Man accused of DUI and reckless driving, causing ‘significant damage’ to Pocatello building

POCATELLO – A man accused of driving recklessly and causing significant structural damage to a commercial property in Pocatello is facing felony charges

TJ Christensen has been charged with two felony counts of malicious injury to property, and three misdemeanors: possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia and reckless driving.

Additionally, Christensen is charged with a misdemeanor for a second offense of driving under the influence, Bannock County Prosecuting Attorney Ian Johnson told EastIdahoNews.com.

On Tuesday, just after 6 p.m., Pocatello police officers responded to an emergency call at the intersection of East Gould Street and Garrett Way, where witnesses said a vehicle had crashed into a building. According to court records, officers interviewed three witnesses who said they watched as the vehicle’s driver fell out of his vehicle before it left the roadway and crashed into the building on North 2nd Avenue.

Police say witnesses told them that the driver then got up and went to his vehicle, a white Suburban, which had come to a stop inside the building. They said the man then got in the vehicle and rammed it through the building’s garage door and a gate to exit the property.

The witnesses told police the driver was “a white male, with a bald head or a buzzed haircut, wearing a purple hoodie and shorts,” court records state.

According to the documents, one of the officers began photographing the scene.

“As I was taking photographs, it became clear from the markings on the ground inside the shop and outside in the lot, that (the driver) moved his vehicle multiple times in order to ram the garage door to get out of the building, as well as the gate to get out of the lot, causing significant damage to the building and the fence, well in excess of $1,000,” the documents read.

Another officer says he located Christensen at his residence on Jones Drive shortly after at 6:12 p.m., near the vehicle suspected of crashing into the building.

“I observed a male subject with a beard, wearing a purple hoodie, walking in the street away from the white Chevrolet Suburban with significant new accident damage to it,” the documents read.

The officer says he ordered Christensen to “stop right there,” and then “asked the subject what was going on, to which he replied, ‘not much.’”

According to the documents, a brief struggle ensued when Christensen did not sit down after being ordered to do so by the responding officer. Another officer was needed to help put Christensen in handcuffs.

Police also describe seeing “road rash” on Christensen’s forehead and hands.

After clearly seeing what was described as a “marijuana pipe” in the Suburban, officers searched it and found “a small rubber container with a yellow substance consistent with THC wax,” “a broken glass marijuana pipe and a plastic baggie with marijuana residue,” as well as a cardboard box with “a razor blade, a lighter and a plastic “tooter” straw with residue,” according to court documents.

Police say Christensen consented to a search of his person and informed officers of a pocketknife in his pocket.

“A glass pipe with burnt plant material and a container with residue was located on his person,” the documents read.

Christensen was then taken into custody for possession of paraphernalia, and officers conducted a DUI investigation.

“Christensen provided two breath samples with BrACs of .160/.148.,” the documents read, which are both above the legal limit of .08%.

Christensen has pleaded not guilty to all the misdemeanor charges against him, but has not entered a plea to the felony charges.

Although Christensen has been accused of these crimes, that doesn’t necessarily mean he committed them. Everyone is innocent until proven guilty in the eyes of the law.

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