Traffic stop results in battery arrest

COEUR d'ALENE - An empty gas tank landed one 26-year-old suspect in the big tank.

Idaho State Police arrested Joseph R. Ornellas Monday morning near mile marker 9 on eastbound Interstate 90 after troopers stopped to offer the stranded motorist aid.

The vehicle Ornellas was driving had run out of gas around 10:30 a.m. near Post Falls, according to ISP Trooper Josh Kagarice.

After troopers pulled over to assist, they were then notified by dispatch that Ornellas had an outstanding domestic battery warrant in Kootenai County.

He was taken into custody without incident, but traffic was closed down on the eastbound lanes for roughly 10 minutes during the arrest, Kagarice said.

Ornellas is being held in Kootenai County jail and is scheduled to make his first appearance before a judge this afternoon.