ITD District 1 thanked
for help in Idaho State Police's
high-speed chase

Earlier this week, Idaho State Police made the news for its high-speed chase on US-95 to capture a suspect driving a stolen vehicle.

Dashcam video from the high-speed chase was posted to Twitter (available at the news link above), along with a thank you to Bonner County Sheriff’s Office, Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office and ITD for their assistance.

Though it wasn’t previously planned, D1 transportation technician Dave Freeman was tuned into ISP’s channel that morning and caught on to the story. Knowing that traffic control would likely be needed at some point, Freeman positioned himself in the area and kept listening.

When ISP called out for help from other law enforcement agencies to close down intersections along US-95, Freeman was able to see where they were active and found one intersection that had not been closed yet.

“I shut down one area on US-95,” Freeman said. “It was only for three minutes, but it kept anyone from pulling out in front of someone doing 90 mph.”

Freeman later dropped by O’Reilly’s Auto Parts in Hayden where police finally stopped the suspect, who was also wanted for kidnapping and robbery charges. His support and attendance did not go unnoticed, especially by ISP.

“I’ve been with the department for eight or nine years now, and I know it pays to develop relationships with law enforcement, especially ISP,” Freeman said. “We work together a lot, and in the past, we’ve always worked to help each other out when there wasn’t enough resources.”

Editor's Note: The stolen car belonged to the son of one of D1's buyers in Supply. Shad Flores owns the car, but his son drives it, and it was stolen that morning.

Published 11-30-18