High-speed chase ends with arrest

SANDPOINT — A Bonner County motorist was arrested Wednesday for attempting to outrun an Idaho State Police trooper on Clagstone Road.

Gabriel David Christian is charged with eluding at the felony level because the pursuit exceeded the posted speed limit by 30 mph or more.

Christian, 18, made an initial appearance in Bonner County Magistrate Court on Thursday via video link with the Bonner County Jail. Judge Debra Heise set Christian’s bail at $1,000 and appointed a public defender to represent him, court records show.

Trooper Troy Tulleners reported in an affidavit that he was headed southbound when he encountered a northbound Honda that he visually estimated was traveling 80 mph. A radar scan indicated the Honda was traveling 77 mph.

Tulleners activated his overhead lights when they crossed paths on the road and turned around to pursue the vehicle in order to conduct a traffic stop, the affidavit said. Speeds reached up to 103 mph in a 35 mph zone before the Honda pulled onto a side road. Tulleners was arrested without incident. One passenger in the vehicle urged Christian to halt for the trooper, while another reported that they nearly crashed turning off of Clagstone.

Preliminary and bond-reduction hearings are pending in magistrate court.

Christian was convicted of reckless driving in Bonner County earlier this year, according to the Idaho Supreme Court Data Repository. He was charged with reckless driving in 2015, but the charge was amended to inattentive driving, repository records indicate.