Asleep at wheel, man comes to, flees Boise police. He’s been ‘tentatively identified’
Boise police officers responded Monday to a call about a truck with an unconscious driver in the parking lot of a strip mall at the corner of Fairview Avenue and North Liberty Street.
Not long after, the unconscious man behind the wheel of the pickup came to, bumped a police car out of the way, exited the parking lot and fled, according to the Boise Police Department.
Police said Tuesday that they have “tentatively identified the driver of the truck and the investigation is ongoing.” No one was injured in the incident.
The reporting party had said a male driver in the truck was unconscious with his foot on the gas, causing the engine to rev loudly for an extended period of time, because the car was in neutral.
Kainoa Smith, who works at a store in the strip mall, captured a video of the incident. Smith said the driver was “passed out with his foot on the accelerator” for about 20 to 30 minutes.
“Our neighboring businesses were scared that the truck would pop into gear, then run through their business,” Smith told the Idaho Statesman.
Police said they attempted to pin the truck in by positioning a patrol vehicle in front of it. Officers then “attempted to make contact with the driver and were forced to attempt to break the driver’s side window of the pickup,” according to BPD.
Smith said police “showed up and they were trying to get the guy to wake up. He finally woke up and when he woke up, he was aggravated. … He still didn’t get out of the car, so they decided to smash his window out.”
The driver put the truck into gear and pushed the patrol vehicle aside before exiting the parking lot, police said.
This story was originally published December 14, 2021 at 3:55 PM.
