Seven Arrested, Guns Seized In Raid Authorities Followed Up On Tip Of Drug Activities

Authorities arrested seven people on drug charges and confiscated several loaded guns during a raid Wednesday night on a Coeur d’Alene home.

Members of the Kootenai County Joint Agency Task Force, acting on a tip of drug activity at 211 Birch Ave., burst through the home’s front door about 7:35 p.m., said Coeur d’Alene police Capt. Carl Bergh.

Officers arrested four people who were inside the house when they served the search warrant. Three others, including a 17-year-old boy, were arrested when they arrived at the house while police were searching it.

The raid netted about three-quarters of an ounce of methamphetamine, which was being broken into smaller gram amounts, a small amount of marijuana, six guns and $862 in cash, Bergh said. The drugs had a street value of about $2,000.

A Kootenai County sheriff’s deputy was treated at Kootenai Medical Center for a dog bite and released. No one else was injured.

Arrested during the raid were: Elane Krieg, 30, on charges of possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, possession of marijuana under three ounces, and possession of drug paraphernalia; Daniel H. Baker, 29, on charges of possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver; Jay M. Burnet, 33, on charges of possession of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia; and Aaron J. Gilmore, 19, on a misdemeanor charge of frequenting a place where drugs are used.

Arrested when they arrived at the house were: Jeremiah L. Stephens, 19, on a charge of frequenting a place where drugs are used; John P. Padula, 18, on a charge of frequenting a place were drugs are used; and a 17-year-old Post Falls boy on charges of possession of a concealed weapon and frequenting a place where drugs are used.

Krieg and Padula told officers they lived at the house. Baker, Gilmore and Stephens are from Coeur d’Alene, and Burnet is from Ketchikan, Alaska.

Bergh said Padula had a 9 mm pistol in one pocket and a .25-caliber pistol in another when he was arrested. A .357-caliber revolver was found tucked into the 17-year-old boy’s waistband, Bergh said.

Officers also found a loaded, 12-gauge shotgun leaning next to a couch in the living room, Bergh said. An assault rifle loaded with a 40-bullet magazine and another bullet in the chamber and another shotgun also were confiscated, he said.

, DataTimes