Coeur d'Alene man charged with I-90 shooting
COEUR d’ALENE — Police arrested a man Wednesday night who allegedly shot another vehicle while driving under the influence.
Jack E. Gribbin, 24, of Coeur d’Alene, is charged with aggravated assault and discharge of a firearm at an occupied vehicle, both felonies. Prosecutors filed a deadly weapon enhancement. Gribbin also faces a misdemeanor citation for driving under the influence.
Idaho State Police responded Wednesday night to a possible road rage incident on Interstate 90 in Post Falls, near milepost 6. A woman said the incident began when another vehicle cut her off.
“When speeds allowed, I sped up and passed the car, which aggravated the other driver,” she told police, according to court records. “He then drove in my blind spot for a while and then got around me and pressed on the brakes to have me rear end him. I was able to get over without an accident, but that put us in a position where our cars were side by side.”
The woman said she heard a popping sound and smelled a scent like something was burning.
Police observed a bullet hole in the front passenger door of the woman’s vehicle, according to court records. The bullet went through the door, grazed the woman’s leather purse, tearing the leather, and continued into the front passenger seat.
Using a photo the woman took of the other vehicle, a white Nissan Rogue, police identified Gribbin as the driver and contacted him at his Coeur d’Alene residence.
When police detained Gribbin, they found a firearm in his coat pocket, according to court records. Investigators also allegedly found a spent casing inside Gribbin’s vehicle, on the driver’s side floorboard.
Gribbin allegedly told police he had consumed alcohol and prescription medication earlier in the evening. A breath test showed that Gribbin had a breath alcohol concentration of zero, according to court records, though he later failed a field sobriety test.
“At the conclusion of the (standardized field sobriety tests), I did not feel Gribbin was safe to have operated a motor vehicle,” an ISP trooper wrote in a report.
Police arrested Gribbin, who remains in the Kootenai County jail.