Wanted man shot dead
<p>SHAWN GUST/Press A Kootenai County Sheriff's Department Crime Scene Unit vehicle and trailer is parked near the suspects Nissan at the scene of the shooting.</p>
<p>SHAWN GUST/Press The drivers door of the late 1980s model Nissan that was 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 and later pronounced dead.</p>
<p>SHAWN GUST/Press Carl Speer, who has lived on St. Estephe Court in Hayden since 1980, describes what he heard during the incident with the Post Falls police and Idaho State Police that left a Coeur d'Alene man dead early Monday morning.</p>
<p>SHAWN GUST/Press Capt. Curtis Kastens with the Idaho State Police lifts the police line tape Monday during an investigation at the scene where police opened fire on a suspect near the intersection of Bordeaux Avenue and St. Estephe Court in Hayden.</p>
HAYDEN - The 33-year-old Coeur d'Alene man who was shot and killed by a police officer in Hayden early Monday after leading police on a vehicle chase had been booked into the local jail 23 times as an adult.
Justin Earl Nicholas Todd had 25 warrants over the past several years charging him with crimes from trafficking in methamphetamine to eluding police.
"At the time of the stop, there was an active ($50,000) warrant in Kootenai County charging Todd with felony eluding," said Kootenai County Sheriff's Department Maj. Ben Wolfinger.
Todd, starting at 2:20 a.m., led police on the chase from Interstate 90 at Post Falls to the Hayden cul-de-sac of St. Estephe Court. He was profiled in The Press last week as the "Fugitive of the Week."
An unnamed Idaho State Police trooper who chased Todd sustained minor injuries after he got out of his vehicle and Todd struck him with his car, according to the KCSD. The trooper was treated and released from Kootenai Medical Center, where Todd was pronounced dead.
"The shots were fired after the officer was struck with the vehicle," Wolfinger said.
Multiple shots were fired at the scene, but how many shots, where Todd was struck and how many times, which agency and officer shot Todd or whether Todd had a weapon were not released by the KCSD and are under investigation. Two Post Falls officers chased him, along with the ISP trooper. Neither of the Post Falls officers were injured.
Wolfinger said multiple officers shot at Todd, but details are under investigation. He said it is not believed that Todd fired at officers.
A photo of the white 1989 Nissan Sentra Todd was driving shows about a dozen bullet holes in the driver's side door and window.
A 26-year-old female passenger, Todd's girlfriend from Coeur d'Alene, was not injured. After complaining of feeling ill, she was transported to KMC for evaluation.
According to the KCSD, an ISP trooper attempted to stop Todd on eastbound I-90 at Post Falls after police cameras on the freeway alerted dispatchers that the license plates of a wanted person had been identified. Todd, who was also wanted in Spokane County for escape from community custody, failed to stop and a pursuit ensued.
After chasing Todd for about 20 minutes, the pursuit ended in the residential area near the intersection of St. Estephe and Bordeaux in Hayden's Caravelle Estates between Prairie and Honeysuckle avenues west of Ramsey Road.
"After the ISP trooper got out of his vehicle, the suspect hit the trooper with the suspect's vehicle," a press release states.
A female acquaintance of Todd's and the passenger's, who declined to be identified out of fear of retaliation, said Todd was unarmed. She said the two were headed to her Hayden home before the chase, but she does not live on St. Estephe.
The woman, who said she obtained an "eye-witness" account as to what happened, said a police car struck Todd's vehicle three times and spun it around on the cul-de-sac.
"(Todd) told the passenger not to get out," the woman said. "Police went in front of the vehicle and, when they drew their weapons, the passenger opened the door and jumped to the ground. (Officers) unloaded several rounds into Justin with his seat belt on. He was unarmed and was not given the opportunity to get out of the vehicle."
The woman said that while Todd was wanted and booked into jail a lot, he has no history of violent crimes.
She said Todd was on the run after an officer-involved shooting death of a friend last year.
"He said he was on the run because of that incident," she said, adding that Todd spoke with his friend just prior to the earlier incident. "He was also involved with what they wanted to speak with (the friend) about. He didn't know where to go because he didn't trust anyone."
Carl Speer and his wife, Susan, who live on St. Estephe, woke up to sirens and emergency vehicle lights on Monday.
"All of a sudden I heard this 'pop, pop, pop,' my wife looked out the window and I told her to get down," Speer said.
There's a snow pile still in the cul-de-sac.
"(Todd) went left (around the pile) and the police met him on the right side," Speer said.
Speer has lived on the block for 32 years and it's by far the most commotion they've had, he said.
"We've had the police around on a very, very rare occurrence," he said. "It's normally very quiet."
An autopsy was performed on Todd on Monday morning. Those results, along with toxicology reports, are pending.
Todd's booking history in the local jail from 1997 to last year includes charges for drug possession, burglary, obstructing police, probation violation, grand theft and petit theft.
Wolfinger said the female passenger is not wanted, but has been in the past.
Multiple agencies are investigating with the KCSD taking the lead since the chase ended it its jurisdiction. Investigators did not release the complete route of the chase on Monday.
Post Falls Police Chief Scot Haug said the license plate-identifying cameras along I-90, a joint effort of local law enforcement, alert dispatchers of a stolen vehicle or wanted person an average of three or four times per month.
Haug declined to comment on the shooting incident, citing that the KCSD is heading up the investigation.