Warrants Add Up When Offender Continually Neglects To Appear

Daniel Cook’s troubled record began when he was arrested on June 5, 1997, on charges of battery. He was convicted and sentenced to four months in jail, but he didn’t show up. A warrant for his arrest was issued in September 1997. He didn’t return until May 1999.

But Cook failed to appear again and a second warrant was issued for the same charge.

That was the beginning of what would become a string of 10 warrants connected by accusations involving methamphetamine, grand theft, burglary and eluding a police officer.

By December 1999, Cook was ordered to check in to the North Idaho Addiction Recovery Center. He was two days late and a $10,000 warrant was issued for his arrest.

In April he again was two days tardy for his recovery center appointment and a $25,000 warrant was issued for failure to appear.

Cook’s last warrant was issued for $20,000 when he missed an appointment with his probation officer on April 21.

Many of the charges in his 14-case history later were dismissed by the prosecutor, but three stuck: a felony charge of attempting to elude a police officer on Dec. 21, 1999, possession of a controlled substance on June 17, 1999, and driving a vehicle without the owner’s consent on Aug. 10, 1999.

He was sentenced to two years and six months in prison. Cook was sent to the boot camp-like correctional center in Cottonwood, Idaho, for six months. If he does well under the strict regiment, Cook may not have to serve his remaining two years. He’s currently waiting for his court date.

“Sometimes it takes getting them out of their environment,” said Kootenai County Sheriff’s Capt. Ben Wolfinger. “The potential prison sentence gives them an added incentive to stay clean and stay away from their old friends.”

Wolfinger said most of the offenders with a string of warrants and citations like Cook’s need the structure that the Cottonwood facility provides.

“They tell them when to get up, what to wear, what to do,” he said. “And if they are successful there, they need the continued structure of the parole and probation office to make sure they are staying on the straight and narrow.”

Wolfinger said he knows of many cases where the Cottonwood facility has set the offenders straight, but it depends on how much they want to stay clean and how strong their addictions are.

“Most of these people are weak to start with, that’s why they are in the trouble they are in,” Wolfinger said. “When they come back to their old lives, it’s tough. They say it takes seven years to break an addiction.”

If the judge finds Cook had a successful stay at the Cottonwood facility, he may put Cook on probation. If not, Cook will serve two more years in the state penitentiary. His driver’s license will be suspended for one year after his prison term is over.

This sidebar appeared with the story: EXPLANATION Criminal history

Every week, Handle Extra publishes a list of people who were booked into the Kootenai County Jail on felony warrants the previous week.

A few of the people have long histories with the justice system, which are detailed on their rap sheets. Sheriff’s officials complain that such repeat offenders clog the courts and fill the jails.

How can one person be arrested numerous times and still have their freedom? This new Handle Extra feature attempts to explain this by providing details of a typical inmate’s criminal history.