Fugitive turns himself in

SANDPOINT — A Bonner County man who escaped from an Idaho State Police vehicle turned himself in at the county courthouse on Tuesday.

Leland Elroy Dunnagan made an initial court appearance and the $100,000 arrest warrant pending against him was quashed, court records show.

Dunnagan, who had been lamming it for over a month, is free on his own recognizance. He is charged with unlawful possession of a firearm and escape.

A preliminary hearing on the felony counts is pending in the magistrate division of 1st District Court. A public defender has been appointed to represent Dunnagan.

Dunnagan, 52, was arrested at his home in the Rapid Lightning drainage on March 13. He was handcuffed and placed in the back of the unlocked patrol vehicle, but escaped when Trooper Jeff Jayne stepped to the front of the rig and began making arrangements for a search warrant, according to court documents.

Dunnagan was arrested during a burglary investigation involving his older brother and his nephew. Jayne spotted a weapon in Leland Dunnagan’s possession, which was unlawful because he was convicted of rape in Twin Falls County 20 years ago.

Charging papers describe the weapon only as a rifle with a magazine.

Allen Lee Dunnagan Sr., 53, denied knowing his younger brother’s whereabouts after the escape, but was subsequently spotted in his company and arrested for harboring a fugitive.

Allen Dunnagan was later released on a substantially reduced bail amid reports plea negotiations were under way and that they were aimed at bringing a peaceful end to his brother’s flight from the law.