Inquiry into fatal shooting continues

POST FALLS — Investigators in Monday’s officer-involved shooting that killed a wanted Coeur d’Alene man after a vehicle chase into Hayden are compiling details of the case to give to the county Prosecuting Attorney’s Office to determine whether the gunfire was justified under law.

Autopsy results on 33-year-old Justin Todd, who was wanted for felony eluding, had not been received by investigators on Tuesday afternoon.

Much of details of the incident, including how many times Todd was shot and where, the names of the two Post Falls officers and Idaho State Police trooper on scene and whether any evidence was found in the car, have not been released due to the pending investigation.

“Multiple officers fired at Todd ... ,” Kootenai County Sheriff’s Department Major Ben Wolfinger said. “Officers from both agencies fired.”

All three involved have been placed on paid administrative leave during the investigation.

Kootenai County Prosecutor Barry McHugh said it’s possible his office may have a different county prosecutor review the case because of its ongoing working relationship with local law enforcement agencies.

Wolfinger said processing of evidence may take several days to complete with lab results taking several weeks.

After the early-morning chase from Post Falls to Hayden ended in the St. Estephe Court cul-de-sac, the ISP trooper was struck by Todd’s vehicle after the trooper got out of his patrol car. The trooper had minor injuries.

“(Todd) hit the trooper with his car,” Wolfinger said. “I would call that uncooperative. In fact, I would call that using deadly force against the trooper.”

Todd’s 26-year-old girlfriend from Coeur d’Alene, who was a passenger, was not injured.

An anonymous female acquaintance of Todd and his girlfriend said after the female got out of the car despite being told by Todd not to, police shot at Todd. However, Wolfinger said the girlfriend was still in the car during the shooting.

The acquaintance said Todd was unarmed, but that hasn’t been confirmed by the KCSD.

The girlfriend’s testimony to police about the incident, including if there was any other reasons why Todd led police on a chase in addition to being wanted, has not been released.

The 20-minute chase reached speeds of 90 mph, but the route of the chase has not been finalized by investigators.

Police license plate-reading cameras on Interstate 90 that identify wanted persons and stolen vehicles alerted dispatchers that Todd was eastbound at Post Falls in a 1989 Nissan Sentra. When the ISP trooper attempted to pull Todd over, the pursuit ensued.

Todd has been booked into the Kootenai County Jail 23 times as an adult with charges ranging from trafficking in meth to eluding police.