Zimmer, Essman seen at Law Day
By CHANSE WATSON
Managing Editor
WALLACE — The latest Shoshone County Law Day on Wednesday had District Judge Scott Wayman addressing more than 20 different cases at the courthouse in Wallace.
Of the many cases addressed on Wednesday were those of Jeffrey Zimmer Jr., Michael Essman and David Hardy.
At his first appearance in court, Zimmer Jr. plead not guilty to the several charges he is facing that stem from his alleged actions that involved a drug-fueled police chase down the interstate.
On Nov. 18, Zimmer Jr. and another individual made contact with law enforcement in Kellogg after he was found out of his vehicle in a parking lot near Jacobs Gulch and Cameron Avenue.
Zimmer Jr. allegedly told the officers that he and his friend were being chased by the Hell’s Angels and that a shot had been fired in the area.
Suspecting that he was intoxicated, officers administered a breathalyzer test and found him to be over the legal limit.
With no felony crime though, the Kellogg Police Department cited Zimmer Jr. and released him. The passenger with Zimmer Jr., who had passed a breathalyzer test during the initial contact, was allowed to drive them away in their black pickup truck.
Not two hours after this initial contact, Montana State Police reported to local law enforcement that the black pickup truck had been responsible for several crashes in Montana and that it was coming back into Idaho.
Personnel with the Idaho State Police, Shoshone County Sheriff’s Office and the Osburn Police Department caught up with the truck on westbound Interstate 90 at milepost 68. Zimmer Jr., the alleged driver, was driving around 40 mph in the center of the road and intermittently making efforts to run other vehicles off the road.
With traffic stacking up behind them, law enforcement decided to disable the black pickup truck by using spike strips. Following a successful spike, the slow speed chase got even slower as the last bits of air escaped from the affected tires.
By the time the parade of traffic made it to Osburn, the black pickup had slowed to 20 mph.
The pursuit finally ended when the truck pulled over just before the Big Creek exit. Zimmer Jr. and the passenger were taken into custody without incident.
During a search of the truck following the arrest, police located a white substance in a plastic box that tested positive for methamphetamine.
Zimmer Jr. is facing charges of eluding a police officer, possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia and driving under the influence.
He is currently set to have a three-day jury trial, which will be scheduled at a later time.
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Also on the Wednesday docket was the case of Michael Essman, who was most recently arrested on Dec. 4 for having his bond revoked. Essman has been in and out of the weekly SCSO list of wanted felons for months after he failed to show up for court to face charges stemming from a previous arrest earlier this year.
On April 21, an SCSO deputy conducted a traffic stop in Smelterville on a vehicle that Essman was a passenger in at the time.
After making initial contact with the occupants of the vehicle, the deputy requested the use of SCSO’s drug detection K-9, deputy Lulu.
Lulu and her handler, deputy Ben Abshire, responded to the scene and proceeded to conduct a free air sniff around the vehicle. The free air sniff concluded with Lulu alerting to the vehicle, indicating the presence of illegal substances. Deputies then initiated a search and as the investigation progressed, a backpack believed to be containing narcotics was seized along with drug paraphernalia.
Essman was initially released without charges.
Eight days later though, a search warrant was executed on the seized backpack and it was found to contain a “white crystalline substance suspected to be methamphetamine and a brown/tar-like substance suspected to be heroin.”
On May 7, deputies located and arrested Essman and charged him with possession with intent to deliver methamphetamine (felony), possession of heroin (felony) and possession of drug paraphernalia (misdemeanor).
Essman, who is in custody with no possibility of bail, is scheduled to be back in court on Feb. 3, 2020, for sentencing.
According to iCourt, Essman has a criminal record in Shoshone County which includes numerous vehicle violations and serving 2-4 years in prison for possession of a controlled substance charges in 2009.
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One of the last cases taken up on the morning Law Day docket was that of David Hardy, who faces two felony charges of injuring an infant.
Court records indicate that Hardy is accused of causing serious bodily harm to the 1-year-old child of the woman he was seeing at the time on two separate occasions in September 2018.
The child, who was examined by medical professionals not long after sustaining the injuries, was determined to have suffered a broken left leg, fractured left and right forearm, oral trauma and facial bruising.
Upon learning of the injuries and conducting an investigation, local law enforcement contacted the U.S. Marshal’s Office and requested to assist with locating Hardy, who was believed to had fled to Oregon. Soon after this request was made though, Hardy turned himself into the SCSO.
Information on this case is limited at this time due to the impending jury trial set to take place from Dec. 17-20 at the Shoshone County Courthouse.