One jailed after 'kidnapping'
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April 16, 2013 |
Quick action by a Bonners Ferry Police Officer
didn't end in an arrest for kidnapping, but it
did stop a drunk driver Sunday night.
Officer Chris Langan was on routine patrol when
a motorist stopped him and reported having just
seen a woman being forced, apparently against
her will, into a vehicle occupied by two men on
Highway 95 in south Bonners Ferry.
Langan notified dispatch of the potential
kidnapping report at 11:54 p.m. April 14 and
said he was going in search of the suspect
vehicle, having but a vague description and the
motorist's report that the vehicle was traveling
south.
He caught up with a vehicle similar to the one
described, the sole rig on that part of the
highway, and pulled it over in the turnout at
the top of Peterson Hill just minutes after
receiving the report, and at about 11:10 p.m.
called for backup and to temporarily close the
highway, as the three people in the vehicle were
not cooperating.
Within moments, two Boundary County Sheriff's
Deputies were on scene as well as several U.S.
Customs and Border Patrol agents, who blocked
the highway to any traffic. The highway remained
closed for less than half an hour after it was
ascertained that the vehicle's three occupants
did not pose a threat.
Once the three were detained, Langan contacted
the person who reported the incident and compare
it with stories the three were telling.
He determined that there had been an argument,
but no kidnapping, that the woman in the
vehicle, Maria Gonyou, 23, Hayden, was not being
held against her will. The driver of the
vehicle, Jaerad Steger, 24, Naples, however, in
addition to being belligerent, was intoxicated
as well, and he was taken into custody, charged
with DUI and obstructing a peace officer. He
remains in custody in the Boundary County Jail
as of this report.
Neither Gonyou or the third passenger, Jordan
Kerr, 25, also of Kootenai County, were charged. |
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