Man arrested after high-speed chase

SANDPOINT — A Washington state man was arrested after leading law officers on high-speed chase through several towns and two active construction zones on Thursday evening.

Israel K. Frost is charged with felony eluding. He made an initial appearance in Bonner County Magistrate Court on Friday via video link with the Bonner County Jail.

Judge Lori Meulenberg set Frost’s bail at $25,000 and appointed a public defender to represent him, court records indicate. A preliminary hearing in the case is pending.

The incident began unfolding shortly before 7 p.m., when Idaho State Police received multiple calls about a reckless driver on Highway 41 between Rathdrum and Blanchard. Those calls were relayed to deputies, who staged at various points in the highway corridor to intercept the vehicle.

Frost, a 37-year-old transient from Spokane Valley, drove through the Highway 41 construction zone at an estimated 80 mph despite the existence of flaggers, construction workers and equipment, the arrest report alleged. The chase coursed through Blanchard and Oldtown before transitioning to U.S. Highway 2 eastbound.

A deputy noted in the report that Frost executed passing maneuvers at Albeni Falls that forced westbound traffic off the highway. A deputy deployed tire-puncturing spike strips four miles east of Oldtown, which disabled the Chevrolet subcompact’s tires.

However, Frost managed to continue his flight from pursuers while continuing to overtake other motorists in a dangerous manner, according to the arrest report. The chase slowed to 80 mph as it neared Priest River. He allegedly blew past another flagger with a stop sign at the construction zone on U.S. 2 at Highway 57 and speeds increased to 100 mph as the chase hurtled through Laclede.

Frost ran over a second spike strip east of Laclede, which obliterated the vehicle’s front tires and caused the rims to cast sparks, the arrest report said. Frost swung wide on a corner at Wrenco Loop Road and forced another westbound vehicle off the road. The pursuit was brought to an end when Deputy Kimberly Kempton overtook Frost, got in front of his vehicle and used her patrol vehicle to force him to slow to approximately 45 mph.

Deputy Sgt. James Cotter executed a precision immobilization technique — using the patrol vehicle to force the fleeing vehicle to abruptly turn sideways — to bring the pursuit to a halt, the report said. Frost was arrested without further incident.

Frost told deputies he was bipolar and schizophrenic, had stopped taking his prescribed medication and had used methamphetamine earlier in the day, according to the report.