St. Maries man sentenced after injury accident

| May 13, 2016 9:00 PM

COEUR d'ALENE — A St. Maries man was sentenced Thursday to serve up to five years in prison after fleeing the scene of an injury accident last summer.

Garrett Bowser, 29, was sentenced by Kootenai County District Court Judge Lansing Haynes after being found guilty by a jury of two charges — felony leaving the scene of an injury accident and misdemeanor failure to notify upon striking a fixture. According to a press release from the Kootenai County Prosecutor's Office, Bowser will be eligible for parole in two years.

On Aug. 15, 2015, Bowser was driving his vehicle with a passenger. According to the release, Bowser and his passenger were drinking and driving in St. Maries before heading into Kootenai County.

It was in Kootenai County, according to the release, that the vehicle operated by Bowser struck a pole holding several mailboxes.

"The pole impaled the front passenger side window and pinned the passenger, causing substantial injuries," the release states. "Bowser then drove to the passenger's brother's home where he fled after the brother was able to extricate the passenger from the vehicle."

According to the release, the passenger was then taken to the hospital where his injuries were treated.

During the sentencing hearing, the release states, Haynes asked Bowser where he was going when he fled the brother's home.

"Bowser responded that there was nothing else he could do for the passenger and he did not want to get in trouble, so he went to his father's home where he was living at the time," the release states.

The release adds that, at the hearing, Haynes detailed a pattern of criminal conduct that began when Bowser was a teenager.

"Mr. Bowser's history demonstrated that incarceration was the only reasonable sentence in this matter," Kootenai County Prosecutor Barry McHugh wrote in the release. "Until Mr. Bowser is willing to follow Idaho laws and rules of probation, he will stay in prison to avoid the high likelihood that further conduct will injure another person."