Culy Gets Five Years For High-Speed Chase License Suspended Three Years; Feds Also Pursuing Drug Charges

After watching a videotape of a high-speed chase last summer through Bonner and Boundary counties, 1st District Judge James Michaud imposed the maximum sentence Monday on David Anthony Culy for felony eluding.

Culy, who was arrested during a fatal drug lab bust the day after the chase, watched the video with a smirk on his face.

He expressed no surprise or disappointment when Michaud sentenced him to a fixed five-year term in prison and suspended his license for three years. Culy also declined to make any statements to the judge prior to being sentenced.

Culy, 25, of Portland, entered a guilty plea to the charge of felony eluding last month. Prosecutors dismissed drug charges against him with the understanding that the U.S. attorney’s office would pursue them.

The U.S. attorney’s office in Portland confirmed that the agency is contemplating filing charges against Culy in connection with the Bonner County methamphetamine lab where Culy was arrested.

Federal officials also have an indictment against Culy in connection with his suspected involvement in another drug lab in Gresham, Ore., that was discovered a year ago when the lab caught fire.

Charges pending against Culy in that case are conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine and manufacturing methamphetamine.

On July 6, 1999, Bonner County deputy Clint Mattingly pulled Culy over for speeding about 11 p.m. on U.S. Highway 95 north of Sandpoint. When Mattingly asked Culy to step out of the white Ford Bronco, Culy quickly started the vehicle and sped north.

The videotape, taken from the squad car, shows the landscape whipping by and the Bronco ahead on the roadway, mostly in the southbound lanes, heading into oncoming traffic.

“We’re doing 102 mph,” Mattingly said into his radio. “He’s taking somebody on head-on.”

No one was seriously injured during the chase, although several drivers were forced onto the shoulder of the highway. One was forced into Mattingly’s lane.

Mattingly backed off the chase and turned off his siren and overhead lights. He later turned the overhead lights back on to alert other motorists while he followed some distance behind Culy.

A Boundary County deputy took over the chase into Bonners Ferry.

Culy pulled off the highway onto a dirt road at the south end of Bonners Ferry and lost pursuing officers in the area of Chicken Ridge.

A Boundary County dispatcher’s investigative work led officers the next day to a rental house on Lakeshore Drive south of Sandpoint.

As officers attempted to serve a felony warrant for Culy’s arrest, suspects in the house attempted to flee.

Teresa J. Wood, a suspected drug dealer, jumped out a second-story window and fired at officers. She was aiming at Undersheriff Nick Krager when another officer shot and killed her.

When deputies went inside the house, they found a large amount of methamphetamine and materials for making the drug.

Culy and Kathrin Hanson, 18, also of Portland, were arrested at the scene.

In November, Hanson was sentenced to three to five years in prison for possession of methamphetamine.