Questions surround Smelterville man's death

The Kellogg Police Department is currently in the midst of an investigation following the death of local resident, Gerad Crawford.

Crawford, 49, of Smelterville, passed away on July 26 after succumbing to existing medical issues that may have been accelerated by Crawford’s involvement in a fight that happened on July 9.

According to police reports and court documents, the fight in question took place on the Silver Mountain loading dock sometime around 11 p.m.

Aside from these facts, the details of what transpired that night vary according to the involved parties.

On July 10, Kellogg police officer Matthew Crawford (no relation to the deceased) had been informed by another Kellogg officer that G. Crawford had said that he was involved in a battery incident with Kellogg residents, Ryan Rickets and Heather Therrian.

Officer Crawford located G. Crawford at a hotel room at the Silverhorn Motor Inn in Kellogg, where he got a first hand look at the injuries G. Crawford had sustained during the fight.

Officer Crawford also took down his statement during this visit.

This is transcript of that statement.

(Gerad Crawford) — “I, Gerad Crawford was accosted by Ryan Rickets on the evening of July 9th 2017 at approximately 11:30 p.m. Ryan was very inebriated and hostile. He was out on the loading dock of the Silver Mountain Resort verbally abusing his girlfriend. I was taking out the garbage when I saw her sitting on the ground vomiting. I asked if she was okay. She was rather incoherent. I asked Ryan to come with me to get her some water. That is when he broke, using foul language and poking at my chest. He then sucker punched me in the left eye and I was knocked to the ground. He mounted me and choked me with his left hand and punched me in the chest multiple times leaving multiple bruises. I was taken to Shoshone Medical Hospital (Center) to have a CT scan in (and) x-rays. Released with pain meds.”

That same day, Officer Crawford procured statements from both Rickets and Therrian

Below are transcripts from those statements

(Ryan Rickets) — “Last night around 9:30 or 10:30 p.m. I asked Gerad why he was stealing out of the shed for youth football. He said he wasn’t and I called him a liar. He then punched me in the face and started wrestling with me for a little while. He was acting strange all day at work which was noticed by multiple people. While we were wrestling Heather yelled at us and Gerad hit her in the nose. We wrestled a bit longer and then we left. Heather and I.”

(Heather Therrian) — “Last night July 9th around 11 p.m. Ryan confronted a guy he works with Gerad about stealing from the kids football shed. I got in the middle he swung and hit me in the bridge of the nose. They scuffled around a little and fell on the concrete ledge behind Noah’s. Then Ryan said we need to go and we left.”

According to the Kellogg Police Department, both men received citations for their roles in the fight.

Rickets was initially charged with battery, but it was requested some time later that the charges be upgraded to aggravated battery due to the disfigurement and loss of teeth that G. Crawford suffered.

On July 13, G. Crawford was discovered unresponsive in his hotel room and was taken to Shoshone Medical Center and then transported to Kootenai Medical Center (KMC).

It was there that he was placed in a medically induced coma in an effort to save his life.

Kellogg Police Department (KPD) chief Dave Wuolle wrote a supplemental report that was attached to Officer Crawford’s report of the situation.

In a July 19 phone call between Wuolle and G. Crawford’s brother, Jake, Wuolle discussed some of his findings that had come from reviewing medical records and the case file.

“I explained to Jake that I had been going over the medical records from Shoshone Medical Center and could see no life threatening injuries that Gerad had sustained from the altercation,” Wuolle wrote in his report. “I asked Jake if he could tell me the reason that Gerad was placed in a medically induced coma. Jake stated that Gerad’s kidneys and liver are shutting down.”

The next day, Wuolle picked up records from KMC and discussed G. Crawford’s condition with his mother, Marguerite.

“Marguerite updated me on Gerad’s condition and stated that he has cirrhosis of the liver and feels his being beat up (accelerated) his condition,” Wuolle wrote. “I also contacted his father and updated him on the investigation. I asked John (G. Crawford’s father) if Gerad had a regular doctor he was seeing for his cirrhosis. John stated that he does not but stated he had been in Kootenai Health before for it.”

At this point in the situation, KPD is working in conjunction with Shoshone County Prosecuting Attorney, Keisha Oxendine, to see how the case should move forward.

“As far as the connection between the battery and the death of Gerad Crawford, that matter is being fully investigated and is presently considered an active and ongoing investigation by Kellogg Police Department,” Oxendine said. “An autopsy was requested, and the results of the autopsy are pending. In the meantime, additional leads are being followed concerning other witnesses to the battery on or about July 10, 2017.”

Depending on the results of the autopsy, the charges on Rickets could be upgraded or amended.

The Shoshone News-Press will continue to follow this story as it develops.