This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Thousands of boaters, swimmers, water skiers and paragliders are having fun in the Bear Lake sun this summer, enjoying raspberry shakes, scenic canyon getaways and other magical adventures surrounding the popular recreation spot that bisects two states.
Unbeknown to these thrill- seekers is an Idaho court case that makes them a little less safe, law enforcement a little less effective and criminals with a little better chance of escaping.
If a crime is committed on Bear Lake's Utah side and the perpetrator flees to Idaho before Beehive State cops can catch the offender, those cops will stop at the state line. They will alert their Idaho brothers and sisters in arms, but often the Gem State officers are more than 20 miles away in the area's population center of Montpelier.
Utah law enforcement's reluctance to cross the line stems from a lawsuit filed 16 years ago that took 11 years to settle. It was filed by a man who was paralyzed after his car was hit by a fleeing drunken driving suspect, whom a Rich County sheriff's deputy had tried to pull over. The suspect took officers on a high-speed chase starting in Utah, weaving into Wyoming and finally into Idaho, where the crash victim was just pulling back onto the road after stopping to aid another motorist who had hit a deer.
Wyoming deputies eventually ended their pursuit. The Utah deputy was joined by two Idaho officers, who had pulled in ahead of him in the race behind the suspect.
Right before the crash, the Utah and Idaho pursuers had pulled back, fearing the potential danger as the suspect kept speeding away.
The victim sued Utah's Rich County and Idaho's Bear Lake County, along with the two states' individual officers involved in the chase.
The case was adjudicated in Idaho. During the litigation's 11-year span, it was dismissed three times only to be revived each time.
In the end, besides a memorandum of understanding that gave both states' law enforcement a degree of immunity if either side enforced laws in the other state, Idaho District Judge Mitchell Brown dismissed the Gem State defendants.
Rich County, through its insurance company, paid out about a million dollars.
So now, Rich County Sheriff Dale Stacey won't let his deputies go into Idaho because of the liability it might create for Utah taxpayers.
It's ironic because, years ago, before this accident, Utah deputies responded to an incident at a bar just across the line in Idaho. A man was beating up his wife in the parking lot. Rich County deputies stopped the assault and arrested the assailant. Another man then stumbled out of the bar, hopped in his car and began driving unsteadily away. He, too, was busted.
Had that happened today, the Utah deputies simply would notify their Idaho counterparts, who would arrive perhaps 20 to 30 minutes later.
Stacey says he respects his Idaho colleagues and considers them friends. His department will communicate with Idaho about any crimes they know of or suspect there.
But they won't cross the state line without the immunity protection they thought they had before the Idaho judge's decision.