Deputy rescues DUI suspect at Sagle crossing

SAGLE - A Bonner County Sheriff's deputy used his patrol vehicle to push a car containing an unresponsive driver out of the path of an oncoming train early Saturday morning.

Deputy Aaron Flynn is being hailed as a hero by a witness and Erin Ellis Wert, the 31-year-old woman inside the Subaru, is facing a charge of driving under the influence.

"In my opinion, Deputy Flynn is a hero," said Vicky Groeper, who watched the incident unfold. "If he had hesitated, it would have ended very badly."

Groeper, a 35-year-old Daily Bee carrier from Sagle, came across Wert's vehicle shortly before 1:30 a.m. on the BNSF Railway crossing on Bottle Bay Road. The Subaru was stopped on the tracks and Groeper noticed the woman was slumped over.

Groeper called Bonner Dispatch and attempted to wake the woman by yelling and knocking on the window, which was partially rolled down. When that didn't work, Groeper said she opened the door and began shaking her.

"She did lift up her head, but she didn't open her eyes," said Groeper.

Groeper said her fraying nerves were soothed by the sight of the red and blue emergency flashers on Flynn's rig. But her relief was short-lived.

"I looked down the tracks and I could see a train coming," she said.

From Groeper's vantage point, Flynn's lights and the lights of the southbound locomotive appeared to be equidistant from the crossing. She said Flynn raced up to the crossing, pushed Wert's vehicle out of the way and continued across with little time to spare.

"In my mind, it was just mere seconds before that train came barreling through there," said Groeper, who was astonished nobody was struck.

Groeper was also astonished by Flynn's modesty. When she called him a hero, he redirected the praise and thanked her for making the call to dispatch to summon help.

Flynn's actions are not going unnoticed by his superiors, according to Sheriff Elaine Savage, who said the deputy will be honored at an upcoming commendation ceremony.

"He did a good job - a great job, in fact," Savage said of Flynn, who's been with the force since 2005.

It was only a coincidence Groeper was at the crossing at that particular time. She said she happened to be running about 10 minutes ahead of schedule and decided to head out early rather than wait around to start her rounds.

Groeper suspected the woman had fallen asleep at the crossing waiting for an earlier train to pass and somehow managed to wind up on the tracks. Groeper noticed a balloon bouquet in the woman's vehicle.

Wert's birthday was Saturday, court records indicate. She bonded out of the county jail and her case file remains sealed until she makes an initial court appearance.