Driggs man gets jail time for fleeing cops - East Idaho News
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Driggs man gets jail time for fleeing cops

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DRIGGS — A Teton Valley resident was sentenced to 10 days in jail and 24 months probation this week for running from and kicking at a Sheriff’s deputy last January.

Austin Darrow, 28, pleaded guilty to a charge of resisting and obstructing an officer in Teton County Magistrate’s court on Wednesday.

“The cop asked me to walk over to his vehicle and I ran,” Darrow said.

According to his affidavit of the event, Patrol Deputy Andrew Sewell observed a vehicle run a stop sign at 2:00 am. When Deputy Sewell activated his lights, a man stepped out. Sewell told the man to stay where he was, but “the man fled on foot.”

Sewell pursued Darrow into a back yard, telling him multiple times to stop. Darrow responded with an obscenity and even kicked at Deputy Sewell once he got a hold of the man’s foot.

Darrow was arrested at his residence several hours later and spent a day in custody.

“I want to apologize for the court for my mistakes and if an officer pulls me over and tells me to stop to make sure to stop and figure out what’s going on,” Darrow said.

Darrow and his defense attorney Chad Marlowe had arranged a plea agreement for 90 days suspended jail time and six months unsupervised probation.

However, after hearing about Darrow’s prior record, which include a DUI and multiple counts of possessing a controlled substance, Judge Jason Walker decided not to follow the plea agreement to include one year suspended jail sentence and a longer, supervised probation.

“Resisting and obstructing has a higher penalty than most misdemeanors because it is more serious,” Judge Walker said. “The conduct here is just not okay. The fact is he ran, was verbal with an officer and then fought with an officer. There were officers who could have been hurt or the situation could have escalated.”

Judge Walker ordered Darrow into immediate custody although Darrow’s attorney asked that he have a chance to get his work shifts covered.

“The bottom line is no, he is going to go to jail today. He’ll have to work that stuff out,” Walker said.

This article was originally published in the Teton Valley News. It is used here with permission.

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