Gunfire punctuates road rage dispute

SANDPOINT — An alleged road rage incident in downtown Sandpoint culminated in the peal of gunfire outside a grocery store on Saturday afternoon.

There were no injuries, although a Bonner County man was nearly hit by a gunshot as he struggled with a motorist over control of a semiautomatic pistol during the dispute, according to Sandpoint Police reports.

State and local police were summoned to the parking lot of Super 1 Foods for a reported fight in progress shortly after 2:30 p.m.

The purported combatants had separated when law enforcement arrived.

Peter Franklin Goulette, 22, was arrested for trying to slip the grasp of an Idaho State Police trooper who sought to detain him and ignoring repeated demands to get on the ground, an ISP report said.

Goulette eventually complied and was taken into custody without further incident.

The incident began in the initial blocks of Cedar Street, when either or both men began racing their pickup trucks in traffic. Each motorist accused the other of driving recklessly through traffic, according to the police reports.

Goulette told police the other driver was weaving through traffic as they approached Second Avenue. Goulette said the other motorist, 20, flashed an obscene hand gesture.

The two crossed paths again at Super 1, although it was unclear in court documents if this was intentional or coincidental.

The other motorist told police Goulette approached his truck in an aggressive manner, shouting profanities. By his own admission, Goulette began jabbing his finger in the other man’s chest as the motorist was seated in the cab, the arrest reports said.

The other motorist took up a Glock 9-millimeter pistol, racked a round into the chamber and began to exit his rig, the reports said.

Goulette, seeing the other man was armed grabbed hold of his wrist and put his hand on the man’s chest.

“Just as I grabbed the gun hand, it shot off,” Goulette said in his statement to police.

Goulette told police the gun discharged near his head, The bullet shattered the truck’s driver-side window.

Goulette said the other motorist leveled the pistol at his head, although the other motorist denied pointing it at Goulette and said the gun accidentally discharged during the struggle.

Goulette was arrested for resisting, racing on a public roadway and battery for allegedly putting his hands on the other motorist.

A racing charge was proposed against the other motorist, but there was no record Monday of any pending charges.

Goulette made an initial appearance Monday in Bonner County Magistrate Court via videoconference from the jail. Judge Lori Meulenberg set Goulette’s bail at $600 and appointed a public defender to represent him, court records show.

Goulette said he confronted the driver because he jeopardized the safety of his 3-year-old son and also didn’t cotton to being flipped off, court records indicate.