Officer Helped Wrong Guy Spirit Lake Man Charged With Assault, Dui After Being Let Off

Part-time Spirit Lake cop Monte Reynolds thought he was helping out when he drove Donovan McCreary home rather than arrest him for driving without a license.

Once home, however, McCreary beat his sister, ransacked the house and drove off, according to police records. Idaho State Police officers arrested him 90 minutes later on charges of drunken driving and driving without a license.

“It was my discretion,” said Reynolds, a part-time reserve officer who also works at House of Hose in Spokane. “I took him home instead of tying him up in a bunch of legal stuff.”

But McCreary’s sister, Deanna Dilley, said the Wednesday night incident left her bruised, scared and convinced a “new” Spirit Lake Police Department isn’t doing its job.

“I count on the police here,” said Dilley, 26. “They’ve got the guns. What do I have?”

Mayor Bob Knapp shook up the city last month when he fired Police Chief Jeff Alexander and hired two part-time reserve officers to work with two full-time officers. Angry residents picketed City Hall, some fearing the department would be run by inexperienced officers.

State law requires reserve officers like Reynolds be supervised by a certified police officer. Knapp has maintained the officers are under supervision - just not directly in the field.

Friday, Knapp said he stood by Reynolds.

“It sounds like to me he did what was appropriate,” Knapp said. “He smelled no alcohol. You don’t have to put every guy in jail.”

Reynolds, 30, does not apologize.

“I’ve worked in law enforcement five years,” he said. “Every once in awhile you take somebody home.” Kootenai County Sheriff’s Capt. Ben Wolfinger disagreed.

“At the sheriff’s office you go to jail,” he said.

When Reynolds pulled McCreary over about 10 p.m. Wednesday for speeding, McCreary admitted he had no license, Reynolds said. The man also told the cop he’d been in trouble before.

“I checked him through the radio and there were no warrants,” Reynolds said. “I decided I’d give him a break.”

McCreary has a long list of Idaho arrests, including unresolved felony charges of possession of methamphetamine, obstruction of justice and driving without a license. He also has a handful of Washington arrests, including drunken driving.

Reynolds said there were no signs McCreary, 24, had been drinking. An unopened 12-pack of beer was in the car, he said.

Reynolds left McCreary’s car by the road and drove him the few blocks home at 10:20 p.m., according to dispatch records.

On her way home, Dilley drove past McCreary’s abandoned Honda Civic on the 500 block of Madison and was convinced he’d been jailed. She was elated.

The sometimes violent McCreary had been drinking earlier that night and she feared trouble, she said. When she found him at the home they share, she was furious.

“I was waiting for someone to pull him over and take him to jail,” she said. “Instead, he was here bragging about how he got off. He was so proud he called and let everyone know.”

Dilley told McCreary he could no longer stay with her. McCreary exploded, she said.

“He pinned me on the couch,” she said. “He slammed me against a window. He threw the base of the phone at me. He pushed me into the garbage can and I stepped on broken glass.”

Neighbor Jeff Anderson heard Dilley scream and called 911. McCreary took keys from her purse and drove away.

When Reynolds returned, Dilley was bruised and suffering an asthma attack. He called an ambulance.

“My 5-year-old had to see Mommy with tubes coming out of her,” Dilley said.

ISP officers picked up McCreary at 11:55 p.m, said ISP Lt. Doug Camster. His blood alcohol level was .13 percent - the equivalent of seven drinks.

Dilley said she is convinced her brother was driving drunk, but was set free. Knapp and Reynolds said McCreary downed all the alcohol in the 90 minutes between his return home and his arrest by ISP officers.

“He must have grabbed everything he could and drank it as fast as he can,” Knapp said.

Reynolds later filed a misdemeanor assault charge against McCreary in connection with the fight with Dilley.

McCreary was still in jail Friday, where Dilley said she hoped he would stay. She already had called her relatives begging them not to bail him out.

“I was still in shock,” she said. “I wanted it well known what he did to me.”

, DataTimes