Eluding suspect waives hearing
COCOLALLA — A Washington state man accused of attempting to flee a traffic stop by ramming an Idaho State Police cruiser and running into Cocolalla Lake waived his right to a preliminary hearing on Wednesday.
Jacob Gopal Cunningham's waiver amounts to tacit agreement that the state has sufficient evidence to justify trying him on a laundry list of felony and misdemeanor offenses. Cunningham is being held at the Bonner County Jail with bail set at $250,000, according to court documents.
Cunningham is charged with nearly a dozen offenses, including felony counts of eluding, theft, drug possession and malicious injury to property, in addition to misdemeanor counts of theft, resisting arrest and driving without privileges.
Cunningham, a 43-year-old from Spokane, is scheduled to be arraigned in 1st District Court on April 19.
Cunningham accrued the charges following a sequence of events which began with an Idaho State Police investigation into a traffic offense near the confluence of highways 53 and 41 on March 16. Cunningham was subsequently spotted speeding through a construction zone on U.S. Highway 95.
A trooper pulled Cunningham over and he allegedly fled the traffic stop at a high rate of speed as the officer was exiting his patrol vehicle, according to a probable cause affidavit. The trooper lost sight of Cunningham when he escaped into a secluded neighborhood.
Another trooper, the affidavit said, spotted the Infiniti G35 sedan Cunningham was driving at the Westmond Store. Cunningham allegedly put the vehicle into reverse, rammed into Trooper Enrique Llerenas's rig and fled southbound on U.S. 95 in the southbound lane of travel.
The Infiniti broke down and Cunningham attempted to open the driver-side door of a Jeep that had stopped along the highway, the affidavit said. Cunningham was seen clinging to the lowered window of the Jeep as the driver drove off in attempt to shake Cunningham.
The Jeep stopped and Cunningham continued his flight on foot. Llerenas deployed a Taser, which made contact with Cunningham's calf and back, but the jolt did not cause Cunningham to halt, the affidavit said. Cunningham vaulted a barbwire fence, crossed sets of railroad tracks and ran into the lake.
State police Capt. John Kempf, however, also entered the lake and apprehended Cunningham in neck-deep water, according to the affidavit.
Bonner County Chief Deputy Prosecutor Daniel Rodriquez sought the imposition of $500,000 bail due to Cunningham's lengthy criminal record, court documents indicate. However, Judge Lori Meulenberg set Cunningham's bail at $250,000, records show.
The vehicle Cunningham was driving was reported stolen from the Northern Quest Casino in Airway Heights, Wash., court documents said. The sedan also held computer equipment and laser-guided measurement devices reported stolen from a contractor in Cusick, Wash.
Cunningham is being prosecuted as a persistent violator due to more than a dozen prior felony convictions in Washington, Montana and California for theft, drug possession, money laundering and other offenses, according to charging documents.
The sentencing enhancement could add a 15-to-life prison term to the sentences in the underlying criminal case.
Keith Kinnaird can be reached at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and followed on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.
