Low-speed pursuit ends in arrest

SANDPOINT — A Washington state man was arrested following a bizarre low-speed chase on U.S. Highway 95 that ended in Sandpoint on Tuesday night.

Dallin Michael Carter was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence and felony attempted eluding of a law officer.

A breath sample provided by Carter, however, detected no alcohol.

Judge Debra Heise declined to fined probable cause on the DUI charge, but did find cause to charge Carter with eluding at the misdemeanor level.

Carter, 31, of Liberty Lake, was reportedly causing a traffic hazard by driving 35 miles an hour on the highway without headlights near the Kootenai County line shortly after 9 p.m. Sheriff’s Deputy Phil Stella began pursuing Carter’s pickup truck in Sagle, but Carter did not yield to the officer’s lights and siren, the arrest report said.

Carter apparently did not speed up during the pursuit.

A fellow deputy successfully deployed a tire-deflating set of spikes at the north end of the Long Bridge, but Carter pressed on despite having two punctured tires, according to the report. The pursuit continued up Cedar Street and ended on Division Avenue.

Carter, the report said, ignored officers who swarmed his vehicle and their commands, prompting a deputy to break a window and pull Carter out of the rig. Carter appeared lethargic during his arrest.

Stella noted in his report that Carter “seemed to have little awareness of the situation” or the severity of the circumstances.

He was taken to Bonner General Hospital, where he consented to a blood draw. The results of the blood test are pending.

A public defender was appointed to represent Carter and he was ordered held in lieu of $5,000 bail, court records show.