Convicted murderer captured near Bayview after fight with deputy, police dog

A convicted murderer from Lewiston was captured Friday morning near Bayview after a brawl with a police dog and a deputy.

A Kootenai County sheriff’s deputy was on Perimeter Road near Careywood Cut Off Road shortly before 7:30 a.m. Friday when he spotted a man who appeared to be drunk. The man gave a false name and then ran away, according to a sheriff’s office news release.

The deputy gave chase and used his Taser on the man, later identified as Steven P. Droogs, but Droogs pulled the wires free and kept running. He reportedly told the deputy he was armed with an “AR” and asked the deputy to kill him so he wouldn’t go back to prison, the news release said.

Droogs ran inside a home at 17561 Perimeter Road and hid in the attic. He was pepper-sprayed but refused to come out and a police dog was sent in after him. Droogs reportedly choked and punched the dog and also punched a deputy before the dog was able to get control of him, the news release said.

He has been charged with battery, obstruction and giving false information.

Droogs was wanted by the Idaho Department of Correction for fleeing his probation for a manslaughter conviction and was also wanted for an aggravated assault in Nez Perce County. He was convicted of fatally shooting 19-year-old Travis L. Palmer while he sat in his truck at a Jack in the Box drive-thru in 2004, according to the Lewiston Tribune.

His criminal history in Nebraska, Idaho, Washington and California includes convictions for drug possession, grand theft, criminal trespassing and assault.