Looking back: Man fights sheriff and sheriff’s deputy, and search underway to find suspected meteor pieces

IDAHO FALLS — EastIdahoNews.com is looking back at what life was like during the week of July 7 to July 13 in east Idaho history.

1900-1925

RIGBY — A “monster lynx” was killed a short distance west of Rigby by a 14-year-old boy, The Rigby Star reported on July 8, 1915.

While walking from his home, Floyd Smith saw what he thought was a wild cat standing in the road. He was near the Blackburn home and yelled for a gun. One of the children brought Smith out a .22-caliber rifle, and Smith then “proceeded to wage war.”

After several shots, the animal was killed, and a kitten was also shot. The “huge mother lynx” measured over 5 feet long and was “one of the largest specimens ever seen in this part of the country.”

The animals were killed within 300 yards of town and only about 50 yards from where children were playing.

1926-1950

IDAHO FALLS — A man slugged a sheriff’s deputy and knocked a sheriff to the ground while being transported from a hospital to a courthouse, the Idaho Falls Post Register reported on July 7, 1935.

Sheriff Harry Meppen and Deputy Dave Beguin were transporting A.L. Brown, of Calgary, Canada, from the LDS Hospital to the courthouse because he became too violent at the hospital.

Brown broke away from Meppen and Beguin in the driveway in the back of the hospital. He hit Beguin in the left eye and cut his cheek and knocked Meppen down. He then threw rocks at them until they caught him.

Brown was 28 years old and weighed about 190 pounds. He was apparently suffering a “mental condition” and had been taken to the hospital by his wife. They had been visiting relatives in Driggs and drove to the hospital the night before the altercation with law enforcement.

“Mrs. Brown reports that she noticed her husband was acting queerly at Driggs and decided to bring him here,” the article reads.

She said she believed the high-altitude had “some effect on his brain.” He was being held in a jail cell and was expected to have an examination before Judge W.D. Huffaker.

1951-1975

IDAHO FALLS — A search was getting underway to find suspected meteor pieces believed to have fallen in east Idaho, the Idaho Falls Post Register reported on July 8, 1952.

A “fiery ball” also described as an “enormous sky rocket” made its way across the Pacific Northwest skies on Monday.

Residents in Utah, Idaho, Oregon, Washington and Nevada who saw the ball of fire reportedly said it was red, orange, white, green and black.

Charles Osmond, of Weber College in Ogden, Utah, explained it was unusual for a meteor to be so bright.

Dr. R.N. Thomas, of the University of Utah, said, “If it was a meteor, it must have been awfully big.”

Idaho State Police said two sheepherders reported that several fragments from a fireball had struck the earth northwest of the atomic energy reactor station near Idaho Falls.

Chet Moulton, state director of aeronautics, and A.P. Bunderson, state police superintendent, were going to fly over the area Tuesday afternoon in hopes of spotting any signs of meteor fragments.

Bunderson mentioned the area where fragments were believed to have landed was in country not accessible by Jeep.

1976-2000

POCATELLO — A 15-year-old Chubbuck boy was arrested on charges of auto grand larceny and assault with a deadly weapon, the Idaho State Journal reported on July 13, 1977.

The boy, whose name was not released, was suspected of pulling a .38-caliber revolver on the owner of a station wagon reported stolen earlier from the Irving Junior High School parking lot.

According to police reports, the owner later spotted his car traveling past his house and chased after it on his bicycle.

Idaho State Police apprehended the boy around 1:30 a.m. after he had fled on foot. The boy was taken to jail and was awaiting a court hearing.