Naples man sentenced for burglary, battery

COEUR d’ALENE — An 18-year-old Naples man who zip-tied the hands of a Coeur d’Alene couple and beat them is going to prison.

Hunter W. Jenkins originally faced eight felonies, but through an agreement with prosecutors pleaded guilty to eluding police, burglary and aggravated battery. According to police, Jenkins broke into the couple’s house, beat them, stole computers and a television and then led police on a high-speed chase in a stolen car.

Hunter was sentenced this week to a mandatory three years in prison and three years indeterminate. That means Jenkins could spend anywhere from three to six years behind bars.

First District Judge Benjamin Simpson said the 18-year-old’s list of crimes that include a stolen vehicle in Spokane, coupled with heroin and methamphetamine use, were egregious enough to warrant a prison term.

“You are not safe on the street,” Simpson said. “Other people are not safe around you. You are not tougher than meth or heroin. They will both kill you.”

Jenkins was arrested last November while he was on probation after he led police on a chase at speeds in Bonner and Kootenai counties traveling around 120 mph in a stolen car. The chase began at Dufort Road in Bonner County and ended in a field alongside several businesses near the Hayden Walmart on Honeysuckle Avenue.

Kootenai County deputy prosecutor Molly Nivison asked the judge to impose the three-year prison term.

“He has no respect to follow the rules or authority of law enforcement,” Nivison said. “He has a tendency to flee instead of being held accountable.”

Jenkins was initially charged with robbery, two counts of second-degree kidnapping, burglary, criminal conspiracy, and aggravated battery for allegedly stealing a television, two desk computers and monitors, a sound system, cash, three cellphones and two laptops in October from a house on the 1100 block of East Walnut Avenue in Coeur d’Alene.

Jenkins and another man allegedly broke into the victims’ residence, cut one of the victims with a knife, zip tied their hands and robbed them.

Jenkins was charged later with eluding police in a blue Honda Civic he had stolen from a gas station on North Pines Road in Spokane.

Jenkins’ only ties to the Coeur d’Alene area were criminal, Nivison said.

Simpson advised the 18-year-old to enroll in prison rehab programs and choose a more productive path.

“Yeah, you’re a badass and you have the ticket to prove it,” the judge said. “You better straighten up.”