A 42-year-old Bellevue man has been charged with aggravated DUI, a felony, for allegedly driving intoxicated when he became involved in an accident last week in Muldoon Canyon that severely injured his 23-year-old daughter.
Michael Robert Shipp, a longtime Blaine County Road and Bridge employee, was charged with the crime Friday in Blaine County Magistrate Court. He was released from custody later that day after posting $10,000 bond.
Shipp's daughter, identified by police as Katherine E. Shankland, suffered a severe head laceration and was flown by Life Flight emergency helicopter early Friday morning to Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise. Her condition was listed as stable on Friday. She was no longer listed as a patient at Saint Alphonsus on Tuesday.
It was not clear in police reports precisely when the accident occurred. Police and emergency responders learned of the accident shortly after 3 a.m. on Friday when they were dispatched to Shipp's home on north Sixth Street in Bellevue.
Antonio Munoz, a deputy with the Blaine County Sheriff's Office, wrote in a probable cause affidavit that Shankland was bleeding severely from the back of her skull when he arrived. Munoz further wrote that Shankland suffered a 6.5-inch laceration to her left-side forehead, "which bled so profusely as to require transfusion of one unit of blood."
Shankland was initially taken by Wood River Fire and Rescue ambulance to St. Luke's Wood River Medical Center and later transported by helicopter to Saint Alphonsus.
Assistant Fire Chief Jeff Nevins said it was reported at the Shipp residence that four people were involved in the accident. Two others were injured but signed release waivers and were not transported, he said.
Munoz reported in his probable cause affidavit that the accident occurred on Muldoon Canyon Road about 1.5 miles east of Bellevue. Munoz wrote that Shipp was identified as the driver. Also involved in the accident were Levi Daniel Elgethun, 21, no address available, and Jessie Gelsky, no age or address available.
Munoz wrote that the four accident victims were taken to Shipp's home by Joshua Lee Carrothers, 20, and Shawna Marie Watters, 19. No address was available for either.
"I then talked to Michael and he stated that he was driving the vehicle because his daughter Katherine had called him to come pick her up from a canyon party," Munoz wrote. "On his way back, Michael hit a rock, causing him to lose control of the vehicle, striking a tree."
The vehicle was identified as a 1988 Dodge pickup.
Munoz wrote that Shipp failed three field sobriety tests and had slurred speech and impaired memory. A blood-alcohol test was administered but results were not immediately available.
In court Friday, Judge R. Ted Israel declined Shipp's application for a public defender. Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Matt Fredback asked that bond be set at $30,000 "due to the serious charge and significance of [the] victim's injuries."
As a condition of release, Israel ordered Shipp not to consume alcohol and to submit to daily alcohol testing. Israel did not order that Shipp not drive.
Shipp remained a Blaine County Road and Bridge employee on Tuesday. According to court records he has worked for Road and Bridge for nine years.
A preliminary hearing was scheduled for July 22.
Terry Smith: tsmith@mtexpress.com
Michael Robert Shipp
