Police standoff ends peacefully

POST FALLS - A 56-year-old Coeur d'Alene woman wanted on two felony warrants was arrested on Sunday after barricading herself in a Post Falls mobile home.

Rebecca Stafford was arrested by Post Falls police at a home on Vine at the Lucky Pines Estates mobile home park after hiding inside for about a half hour.

"Officers kicked in the door a couple times and, as it started to weaken, she came out," Capt. Pat Knight said.

Stafford had a $100,000 warrant for failure to appear for burglary and another $100,000 warrant for failure to appear for possession of a controlled substance.

The owner of the home, who declined to be identified, said she has known Stafford for about 20 years, but gave police permission to kick in the door if necessary. She said Stafford did not have permission to be at the home. The owner was at her other home in Lewiston at the time.

A neighbor saw Stafford enter the home and reported the suspicious activity to police.

Donna Wilson and Ethelle Bartosovsky were working in the yard of the home for the owner when they said Stafford came out and asked who the women were.

Wilson said she called the home's owner to see if anyone was supposed to be inside. She said she then saw police approach the home.

"I was scared to death," Bartosovsky said. "We were hunched behind cars and trees in case the lady had a gun. She obviously wasn't going to come out of the trailer."

Stafford ultimately surrendered and was arrested without incident.

"I was so thankful she opened the door for them," the homeowner said. "It would have broken my heart if something would have gone wrong."

No weapons or drugs were found inside the home.

Stafford was booked in the local jail several times between 1991 and 2009, including for probation violations, drugs, grand theft, battery, arson and cruelty to animals.