Multiple crashes on Wednesday

COCOLALLA — Two Sagle residents were injured when another motorist lost control of his pickup truck and trailer on a hailstone-slicked section of U.S. Highway 95 on Wednesday afternoon, according to Idaho State Police.

Dennis M. McShane was northbound when the hailstorm hit and he lost control of the Toyota pickup, which was pulling a 12-foot trailer, ISP said. The rig crossed two lanes of the four-lane highway and struck a Chevrolet Tahoe driven by Waldo H. Copley, 73, of Sagle.

Copley’s full-size sport utility vehicle rolled off the highway and McShane’s pickup continued down the highway minus its left front tire, according to ISP. The pickup then struck a Subaru Forester driven by Mitchell A. Shockley, 57, of Careywood.

Copley and his passenger, 69-year-old Babara J. Copley, were injured in the collision and taken to Bonner General Hospital, state police said. Neither McShane, also 57, of Clark Fork, nor Shockley were injured.

All of the motorists involved were wearing their seat belts, ISP said.

The crash happened at about 4:25 p.m. in the Cocolalla Flats area. The highway was blocked for about 30 minutes and was restricted to a single lane for about two and a half hours, state police said.

A Bonner County man managed to avoid serious injury early Wednesday morning after two deer ran out onto U.S. 2 in front of his vehicle near Keyser Slough.

Ernest C. Bauer, 43, of Priest River struck both animals in the 4:30 a.m. crash on the eastern outskirts of Priest River. He also was driving a Tahoe.

The airbags inside the SUV deployed and Bauer was wearing his seat belt, according to state police. He was treated at the scene.

A couple of hours after that collision, a Rathdrum woman was jailed after causing back-to-back crashes on Highway 41 while allegedly driving drunk near Post Falls.

State police said Lindsey L. Rines-Thomas was driving north when she crossed into the southbound lane near milepost two and forced William A. Putnam off the road. Putnam lost control of the Isuzu Trooper he was driving and re-entered the roadway, where his SUV hit a northbound Ford Escort driven by Christopher W. Corbin.

Corbin, a 28-year-old from Post Falls, was injured and transported to Kootenai Medical Center. Putnam, 23, of Athol was not injured, state police said. Both motorists were wearing seat belts.

Rines-Thomas, meanwhile, continued driving and again crossed into the southbound lane about two and a half miles north of the first crash site, according to ISP. She avoided one vehicle near the Wyoming Avenue intersection, but her GMC Yukon struck a Chevy pickup truck driven by Daniel R. Brown, a 29-year-old from Priest River.

Brown’s pickup flipped onto its side and Rines-Thomas’ SUV came to rest in a wheat field. Both Brown and Rines-Thomas were wearing seat belts and escaped injury, state police said. Rines-Thomas, 30, was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving.

The crashes happened at about 6:51 a.m.