In brief: Woman in Coeur d’Alene causes two crashes, deputies say

A chaotic scene unfolded in Coeur d’Alene on Tuesday morning when a woman reportedly caused a crash, stole a car with three children inside and then caused another crash.

The Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office responded to a crash at Silver Beach Loop Road and Coeur d’Alene Lake Drive at 7:30 a.m. A silver Mercedes SUV was reportedly being driven east in the westbound lane and hit a Subaru driven by Patricia Desmet, of Coeur d’Alene, according Sheriff’s Office spokesman Lt. Stu Miller.

An uninvolved driver with three children in her Volvo stopped to help. The driver of the silver Mercedes, later identified by Miller as Kara L. Powers, 33, stole the Volvo and crashed it into the side of the Subaru. The children were able to escape the Volvo before she drove off again, Miller said.

Minutes later on Coeur d’Alene Lake Drive at Potlach Hill Road, the Volvo rear-ended a pickup truck at high speed, causing both cars to roll several times. Both drivers had to be extricated, Miller said.

Powers was taken to a Spokane hospital. The pickup driver, William Akin, was at Kootenai Health in serious but stable condition, Miller said. Authorities believe alcohol or drugs were a factor in the crashes.

Child, 139 animals removed from home

The Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office last week removed an 8-year-old child and 139 animals from what it called an “unsanitary and unhealthy” Athol-area home.

The Sheriff’s Office received a tip Jan. 14 that there was a child in unsafe conditions in a home that had no running water or electricity, said department spokesman Lt. Stu Miller. Deputies responded and discovered the child in a home in the 17000 block of East Pend Oreille Divide Road with no sewer or septic tank and filled with animal feces, rotting food and garbage, Miller said.

The child was taken into protective custody. Animal control workers found a collection of dogs and cats in addition to 83 rabbits, 38 guinea pigs, nine goats, four miniature horses, one full-size horse, three chickens and a goose. All the animals except the dogs and cats were in pens or cages with no water, and most were confined with large amounts of feces, Miller said.

All the animals except the dogs and cats were seized. Charges of child abuse and animal abuse are pending against the residents of the home, Miller said.

Body of Dylan Parker found in ravine

The body of 18-year-old Dylan Parker was found at the bottom of a snowy, tree-filled ravine Tuesday in Shoshone County, more than a week after he was reported missing.

Two men were searching for an ATV that rolled off the road in the Two Mile Gulch area when they discovered the body, according to a news release from the Shoshone County Sheriff’s Office. An autopsy is planned to determine the cause of death.

Parker was reported missing on Jan. 12 after he failed to meet his mother where she was supposed to pick him up after a party.