Press Release from Kootenai County Prosecutor’s Office
Joseph Adam Wilder, 34, was found guilty of Eluding a Peace Officer. The charge stems from an incident on September 12, 2024, when a trooper from the Idaho State Police observed Wilder fail to stop at a stop sign while driving a motorcycle equipped with a generic trailer license plate. Wilder initially pulled over but as soon as the trooper stepped out if his vehicle Wilder drove away from the traffic stop and led the trooper in a pursuit reaching speeds in excess of 100 mph in a posted 45 mph speed zone. The trooper was only able to catch up to Wilder after Wilder failed to negotiate a curve in the road and crashed into a fence. Eluding is a felony, punishable by up to 5 years in prison. Wilder was sentenced on January 21, 2025, by District Judge Ross Pittman.
In July of 2021, Wilder led another trooper in a pursuit that reached speeds up to 90 mph and crossed over into the State of Washington. The trooper attempted to pull Wilder over for speeding, but Wilder drove off before the trooper could even get out of their patrol vehicle. Officers lost sight of Wilder for a short period of time during the pursuit, but Wilder—and his motorcycle—were eventually located laying in a dirt field with waist high weeds. It appeared that, due to his high speed, Wilder left the roadway and crashed into a trailer while approaching an intersection.
Because Wilder fled into the State of Washington and was taken to the hospital, he was unable to be arrested. Instead, officers obtained a warrant for Wilder’s arrest. In October of 2021, Wilder led officers in multiple pursuits in an effort to avoid being arrested on the previously mentioned warrant. These pursuits involved multiple agencies as Wilder nearly struck another motorist while running a red light, traveled northbound while in southbound lanes of traffic, crashed into an Idaho State Police patrol vehicle (injuring the trooper), and nearly crashed into gas pumps at a gas station. Officers were only able to stop Wilder’s vehicle after performing multiple PIT (Precision Immobilization Technique) maneuvers on Wilder’s vehicle as he was attempting to enter traffic along Interstate 90.
However, after officers stopped Wilder’s vehicle, Wilder fled on foot a short distance before he was tackled to the ground by an officer. Even then, Wilder continued to resist arrest but was eventually handcuffed after being tased several times. Wilder provided two breath samples to officers, revealing a blood alcohol concentration of 0.160/0.161—twice the legal limit of 0.08.
Wilder was sentenced in both of these cases on July 13, 2022, and granted probation. Wilder violated his probation on January 19, 2024, by committing the new crime of DUI. This incident involved Wilder crashing his vehicle into the snow off the shoulder of US 95 with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.161/0.146. On July 16, 2024, Wilder was sentenced for the new DUI and held to answer for his probation violations.
Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Nick Lepire recommended that Wilder serve 180 days in jail for the new DUI and 5 years in prison for violating his probation. District Judge Ross Pittman, however, placed Wilder back on probation. Wilder was on probation in all of these cases at the time of the September 12, 2024, incident.
At sentencing on January 21, 2025, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Corey Weber recommended a 5-year prison sentence with no possibility of parole for the 2024 incident as well as imposed sentences (jail and prison time) in all of the probation matters.
District Judge Ross Pittman sentenced Wilder to a 5-year prison sentence for the 2024 incident but suspended that sentence and placed Wilder on probation for 4 years. Judge Pittman also kept Wilder on probation in the prior matters. Part of Wilder’s probation now includes a condition that he participate in Kootenai County’s Mental Health Specially Court. According to the Idaho Supreme Court’s website, mental health courts in Idaho allow mentally ill offenders to be closely supervised and monitored, and their treatment overseen, in the community as “an innovative alternative to incarceration.”
Prosecuting Attorney Stanley T. Mortensen thanks Corey Weber for prosecuting the cases and the Idaho State Police, Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office, and Coeur d’Alene Police Department for investigating the cases.
