Man flees from Idaho State Trooper, gets caught later with help from sheriff’s office

IDAHO FALLS — A man was booked into the Bonneville County Jail after he allegedly fled from law enforcement, leading an Idaho State Police trooper on a chase that reached speeds of over 100 miles per hour.

Eriberto Hernandez-Figueroa, 21, was later caught with help from the Clark County Sheriff’s Office and charged with felony eluding a police officer.

The incident started at around 12:16 a.m. on March 12 when an Idaho State Police trooper attempted to stop a gray Honda Civic on 1st Street near Woodruff Avenue in Idaho Falls, according to court documents. The driver, Hernandez-Figueroa, was allegedly failing to maintain his lane.

The trooper observed Hernandez-Figueroa drive over double-yellow painted lines while driving eastbound on 1st Street. As soon as the trooper activated his emergency lights to initiate the stop, the vehicle accelerated rapidly until it got to the intersection of Woodruff Avenue at which point the vehicle slowed down and went into the parking lot of Planet Fitness.

Documents show the trooper exited his patrol vehicle and approached the vehicle cautiously “as it was apparent the vehicle had already planned to flee from me.” Hernandez-Figueroa looked at the trooper out of the corner of his eye and then looked forward and accelerated through the parking lot fleeing from the trooper.

“I returned to my patrol vehicle and gave chase with emergency lights and audible sirens activated,” the trooper wrote in his report.

Documents say Hernandez-Figueroa turned out of the parking lot onto 1st Street and headed westbound. He was driving 83 miles per hour in a posted 35 mile per hour zone.

“The vehicle continued westbound and then stayed on Lomax Street where 1st Street splits into Lomax…I checked the vehicle’s speed and it was now traveling 103 miles per hour in a posted 30 mile per hour zone,” documents say. The vehicle came to a solid red traffic light at the intersection of Holmes Avenue and Lomax and blew right through the intersection and the red light.

“At this point, I began slowing down to minimize the risk of danger,” the trooper wrote in his report.

The trooper observed the vehicle make an abrupt left turn onto North Lee Avenue and the trooper could no longer see the vehicle and discontinued the pursuit.

The trooper called a deputy with the Clark County Sheriff’s Office and asked him to check the residence that was attached to the registration of the Honda. The deputy had told the trooper that he had dealt with the residents of that address located in Dubois. The deputy sent a picture of the suspect, Hernandez-Figueroa to the trooper and the trooper recognized him to be the one that had fled from him. The deputy told the trooper the Honda was also at the residence.

The trooper then told the deputy to detain Hernandez-Figueroa. The trooper drove to the Clark County Sheriff’s Office and placed Hernandez-Figueroa in custody for felony eluding and transported him to the Bonneville County Jail.

While the trooper was driving Hernandez-Figueroa to jail, the trooper had told Hernandez-Figueroa how he had pulled him over about one month ago and cited him for possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia. Hernandez-Figueroa had denied over and over that he was the one that was driving when the vehicle eluded the trooper earlier that day but according to documents, “When he finally realized that I was the one that pulled him over a month prior, he stated, “That time you did get me. That time.”‘

Hernandez-Figueroa made an initial court appearance on Monday and his bond was set at $20,000. He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on March 23.