Officer-involved shooting in Hayden
<p>SHAWN GUST/Press</p> <p>The driver-side door of the late 1980s model Nissan involved in a chase with the Idaho State Police and Post Falls Police Department in the early morning hours Monday shows nearly a dozen bullet holes as the vehicle is transported from the scene. The driver of the coupe was shot by police and later pronounced dead.</p>
<p>Earl is the wanted suspect shot and killed by police this morning following a 20-minute vehicle chase involving multiple law enforcement agencies.</p>
Update: The man killed by police early this morning in Hayden was the North Idaho Violent Crimes Task Force's most recent Fugitive of the Week.
Justin Earl Todd, 33, was sought on a Kootenai County felony warrant charging him with felony eluding an officer and habitual offender.
The sheriff's department reports Todd had an extensive arrest record in Kootenai County with 23 previous bookings as an adult and 25 warrants charging him with a variety of crimes ranging from trafficking methamphetamine to felony eluding.
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The Press has learned that the driver of the vehicle was a 33-year-old Coeur d'Alene man wanted on a Kootenai County warrant for felony eluding. Based on the initial investigation, the female passenger is the girlfriend of the driver.
Kootenai County Sheriff's Major Ben Wolfinger declined, at this time, to say whether the driver had a weapon.
Wolfinger said multiple shots were fired at the scene, but declined to say whether the driver was shot multiple times.
The shots were fired after the trooper was struck by the vehicle. The trooper had exited his car when he was struck.
Additional details, including the vehicle description, will be released after the next of kin is notified. The female is being interviewed by investigators this morning.
Wolfinger said he couldn't say whether there were any weapons or drugs found inside the vehicle because he didn't believe the inside had been searched yet earlier this morning.
An autopsy and toxicology results will indicate whether alcohol or drugs were a factor.
Post Falls Police declined to comment.
"This investigation has been turned over to the Joint Agency Critical Incident Investigative Team for investigation," PFPD Chief Scot Haug wrote in an e-mail.
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Here is an official statement released this morning by the Kootenai County Sheriff's Office. The Press will report additional details as they become available.
"About 2:20 a.m., today, an Idaho State Police trooper attempted to stop a car that had triggered the BOSS system on I-90 in Post Falls. (The BOSS system detects stolen cars and wanted persons’ vehicles.) The BOSS system activation was for a wanted person.
The suspect failed to stop and a pursuit ensued. Two Post Falls police officers joined the pursuit to assist the state police trooper. After chasing the suspect for nearly 20 minutes, they ended up in the residential neighborhood in the area of St. Estephe Ct. and Bordeaux Drive, in Hayden, Idaho.
After the ISP Trooper got out of his vehicle, the suspect hit the trooper with the suspect’s vehicle. At least one officer then fired at the suspect, striking him. The suspect was transported to Kootenai Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.
A female passenger that had been in the suspect vehicle was uninjured, but after complaining of feeling ill, was transported to Kootenai Medical Center to be checked out.
The ISP Trooper received minor injuries and was treated and released.
The multi-agency investigation team will be conducting the investigation with the Sheriff’s Office as the lead agency since the shooting occurred in their jurisdiction. More information will be released as it becomes available."