Latah Sheriff Cleared Of Illegally Aiding Son

The Idaho attorney general’s office has cleared Latah County Sheriff Joe Overstreet in his son’s apparent attempt to elude authorities over a fight.

“They investigated and found nothing to (prove any impropriety),” Deputy Attorney General William von Tagen said. “They could not be substantiated. No crime had been committed.”

The state agency contacted then-deputy city attorney Kelly Mallard about Mallard’s repeated attempts to bring Overstreet’s son, John J. Overstreet, back to Latah County to face a battery charge.

In January, Mallard had instructed Moscow police to arrest John Overstreet on sight for breaking an agreement to turn himself in.

According to a police report, the younger Overstreet, 22, allegedly had sent two people to the hospital on June 14, 1995, after a fight at Rathaus Pizza in Moscow. One of the two was a woman.

Magistrate William Hamlett signed a warrant for his arrest on July 31, but Overstreet reportedly is attending Boston College.

Mallard said the attorney general’s office became interested in the case when new evidence allegedly revealed John Overstreet had come to Latah County over the Christmas holiday and his father, allegedly with knowledge of the outstanding warrant, did not arrest him.

“That could be a breach of conduct,” Mallard said.

Because the battery charge is a misdemeanor, John Overstreet cannot be extradited.