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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

$500,000 bond set after wild car chase

Calling him “extremely dangerous,” a magistrate judge set a $500,000 bond Thursday for Victor Leon Jr., the man whom officers shot before he led police on a 40-minute car chase Wednesday.

Magistrate Judge Scott Wayman charged Leon with felony eluding an officer and agreed with a prosecutor that there are “serious concerns” about Leon’s mental condition.

More charges are anticipated, including aggravated assault on an officer, once the investigation of Wednesday’s car chase and shooting is complete, said Kootenai County sheriff’s Capt. Ben Wolfinger.That could happen as soon as today.

During his first court appearance, via closed-circuit television from the Kootenai County Jail, Leon appeared solemn and confused when the judge asked him whether he wanted a public defender appointed to handle his case. Leon looked down and shrugged while shaking his head. After Wayman asked again, Leon said that he didn’t have the money to hire an attorney, but still answered no.

Wayman appointed a Kootenai County public defender.

Leon, 30, is on suicide watch and wore a sleeveless black nylon smock. Medical tape that secures the bandage over his gunshot wound was visible.

A Kootenai County deputy shot Leon in the chest after he allegedly tried to ram a police cruiser and then a deputy with his full-size Dodge pickup. He then led officers on a chase from Hayden to Kellogg. His injuries were described as minor.

Wolfinger said Leon has no criminal history in Idaho and only a shoplifting charge in California.

Leon allegedly moved from Anaheim, Calif., to his parents’ home in Hayden on Tuesday.

A car-towing device was hitched to his vehicle as he raced from the house at 11877 Kelly Rae Drive, with officers in pursuit. Leon reached speeds of 65 mph in 25 mph zones in Hayden, Dalton Gardens and Coeur d’Alene.

The incident began at 9:45 a.m., when a sheriff’s deputy responded to a report of a violent domestic dispute between Leon and his father, according to sheriff’s records. Within minutes of the deputy’s arrival at the father’s Hayden home, Leon allegedly attempted to ram the patrol car and the deputy.

The deputy then fired at Leon, hitting him in the chest.

Department policy prevents Wolfinger from releasing the deputy’s name until the incident has been reviewed in a joint investigation by the Idaho State Police and the Coeur d’Alene Police Department.

After the shooting, Leon allegedly drove off, starting the chase that took him through city streets to Interstate 90 and eventually ended in Kellogg. He refused to leave his vehicle, so deputies broke the windows and fired two shotgun beanbags at Leon.

He was treated at Shoshone Medical Center before being transported to the Kootenai County Jail.