Man Charged With Vehicular Manslaughter

A Post Falls man is being charged with vehicular manslaughter after a fatal U.S. Highway 95 wreck last month.

Kootenai County prosecutors said they filed charges Wednesday against Eric Douglas Anderton, 21.

Anderton was driving southbound on Highway 95 just north of Silverwood when his 1995 Honda Civic crossed into the northbound lane and struck a van head-on, prosecutors say.

Four-year-old passenger Charles Miner of Beaverton, Ore., died at the scene. Miner died on impact. He was wearing a lap belt.

“The 4-year-old was belted in, but the spine broke,” Prosecutor Bill Douglas said.

The driver of the van, Barbara Miner, 40, and passenger Thomas Miner, 7, were not seriously injured.

Anderton’s blood alcohol content was .19, more than twice the legal limit of .08, according to Idaho State Police.

Anderton should not have been driving the afternoon of May 20, according to police. He had his license suspended in November 1999 in connection with a drunken driving charge.

Anderton had been arrested for driving under the influence, driving with a suspended license and leaving the scene of an accident, according to Kootenai County court records.

In November, police said they discovered Anderton’s Honda in the 1700 block of Sherman Avenue around 3 a.m. It appeared the Honda had rear-ended a pickup. No one was injured, the police reports said.

Witnesses told police they saw Anderton and a passenger grab a 12-pack of beer from the car before leaving the scene.

Police arrested Anderton later that morning. He refused to take a blood-alcohol test, which leads to an automatic license suspension for six months.

Anderton was found guilty of DUI, invalid license and leaving the scene of the accident.

Anderton’s license was suspended for 120 days, and he was sentenced to two days in jail and more than $400 in fines. He was also ordered to pay almost $3,000 in restitution.

In February, Anderton was arrested for driving without privileges. Police said in their reports Anderton’s license had been suspended until May 27 for refusing to take the previous blood-alcohol test.

Anderton was first flown to Deaconess Medical Center on May 20. He was listed in critical condition. His condition had up-graded during the past month, however, Anderton was still listed as a patient at Deaconess Wednesday afternoon.