Driver of car involved in child’s death arrested on drug charges

The driver of a car involved in a collision that killed an 8-year-old bicyclist in Post Falls on Monday was arrested on an outstanding traffic warrant and on suspicion of possession of heroin and drug paraphernalia.

Chadd W. Webster, 22, of Post Falls, could face additional charges in the investigation, the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office said Tuesday.

Phillip J. Geisinger died from the collision, which happened about 3:45 p.m. at the intersection of East Aspen Way and South Pine Court, just east of Post Falls. He had been wearing a bike helmet, the Sheriff’s Office said.

A preliminary investigation showed that Geisinger and two other boys were riding their bikes south on Pine Court and turning west onto Aspen Way. Geisinger turned wide and collided with the driver’s side quarter panel of Webster’s Nissan Maxima, which was eastbound on Aspen, the Sheriff’s Office said.

A responding deputy and an off-duty fireman provided aid to the boy at the scene. He was transported to Kootenai Health, where he was pronounced dead.

Toxicology and autopsy results will not be available for several weeks, the Sheriff’s Office said.

Webster was wanted for failing to appear on a previous charge of driving with an invalid driver’s license. He was booked into the Kootenai County Jail for the outstanding warrant and the drug-related charges.

Two adult female passengers in the car were interviewed at the scene. Felicia Webster, the driver’s sister, said on her Facebook page that she was one of them, and that Geisinger “died in my arms.”

She also wrote that it happened three houses down the street from where she lives and that her brother was not texting at the time. “The kid flew out of the (cul-de-sac) wasn’t paying attention,” she wrote.

Webster said the speed limit there is 25 and “we had to be going 17-20 mph.”

She added that her brother is a “good guy with a big heart” and that she is “praying for the family” of the boy.