Judge gives Leon probation

An apparently suicidal man who was shot by a Kootenai County sheriff’s deputy March 14 and led police on a 40-minute car chase was released from jail on probation Tuesday.

Victor Leon Jr., 30, had been charged with felony eluding and assault on an officer, but those charges were reduced to misdemeanors Tuesday through a plea deal with prosecutors.

Magistrate Eugene Marano suspended an 18-month sentence and $2,000 fine and ordered Leon to two years of supervised probation. Marano also ordered twice-a-week random drug testing.

Kootenai County sheriff’s Deputy Charles Sciortino was the first officer to respond to a domestic violence call at the Dalton Gardens home of Leon’s parents.

Sheriff’s reports and Leon’s family members described him as suicidal the morning his family called 911.

When Sciortino arrived at the home on Kelly Rae Drive, Leon was behind the wheel of a Dodge pickup truck and his family members were trying to stop him from leaving, according to the sheriff’s report.

Sciortino fired four shots at Leon as the man backed up the truck and hit the patrol car. Leon was struck once in the chest but was not seriously injured.

He drove off, leading officers on a chase that ended in Shoshone County when he ran out of gas.

During Tuesday’s sentencing hearing in 1st District Court, Marano read from a psychological evaluation that stated Leon was struggling with substance abuse and psychotic disorder.

The doctor reportedly said Leon was “set off” by the use of marijuana and methamphetamine.

“It’s a common misconception that the use of marijuana is never harmful to you, that you can use it as much as you want,” Marano said.

The judge said Leon was “cannabis dependent” and apparently struggled with addiction to marijuana more so than methamphetamine. But Leon had strong and negative reactions to meth, which at one point he drank mixed with coffee, Marano said.

Leon has no prior criminal record.

Though the Kootenai County prosecutor’s office and the Sheriff’s Department have ruled that Sciortino violated no laws or department policy in the shooting incident, Leon’s family was critical of the officer’s actions.

“The whole incident never should have happened in the first place,” said Dita Pfennings, Leon’s mother.

Relatives said Leon was suicidal the night before the shooting. They tried to admit him to Kootenai Medical Center but said they were turned away. Hospital spokeswoman Lisa Brown said she could not comment.

Leon’s wife, Heidi Leon, said the family had been “begging for help” for Leon.

“When (the hospital) turned us away, the look on his face was complete letdown,” Heidi Leon said.

The family called 911 on March 14 because they were scared of what he might do to himself – not to them – she said. He told his family he wanted to die, Leon said.

Pfennings said she didn’t know if her son was even aware that Sciortino was there, given his state of mind. She said he was in the truck with the windows rolled up and also may not have heard Sciortino, who was shouting orders.

One of the bullets fired by the officer went into the family’s home, where five children were inside, Pfennings said. Another struck the neighbor’s house, she said.

Heidi Leon, who is pregnant with the couple’s third child, said she was standing on the passenger side of Leon’s truck as a bullet came through the window.

“The glass sprayed all over me, in my mouth,” she said. “The bullet went right past my ear.”

Sheriff Rocky Watson declined to comment on the sentence Tuesday.

Idaho State Police initially said Tuesday the case was closed but later said the report on the investigation into the shooting wouldn’t be available until the end of the week because the officer’s gun was still at the forensics lab.