Man charged after allegedly speeding, driving recklessly through yard while child was nearby
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IDAHO FALLS — A 39-year-old Idaho Falls man has been charged with a felony after allegedly speeding and then driving recklessly through a yard and putting a child’s life in danger.
According to the affidavit of probable cause filed by Idaho State Police, on Oct. 19, at around 6:15 p.m., a trooper saw a bullet bike-style motorcycle driving 100 miles per hour on westbound U.S. Highway 20 near milepost 317 in Bonneville County.
The trooper tried to catch up to the motorcycle as the rider, later identified as Benjamin Storer, took an exit without signaling.
“I saw the motorcycle turn north on Hitt Road again failing to signal. The motorcycle accelerated north on Hitt Road. I estimated its speed at about 80 in the 40-mile-per-hour zone,” the trooper wrote.
Storer continued to fail to signal. The trooper caught up and pulled up close to Storer to ensure Storer could hear the siren and see the flashing emergency lights.
Storer looked over his shoulder and accelerated.
“I knew at this point that the motorcycle was willfully attempting to elude and/or flee from me,” the trooper wrote.
Storer continued to accelerate and swerve, then drove over to the wrong side of the road. Storer then swerved around the trooper and drove into someone’s yard. There was a child near a house watching the pursuit.
“Storer put the property and lives of others in danger as he willfully fled from me,” the trooper wrote.
Storer then drove through the yard. He sped onto Timberview Drive and drove on the wrong side of the road. He looked back at the trooper and shook his head back and forth, according to documents. He then ran a stop sign.
Eventually, Storer pulled over to the right shoulder of the road and stopped. The trooper pulled up to the left side of the motorcycle, while an Idaho Falls police officer, who had joined the pursuit, pulled up on the motorcycle’s right side.
Both the trooper and the officer ordered Storer to the ground and he refused to comply, documents say. The police officer took Storer to the ground, but he continued to fight with the officer and resist arrest.
Eventually, after a struggle, he was put into handcuffs. Storer was charged with felony fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer and booked into the Bonneville County Jail.
The charge is punishable by up to five years in prison and/or a $50,000 fine and one to three years license suspension. He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Oct. 26 at 1 p.m. at the Bonneville County Courthouse.