California man dies during arrest

May 16, 2011
A suspicious activity call on U.S. 95 north of Bonners Ferry near milepost 526 early Monday morning resulted in the death of an as-yet unnamed California man.

According to the Boundary County Sheriff's Office, a local resident came across a vehicle blocking a road leading off the highway at about 12:51 a.m.

When she got out of her vehicle to offer help, a nude man stepped from the vehicle. Thinking the behavior a bit odd, the woman re-entered her vehicle and drove to her home by an alternate route, from where she immediately called sheriffs dispatch to report the encounter.

"The county deputy responded to the location and made initial contact with a male subject," a press release issued by the sheriffs office reads. "While attempting to take the man into custody, the subject appeared to have an unknown medical event. Medical help was summoned to the scene for transport. The man was later pronounced dead at Boundary Community Hospital."

While not acknowledged by the Sheriffs Office, several reliable sources report that a taser may have been deployed in effecting the arrest of the irrational naked man prior to his collapse, and deputies and emergency medical personnel did everything possible to revive him, to no avail.

The man's name is being withheld pending notification of next of kin, and Sheriff Greg Sprungl has requested an independent investigation of the incident by the Idaho State Police.