Man jailed on eluding charge after accident
KEITH KINNAIRD | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 6 years, 9 months AGO
SANDPOINT — A man was arrested for felony eluding after crashing his cab-over recreational vehicle at the intersection of U.S. Highway 95 and Schweitzer Cutoff Road on Sunday afternoon.
James Kerrigan was subsequently charged with battery on a law officer for attempting to bite a detention deputy’s leg and propelling bodily fluids at the deputy following his arrest, court records indicate.
Kerrigan, 40, was arraigned by video in Bonner County Magistrate Court on Monday, although the status of his bail and the appointment of counsel was not immediately available.
A road deputy began following Kerrigan’s 1977 Coachman RV after another motorist reported that it was being driven erratically on Upper Pack River Road at approximately 2:30 p.m. The other motorist said the driver of the RV nearly caused several crashes on the county road and was driving with its side steps extended into traffic, according to a probable cause affidavit.
The deputy pursued the 26-foot-long RV as it progressed southbound on the highway and attempted to conduct a traffic stop using his patrol vehicle’s emergency lights. When Kerrigan failed to yield to the lights, the deputy activated his siren and pursued the RV for another 3 miles, which also failed in getting Kerrigan to pull off the highway, the affidavit said.
Kerrigan’s RV approached the Schweitzer Cutoff intersection, but did not visibly attempt to brake before rear-ending a Ford F-150 pickup truck that was waiting on the traffic light. Kerrigan was arrested without incident, the affidavit said.
Kerrigan’s degree of compliance deteriorated after being booked into the Bonner County Jail, according to court documents.
Jailers noted that Kerrigan began cleaning the holding cell he was kept in using toilet paper and water from the commode. It devolved into toilet water being thrown around the cell, prompting deputies to warn him that he would be jolted with a Taser if he didn’t heed commands to stop. During the ensuing scuffle, Kerrigan allegedly spit toilet water he took into his mouth onto a deputy and attempted to bite him in the lower leg when deputies went to subdue him, court records indicate.
A preliminary hearing on the charges, all of which are felony-level, is pending.
Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.
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