Woman accused of driving over 100 mph before crashing into field
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BLACKFOOT — An 18-year-old Blackfoot woman was charged over the weekend after allegedly driving over 100 miles per hour, eluding a deputy, and then telling the deputy she wasn’t driving, even though she hopped out of the driver’s side.
According to the affidavit of probable cause filed by the Bingham County Sheriff’s Office, a deputy was traveling west on Alice Street in Blackfoot Sunday when he approached a stoplight on Highway 91.
A white car driving north on Highway 91 was turning right onto Alice Street. The driver, later identified as Jalesa Yazzie, made a wide right turn and almost hit the deputy’s driver’s side of the car, documents said.
Yazzie left the area and started to swerve. The deputy attempted to stop her but she began speeding up, court documents say.
She turned north on Shilling Street and was allegedly driving 65 miles per hour in a 30-mile-per-hour zone, according to documents, before she drove through a stop sign.
Documents say Yazzie started speeding up and was going 75 miles per hour in a 30-mile-per-hour zone on Rich Lane. She then started driving 100 miles per hour. Soon, Yazzie reached speeds of 108 miles per hour in a 50-mile-per-hour zone.
Yazzie swerved into oncoming traffic and as she got to the Blackfoot River Bridge, the deputy saw that she had almost hit the bridge and started to lose control. She continued to go over 100 miles per hour and when she passed Little Indian Road, she lost control, spun the car around and ran off the road into a fence before stopping in a field.
She jumped out of the car and ran about 50 feet before falling in the grass.
“I grabbed her and placed her in handcuffs…the driver was having a hard time staying standing and had a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from her,” the deputy wrote. “I told Jalesa she was under arrest for eluding and we would be testing her for DUI.”
The deputy noticed there were open containers of Coors beer in her car.
“When I got to the jail, I asked Jalesa if she would take a breath test. Jalesa agreed and tried telling me she wasn’t driving even though she got out of the driver’s seat,” the deputy wrote in the report.
She had also told the deputy there was nobody else in the vehicle with her.
A breathalyzer test was done and two samples showed blood alcohol levels of .267 and .272.
0.08% is the legal blood alcohol limit in Idaho.
Yazzie was charged with felony eluding a police officer, misdemeanor excessive driving under the influence and misdemeanor unlawful transportation of alcoholic beverages.
Her bond was set to $50,000. She is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Sept. 29 at 8:30 a.m. at the Bingham County courthouse.