Troy man sentenced in West Kootenai road rage incident

A Troy man was sentenced to serve time in prison Monday in Lincoln County District Court.

Jesse Lynn Reid, 44, received a 20-year sentence, with 15 suspended, from District Judge Matt Cuffe. The judge ordered Reid be screened for placement in a state correctional facility where he can receive addiction treatment.

Cuffe referenced letters that were submitted on Reid’s behalf and the fact the victim didn’t seek restitution.

Reid, who pleaded guilty to felony assault with a weapon on Dec. 16, 2024, received credit for serving 169 days in custody at the Lincoln County Detention Center.

Several of Reid’s family were present during sentencing, which public defender Maury Solomon referenced.

“Mr. Reid, he is a good, decent man who had a drug relapse after using contaminated street drugs, which led to this unfortunate incident,” Solomon said. “When he is released, he will have great community support from family and friends.”

Reid also spoke.

“I am sorry for this whole ordeal and my heart goes out to the victims,” he said. “I can only imagine what I put them through.”

Reid’s case began at about 3:30 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 25, 2024, according to the probable cause statement by county deputy Scott Welchons.

Welchons was patrolling when he received a call from dispatch about a assault in progress described as a truck repeatedly ramming the rear of a trailer being towed by a van. The officer learned Agent Tucker Brelet from U.S. Border Patrol was also responding.

Agent Brelet said he was in the process of responding when both vehicles passed him, swerving back and forth. The officer said he could hear metal grinding, too. The agent turned on his emergency lights and the horse trailer jackknifed and stopped next to his patrol vehicle while Reid’s vehicle was still pushing the rear of the trailer.

Agent Brelet got out of his vehicle, pulled his service weapon and turned on a light mounted to his firearm. He told Reid to put the vehicle in park and put his hands out of the window. The agent said Reid was yelling something he couldn’t understand while rapidly fidgeting.

Agent Brelet repeated the command, Reid put the vehicle in park and put both of his hands outside the window. The officer said Reid asked him if his wife was OK? The agent told Reid not to worry about that and to follow his instructions.

After Reid got out of the vehicle, he continued to ask about his wife. The agent checked the vehicle and saw no one else inside. He then handcuffed Reid and radioed another responding officer and dispatch what was happening.

When deputy Welchons arrived, he saw the van with the jack-knifed trailer and the blue Chevy truck interlocked into the rear of the trailer near the intersection of Dodge Summit and West Kootenai. Welchons spoke to the victim and said the truck approached them from the rear at a high rate of speed on the West Kootenai Bridge.

At first, the victims thought they were being pulled over by law enforcement, but became concerned when there were no flashing lights. They were pulled over and the man in the truck behind them was yelling, “get out of the car.”

The driver of the van thought they were being hijacked and started to drive away. The man said the driver of the truck started ramming into the rear end of the trailer, about 20 times, before they reached the intersection.

Deputy Welchons reported there were nine people in the van, including four adults and five children. He then spoke to Reid, who kept saying he wanted to get his wife out of the van. He also said there was a professor who had abused him and his wife and that his wife was at the fair.

Welchons said Reid seemed paranoid. He asked the accused if he had taken any drugs and Reid responded, “No, I know this seems unbelievable, but it’s true.”

Reid was arrested for DUI and aggravated assault, taken to the Cabinet Peaks Medical Center for a blood draw that Reid consented to. Welchons then Reid to the county jail in Libby. He reported Reid had two prior arrests for DUI in 2001 and 2005.