Idaho Falls man arrested and charged in connection with apparent road rage incident that injured 2

IDAHO FALLS — An Idaho Falls man is facing felony charges after police say he purposely hit a man and woman with his car in what appears to be a road rage incident.

Manuel Ibarra Jr., 49, is charged with two counts of aggravated battery in connection with the incident that happened on Friday evening near Linden Park Elementary School.

According to a police booking affidavit, an officer was dispatched to the school at 1305 East 9th Street in Idaho Falls, about 7:35 p.m. The caller reported that a person had been run over by a vehicle.

When the officer arrived in the area, he said he spotted a Subaru, which matched the caller’s description of the vehicle involved, heading east on St. Clair Road. The officer initiated a traffic stop and approached the driver, who was identified as Ibarra.

Ibarra told the officer he had been involved in a “road rage” incident that started at East 17th Street and South Holmes Avenue, according to the affidavit. Ibarra claimed that he was attempting to make a right turn from westbound 17th onto northbound Holmes when another vehicle making a left turn from eastbound 17th onto northbound Holmes cut him off.

Ibarra said the driver of the other vehicle then “intentionally slammed on his brakes” in front of Ibarra’s vehicle “to make (Ibarra) angry,” the affidavit states.

The document says Ibarra told the officer he then asked the driver of the other vehicle if he wanted to “pull over,” which he said the driver did near the intersection of East 9th Street and South Holmes Ave.

At that point, Ibarra said the other driver got out of his vehicle and jumped onto Ibarra’s car, according to the affidavit. The officer noted a visible scuff mark on the front fender, cracks in the windshield, and a shoe print on the hood of Ibarra’s vehicle — all on the pass passenger’s side — and a dent in the roof on the driver’s side.

When the officer interviewed the driver of the other vehicle, he also told the officer that the incident started at East 17th Street and South Holmes Avenue. But the affidavit says the other driver claimed that as he was turning left onto Holmes, Ibarra’s vehicle turned “right into the center lane of the roadway, causing (Ibarra’s) vehicle to cut in front of (his) vehicle,” not the other way around.

The man said he and his wife got out of their vehicle near the intersection at East 9th Street and South Holmes Avenue at Ibarra’s urging. The man said that when they did, Ibarra sped toward them in his vehicle, the affidavit says.

The officer reported that the man told him he was able to jump onto the front of Ibarra’s vehicle just in time to avoid being run over, and that he rolled over the top of the vehicle and fell to the pavement behind it. The officer noted the man had a scraped-up, swollen knee.

The man’s wife told the officer she was also hit, and that “her left arm was dragged by (Ibarra’s) vehicle and that she was pinned between (her husband’s) vehicle and (Ibarra’s) vehicle,” the affidavit states. The officer noted in his report that she was complaining of left arm pain.

The woman also told the officer she was on the phone at the time she was hit, and the person she was talking to verified to the officer that “he heard (her) scream and then heard her drop her cellular phone,” the affidavit states. He then made his way to the scene of the incident.

Following an initial investigation, Ibarra was arrested for investigation of aggravated battery and transported to the Bonneville County Jail. He was booked and eventually charged with the crimes.

If he is found guilty, Ibarra faces up to 30 years in prison and/or a fine of up to $110,000.

Ibarra is being represented by a public defender. The Idaho State Public Defender’s office does not comment on pending cases.

Ibarra is scheduled for a preliminary hearing before Judge Wiley R. Dennert on Aug. 11 at 1 p.m.

Though Ibarra has been charged with these crimes, it does not necessarily mean he committed them. Everyone is presumed innocent until they are proven guilty.