Man arrested after altercation
LOREN BENOIT/Press Mathew R. McLean, 34, was arrested around 1 p.m. Friday after an in-car altercation near the intersection of Hayden Avenue and Atlas Road. Deputies said McLean is accused of wielding a knife, driving a woman to jump from a northbound passenger car. No injuries were reported.
A 34-year-old Hayden man was arrested Friday after an in-car domestic altercation involving a knife at the intersection of Hayden Avenue and Atlas Road in Hayden.
Deputies on scene at 1:15 p.m. said they were called after a motorist said a woman was flagging down cars at the intersection.
Deputies said the woman was in a green passenger car with a man heading north on Atlas Road when she abruptly leapt from the vehicle and attempted to stop passing motorists.
A white Jeep eventually afforded her a safe haven and the suspect, Mathew McLean, reportedly fled west on foot.
“At the time, we didn’t know who had the knife,” Sgt. Solar Larsen said.
Patrolmen from Coeur d’Alene Police, the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office and Idaho State Police responded to what they thought might have turned into a carjacking.
Authorities notified Atlas Elementary School, where officials ordered a safety hold at 1:03 p.m.
“That is one step down from a lock-down,” school district spokesman Scott Maben said.
A safety hold is enforced when a potential threat outside and near the school is reported, Maben said.
“It’s more of a precautionary situation,” Maben said.
The hold was lifted 10 minutes later after police arrested McLean not far from the intersection.
Police searched the vehicle and found the knife, Larsen said.
McLean was charged with aggravated assault and booked into the Kootenai County Jail.
He will have his first court appearance Monday in First District Magistrate Court.