SANDPOINT — An arraignment hearing involving a Boundary County man charged in connection with a fatal crash on Highway 95 has been postponed until next month. 

The hearing, at which Rick Quinton Gross, 61, is expected to be formally charged in connection to the Nov. 22 crash, was postponed to Feb. 20. The case had been set for Jan. 22 but District Judge Susie Jensen granted a continuance in the case after defense attorney Craig Zanetti said he'd yet to receive transcripts for the connected grand jury case. 

An arraignment hearing is where a person appears before a judge and is given the chance to enter a plea to the charges against them. 

Gross faces a felony vehicular manslaughter charge, three felony aggravated reckless driving charges, a felony possession of methamphetamine charge, and misdemeanor charge of possession of drug paraphernalia. 

Gross was arrested Dec. 31 at his Boundary County home. Investigators say he was southbound in a 2011 Dodge Ram pickup when he attempted to pass multiple vehicles on Highway 95 near Elmira, striking a northbound Ford Edge. The crash killed 5-year-old Amelia Carollo and critically injured three others — her mother, Amanda, brother Patrick and family friend Anna Andreykovets — who were all in the Ford Edge. 

In a probable cause affidavit, Idaho State Police Cpl. Travis Bucher said at the time of the Friday morning crash, while there was a small amount of slush in the middle of the highway, the roadway itself was mostly wet. He testified in the affidavit that there was no fog present or ice on the roadway, and visibility was about 1,500 feet. 

After Gross was taken to a local hospital for treatment of a possible broken leg, Bucher wrote Gross allegedly refused to give a blood sample and had been given fentanyl by hospital staff, according to another ISP trooper, Cpl. C. Francis. The second trooper, according to court records, said Gross had informed him that he had been traveling to an eye appointment when the crash occurred. 

According to court records, witnesses said Gross was continuously passing vehicles from Naples to Elmira, where the crash occurred. One told ISP troopers that he witnessed the man pass northbound traffic on three separate occasions, including his car and others on one side of a hill and several others on the other side of the hill. In another instance, the man allegedly told the trooper that he saw Gross begin to pass a semi-truck and at least two other vehicles, staying in the northbound lane for what seemed to him to be an extended time. 

"(He) seemed to be in a hurry to get somewhere," Bucher wrote in the affidavit of the man's impression. 

Another witness is quoted in the affidavit as saying she saw Gross enter the northbound lane to pass about four vehicles, including hers, telling the trooper she thought the driver was "crazy for doing so due to the weather." Because of the conditions, the woman told the trooper that traffic was moving at about 45 mph and noted there was room in front of her vehicle to pull back into the southbound lane but did not do so for some reason. 

"She was very confused as to why Gross didn't get back over into the southbound lane as there was approximately a 100-foot gap between her vehicle and the car immediately in front of hers," Bucher wrote in the affidavit. 

It was shortly after passing that gap in traffic that the crash took place, according to the witness. 

Gross was granted house arrest at a Jan. 2 hearing after Zanetti argued his client required family care at home, as he is a wheelchair-bound veteran with a traumatic brain injury.  

At that hearing, the court ruled that Gross could be monitored at home, limiting any movement to court appearances and medical appointments. However, an exception was made at Wednesday hearing to allow the man to attend the funeral of a family member. 

Gross’ bond is set at $250,000.