Teen leads police on dizzying chase

SANDPOINT - A Sandpoint teen racked up six criminal charges Wednesday while leading police on a dizzying high-speed chase which officers said put pedestrians and motorists in harm's way.

Joseph “Trey” Raymond Deveney III is charged with eluding, malicious injury to property, obstruction, drunken driving, possession of drug paraphernalia and driving without privileges. Deveney was also hit with a number of infractions.

Deveney, 19, is being held in lieu of $100,000 bail and a public defender has been appointed to represent him, court records show.

A preliminary hearing in the case is pending.

The chase began shortly before 9 p.m., when Deveney failed to yield at a stop sign at Spruce and Quinn's Lane. What followed was a circuitous pursuit on the city's west side which featured at least 17 changes in direction, children diving for cover and an irate bystander who hurled what appeared to be a drinking glass and hit the fleeing Oldsmobile sedan, according to Sandpoint Police Officer Derrick Hagstrom's report.

“It did not appear as though Deveney was concerned for the safety of others,” Hagstrom noted in the report.

Speeds during the chase ranged from 35 to 80 mph, with Deveney allegedly ignoring stop signs, squealing around corners, driving on the wrong side of the road and narrowly missing other officers, pedestrians and a motorcyclist. Deveney is also accused of racing through the parking lot at the Bristlecone Apartments, forcing children playing outside to dive to safety.

Deveney crashed into a tree on West Pine Street and was apprehended after a brief foot pursuit, the report said. Deveney reportedly told police he was intending to commit suicide when he drove into the tree.