Wreck Tied To Domestic Dispute Reckless Driving Charge Possible, Police Say, After Two-Car Accident On Hill

Rain-slicked asphalt and a domestic dispute may have contributed to a two-car collision Thursday in Post Falls that left two people injured, police said.

Jay James Mosher, 25, was listed in serious condition at Kootenai Medical Center Thursday after suffering a ruptured kidney and spleen, a severely broken leg, broken back and multiple bruises in the morning accident on Mullan Avenue.

Mosher was driving west down Mullan Avenue from the Highlands neighborhood at 9:27 a.m. when he apparently lost control on a curve and slammed his black Nissan sports car into a Chevrolet pickup driven by Eugene Wayne Allen, 54, of Rathdrum, according to police.

Allen told police that the Nissan careened into his lane out of control.

“He tried to avoid it and was hit in the driver’s side,” said Post Falls Sgt. Scott Haug.

Allen was transported by ambulance to KMC where he was treated for minor injuries and released. Authorities initially called a helicopter ambulance for Mosher, but it was dismissed after paramedics assessed Mosher’s injuries.

“This whole incident stemmed from a domestic dispute,” Haug said. Mosher had been in an argument shortly before the accident with his girlfriend, who lives in the Highlands neighborhood, Haug said.

“We’re speculating he was trying to catch up with her,” Haug said.

Neighbors said drivers regularly speed down the street, which is listed as a 35-mile-per-hour zone. At the bottom of the hill is a signaled intersection with Highway 41.

“They come flying off that hill all the time,” said Jerry Kainney, who watched emergency workers extricate the semiconscious Mosher from his crumpled car. “When my mother lived here, I had to forbid her from going to the mailbox.”

Kainney was sitting at his dining room table, drinking coffee, when he heard a “bang” and saw debris fly across his lawn. He called 911 immediately.

Neighbor Jerry Sherman agreed that people often speed down the hill. He said he’s called police about the problem several times.

“They’ve pulled two cars out of my front lawn,” he said. “Seems like it always takes this before someone listens to you.”

Although the Post Falls police investigated the accident, the street is technically in the county. Kootenai County sheriff’s department records show five previous accidents in the last five years that resulted in injuries or property damage.

Sherman said the hill has “lots of fender-benders. A lot of those are in the winter.”

Haug said Mosher may be charged with reckless driving.

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