Man who followed school bus arrested after high-speed chase near Pinehurst

A man was arrested Wednesday after appearing to follow a school bus and then leading Shoshone County Sheriff’s deputies on a high-speed chase.

School district employees called deputies shortly after 7 a.m. after it appeared that a bus carrying Pinehurst Elementary School students was being followed by a gray Subaru, according to a Sheriff’s Office press release. The Subaru followed the bus from Kellogg through Smelterville to Pinehurst.

When the driver of the Subaru noticed school employees watching him, he quickly drove off and hit the extended “stop” arm on the bus, the press release said. The car headed toward Kellogg and was spotted by a Kellogg police officer, but the driver sped away when the officer attempted to pull the car over.

The pursuit went through Smelterville and Pinehurst before going down Pinecreek Road. Police and deputies caught up to the car on a logging road off the East Fork of Pinecreek Road.

Clark E. Richman, 46, of Coeur d’Alene, was arrested on suspicion of eluding a police officer and failure to stop for a school bus. Shoshone County Jail records show he is also on a 24-hour mental health hold.