Man drives off with children while high, say police; girl called hero
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IDAHO FALLS — Police are calling a preteen girl a hero after she stopped what could have been a disaster.
On Sunday morning, Quinton Wade Miner, 33, took off in a sedan with three children from an Idaho Falls home while he was high on drugs, according to Idaho Falls Police Department spokeswoman Jessica Clements.
Although Miner leaving with the children wasn’t unusual, his erratic driving and behavior created concern for those at the home, and they called 911 as soon as Miner drove away.
As Miner drove through Idaho Falls, his car collided with another one around 10 a.m. at the intersection of Hitt Road and East View Drive, Clements said. The front airbags of the car deployed, and the children sustained minor injuries. As Miner and the children awaited the arrival of police, a woman offered to allow them to sit inside her Chevy Traverse.
Police reports show that Miner got in the driver’s seat of the Traverse, drove away at a high rate of speed while with the children inside and the woman outside the SUV. As officers arrived, police quickly learned about the stolen vehicle containing the woman’s purse with credit cards inside.
“He was driving erratically and in a strange manner,” Clements said.
Around 11 a.m., Minder dropped the children off at a stranger’s home on East 100 North in Bonneville County. While there, Miner apparently changed his mind and tried to get the children to go back into the car, witnesses say. The girl protested, and Miner drove off, leaving the three children behind. The children were kept safe at the home, and the girl called their mother so family could pick them up.
Other law enforcement in the area, including the Idaho State Police, were called in to search for Miner and the stolen SUV. Clements said with the help of OnStar, state troopers tracked the vehicle to an area near Rire. Troopers then arrested Miner and took him to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center.
Miner tried to grab the gun of an officer arresting him, according to charges filed the ISP. The agency was unavailable for comment Monday due to the President’s Day holiday.
Clements said police consider the girl a hero and brave for stopping what could have been a worse situation.
Police reports indicate Miner admitted to police he had been high on methamphetamine and heroin during the incident.
Miner was booked into the Bonneville County Jail on charges of felony grand theft, felony possession of a stolen financial card, felony injury to a child, felony attempting to remove a firearm from a law enforcement officer, misdemeanor resisting arrest and misdemeanor leaving the scene of an accident.
Miner is expected to make an initial court appearance Tuesday afternoon, where a judge will set bail.