A Post Falls man has been sentenced to serve up to eight years in prison for his seventh DUI conviction.
The Kootenai County Prosecutor's Office says last June 53-year-old Vincent D. Smith rear-ended a car stopped at a traffic light in Post Falls, then fled the scene. He was later arrested and refused to take a breath test, but a search warrant for blood was obtained and showed Smith's blood alcohol content was .28, 3.5 times the legal limit. Smith's license was suspended at the time of the accident due to a prior DUI and he had no insurance. It was Smith's 7th driving-under-the-influence conviction and his 3rd felony conviction for driving under the influence.
All four occupants of the vehicle Smith hit were injured in the collision.
"Judge Christensen appropriately disregarded Mr. Smith's claim that he is a changed man," Kootenai County Prosecuting Attorney Barry McHugh said in a release. " After so many chances to change his ways, and the aggravated circumstances surrounding this most recent event, Mr. Smith is clearly a danger to the public."
(story: KHQ.com; image: Kootenai County Prosecutor's Office)