalid driver’s license.