Motorcycle driver charged after high speed chase with police ends in crash
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IDAHO FALLS — A 36-year-old man was charged with a felony after he reportedly sped away from police on a motorcycle before crashing and injuring himself.
Justin Douglas Wilson is charged with felony fleeing or attempting to elude a peace officer.
According to court documents, an Idaho State Police trooper was driving east on East 17th Street on Monday around midnight, when they saw a black motorcycle speeding west.
The trooper checked their speed at 56 mph in a 40 mph zone and began to try to pull the motorcycle over for a traffic stop.
The motorcycle then sped up, allegedly going over 80 mph, and the trooper reported a pursuit at the intersection of East 17th Street and Ponderosa Drive.
According to the trooper, the motorcycle driver dressed “all in dark clothing with a full motorcycle helmet covering his face.”
The driver reportedly went east in a westbound lane on East 25th Street, ran a red light at the intersection of Jennie Lee Drive and East 7th Street, went the wrong way on multiple one-way streets, including June Avenue, East 13th Street, and East 8th Street, and failed to stop for multiple stop signs.
At around 12:10 a.m., the driver, who was later identified as Wilson, lost control of the motorcycle in a dirt lot on the corner of Elva Street, east of the intersection with Vernon Avenue.
Wilson was reportedly found lying less than 20 feet south of where the motorcycle had come to rest on its side.
He was then taken into custody and transported by an Idaho Falls ambulance to Idaho Falls Community Hospital.
Wilson reportedly told the troopers that he “did not know why he had run” and stated that he “had not drunk alcohol recently but had consumed marijuana and methamphetamine within the last week.”
Wilson was booked into the Bonneville County Jail on a $25,000 bond, which he later paid. He was released on Tuesday and is expected to appear in court for a preliminary hearing on April 28.
If convicted, he could face up to 5 years in prison, a $50,000 fine, and a three-year license suspension.