Lewiston Police arrested a homeless man who eluded them last month during a high-speed chase on a stolen motorcycle.
Dustin C. Keltner led police through streets, alleys and sidewalks on Normal Hill and the Lewis-Clark State College campus during the Sept. 25 incident.
Keltner, aka “Benzo,” 40, was arrested Tuesday on a warrant for grand theft and eluding and arraigned by video later that day in Nez Perce County Magistrate Court, where Judge Karin Seubert lowered his $50,000 bond to $20,000 and set a preliminary hearing for Oct. 21.
Lewiston Police allege Keltner stole a 2008 Kawasaki Ninja 500r motorcycle, then fled when police caught up with him on the 300 block of Fourth Street in Lewiston. Police broke off their chase on the 500 block of Fifth Street for safety concerns, but Keltner reportedly ran a stop sign at Seventh Avenue and Fifth Street and continued onto the LCSC campus.
“He rode past barriers blocking traffic onto campus and continued onto the sidewalk in front of the Student Union Building, through the heart of campus, in the middle of the afternoon,” court records said.
The motorcycle is valued at $1,690. The maximum penalty in Idaho for felony grand theft is 14 years in prison and a $5,000 fine.
The maximum penalty in Idaho for felony eluding is five years in prison and a $50,000 fine. There is also a mandatory driver’s license suspension of one to three years if he is convicted on the charge.
