Wild ride leads to two accidents, one arrest

A 22-year-old Worley, Idaho, man with a history of driving under the influence is in the Spokane County Jail today after a wild ride that involved at least two accidents in southeast Spokane County. Toma N. Moses was booked on charges of driving under the influence, hit and run and driving with a suspended license. Other charges are pending following the Wednesday evening incident, deputies said. A Valleyford woman escaped serious injury after she was sideswiped on Palouse Highway at Jamieson Road. The woman swerved to avoid a head-on collision with the out-of-control driver and ended up with her 2008 Ford Escape turned over in the ditch. Moses was arrested near 17th Avenue and Freya Street after the vehicle he was driving became disabled with a collapsed front wheel. He was treated for cuts at a local hospital. Spokane County Sheriff’s Detective Dave Thornburg said it was fortunate that the woman or others were not hurt more seriously. He said the sheriff’s office started receiving reports about an erratic and apparently intoxicated driver at 7:10 p.m. along state Highway 27 near Elder Road in southeast Spokane County. A short time later, a motorist hauling a boat was struck in the rear by a wild driver on Palouse Highway west of Highway 27. The driver fled the scene. Then, the Valleyford woman was struck at Jamieson Road. Again, the driver fled. More reports of erratic driving were received from the vicinity of Shopko at Regal Street and Palouse Highway, Thornburg said. Moses has a DUI conviction from Yakima County and a DUI charge pending in Adams County. The Adams County case includes a charge that he was driving at the time without a required ignition interlock, which is a device intended to prevent DUI offenders from driving under the influence. He has another case pending in Yakima County involving intoxicants, Thornburg said. He has other traffic infractions as well. According to Thornburg, Moses told investigators after the accident that he thought he was going to Yakima and at the time was stopped in Ritzville.