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Accused shooter pleads guilty to some charges

KAYE THORNBRUGH | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 3 years, 5 months AGO
by KAYE THORNBRUGH
Kaye Thornbrugh is a second-generation Kootenai County resident who has been with the Coeur d’Alene Press for six years. She primarily covers Kootenai County’s government, as well as law enforcement, the legal system and North Idaho College. | July 9, 2022 1:06 AM

COEUR d’ALENE — A man accused of shooting two people at a Post Falls gas station pleaded guilty Friday to some of the charges associated with his alleged crime spree.

Tisen W. Sterkel, 32, of Oldtown, pleaded guilty to eluding and possession of a controlled substance, both felonies. He also pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor charges of attempted unlawful entry and unlawful entry.

Sterkel is still facing nine felony charges: Two counts of aggravated battery, two counts of aggravated assault, two counts of possession of a stolen vehicle, operating a stolen vehicle without the owner’s consent, burglary and robbery.

A jury trial will begin Monday.

The charges stem from December 2021, when Sterkel allegedly fired at least five shots at a Conoco gas station in Post Falls, hitting one man in the neck and another in the leg. Both men survived their injuries.

After the shooting, witnesses said Sterkel fled the scene in a pickup.

Police said he ditched the pickup and stole a different vehicle, before forcing a man at gunpoint to switch vehicles with him and driving off again.

In court Friday, Sterkel admitted to attempting to hide in two different residences.

A woman testified in March that she was working from home when Sterkel opened her unlocked front door and tried to enter. He was holding a gun.

“I jammed my foot in the door and asked if I could come inside,” Sterkel said Friday.

He then described entering another residence through the garage and running through the house.

Sterkel also admitted to leading police on a high-speed car chase through a field, where law enforcement eventually pinned his vehicle, and to possessing methamphetamine at the time of his arrest.

Before accepting Sterkel’s guilty pleas, Judge Lamont Berecz noted that evidence related to those charges may still be presented at trial.

Sterkel remains in jail on $2 million bond.

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