Man with the dragon tattoo arrested

COEUR d’ALENE — A Springdale, Wash., man with a dragon tattoo and a goatee, accused of loading stolen items from a Rathdrum shop into the back of his GMC pickup truck, is in jail facing charges of grand theft, burglary, drug possession and eluding.

County deputies arrested Jeffrey D. Williams, 45, after chasing his tan pickup through Rathdrum June 14 after a caller reported seeing Williams load items including a generator and an extension ladder from a shop into his pickup truck and driving away.

At his first appearance last week in 1st District Court, Williams was charged with four felonies and three misdemeanors and Magistrate Judge James D. Stow scheduled a June 29 probable cause hearing.

According to a sheriff’s report, deputies chased the truck before noon on Meyer and Boekel roads, and on Highway 41, before laying out spike strips that damaged the truck’s rear tire. It turned into a Rathdrum residential neighborhood where Williams ditched the vehicle and fled on foot, according to a deputy’s report.

After his arrest, Williams allegedly told deputies that what he had done was stupid, and he complained of a headache from an old, work-related injury, according to a report. He refused to talk further after deputies read him his Miranda rights, and he denied needing medical attention.

Deputies allegedly seized several fictitious license plates from inside the GMC, as well as a jar containing marijuana, a small baggie of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia.

The stolen Honda generator and a Rigid air compressor were recovered along with a Rigid circular saw, and bows and target arrows that were reported stolen from the shop.

Williams is being held in the Kootenai County jail without bond.