BF Police Seeking Clues to Bike Route Death Threats

Bonners Ferry Police are seeking information regarding who may have placed death threats on a bulletin board at a farm and garden store targeting bicyclists riding on a new county-designated bike route.

Superimposed over the printout of a story posted in the Boundary County Digest reporting the completion of signage for the county’s first designated bicycle route were two photographs of stenciled images threatening bicyclists with death.

A photocopy of the of the article — “Designated Bike Route Signs Ready to Roll Out” containing the threats — was taped to a bulletin board at Quality Farm & Garden Center in downtown Bonners Ferry.

“Share With Log Trucks Gravel Grain And Farm Trucks Be the First to Die,” read the first one underneath four cartoon-like images of trucks and a wagon of logs. “Can’t Find Your Biker Look Under My Tires,” said the second photo above caricatures of bicycles and strollers that appear to have been struck on a drawing of a road. Some of the sketches show bicycle parts such as tires and handlebars strewn across the roadway.

Although the stenciled images are not considered a direct threat targeting any individual or persons, Bonners Ferry Police Chief Rick Alonzo said he is not taking the matter lightly. He said the department will conduct an investigation to see who is responsible for posting the threats.

In early October, Boundary County Commissioners narrowly approved a 10.5-mile bike route called “A River Runs Through It” along Riverside Road after several commercial truck haulers who drive the narrow, two-lane roadway contacted commissioners with concerns regarding safety issues of bicyclists on the road.

But according to Dan Davis of the Idaho Transportation Department, bicyclists are allowed to use roads and state highway, and there is nothing illegal about posting signs to warn drivers about bicycles.

Anyone with information of those who taped the photocopied story with the threats is urged to call Bonners Ferry Police at 267-2412.