Road rage turns into Bellevue brawl
10 arrested on battery, county warrant or drug charges
By MATT FURBER
Express Staff Writer
A convoluted series of events that began Sunday afternoon as an altercation between two drivers at Johnny?s Country Store, on Highway 75 north of Shoshone, and ended as a brawl in Bellevue could involve the arrest of as many as 10 individuals, said Blaine County Sheriff Walt Femling.
Femling said possible charges include vehicular battery, simple battery and drug possession. Some of the individuals face previous warrants in Jerome and Lincoln counties.
Blaine County deputies and officers from the Bellevue Marshal?s Office were dispatched to the Bellevue fracas at 4:15 p.m., Femling said.
?It is the ultimate road rage case,? Femling said in a press conference Monday. Femling said the incident began with reckless driving, an obscene gesture, punching and a pointed gun. The scene escalated into a car chase and a car being rammed and forced off the road. Near the Timmerman Hill junction of Highway 75 and U.S. Highway 20 more cars joined the chase that ended in a fisticuffs melee in the parking lot of the Aspen View Furniture Store in Bellevue. There, police said they found drugs, paraphernalia hidden in a diaper bag and a handgun.
?It?s just a big mess,? Femling said. ?Three agencies are involved (in the investigation).?
?It took five hours to sort (the story) out,? said Blaine County Sergeant Will Fruehling. ?The women were amazed at the behavior of their men.?
The Bellevue Marshal?s Office is investigating the battery charges. Blaine County is pursuing the investigation of a car that was rear-ended twice on the highway, and Lincoln County is investigating an alleged threat with a handgun, Femling said.
The list of those arrested for battery, as of Tuesday, included Luis Torrero, 23, of Twin Falls, Ron Chapp, 30, of Jerome, Joshua Nicholas Herron, 23, of Hailey, Ezekiel Howard Herron, 24, of Hailey and Granado Ramiro, 25, of Heyburn, Bellevue Marshal Randy Tremble said. More charges are pending.
?There?s a lot of follow up here,? he said.
Femling said Torrero was heading north on Highway 75 near Johnny?s Country Store with his wife and newborn baby when a car passed him and cut him off. Torrero ?flipped the bird? and pulled into the store, according to Femling.
Riding in the second car were Ron Chapp and a passenger who confronted Torerro and punched him in the right ear, Femling said. ?Torrero returned to the car and brandished a 45 caliber handgun,? he said.
Both cars then continued north, Femling said. He added that Torrero then ?called friends to make the fight fairer.?
Femling said Marcia May Olivas, 18, of Meridian met Chapp?s car near Timmerman Hill where she allegedly rear-ended his car twice. Chapp veered into the barrow pit to get away and several cars finally convened in Bellevue where a fight ensued, Femling said.
The investigation is ongoing.
