COVID 19-positive man arrested twice for DUI is already awaiting trial for rape in North Idaho

May 27, 2020 12:42 PM

Melissa Luck,

Posted: May 27, 2020 12:42 PM

Updated: May 27, 2020 4:20 PM

by Melissa Luck

SPOKANE, Wash – A man with COVID-19 who was arrested twice in the last week for DUI in Spokane is already awaiting trial for two counts of rape in Boundary County.

Health officials confirmed Thursday that Mordecai Cochrane is an employee at the Philadelphia Macaroni Company where at least 36 employees have tested positive for COVID-19.

Spokane Police first arrested Cochrane on May 20. They responded to a call about a vehicle that had been left running more than four hours and found Cochrane passed out behind the wheel. Police say he told them he drank a fifth of whiskey; he was arrested for DUI and booked into the Spokane County Jail.

A county spokesman said they didn’t know until after he was booked that he had tested positive for COVID-19. He was released within 12 hours.

Five days later, Cochrane was arrested again. This time, Spokane Police pulled over a car that was driving with no tail lights. Cochrane’s blood-alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit and he was arrested again. After he was under arrest, Cochrane told police he had tested positive for COVID-19 and was supposed to be in quarantine until the end of this week.

All six SPD officers who had contact with Cochrane are now in self-quarantine.

A background search revealed Cochrane is actually awaiting trial for two counts of felony rape in Boundary County. According to court records, Cochrane was arrested on those charges last fall, along with one count of dispensing alcohol to a minor and one count of DUI. He pleaded guilty to the alcohol charges and actually went on trial for rape in February. That trial ended in a mistrial.

Prosecutors decided to try him again, but court records indicate he was released from jail in March. He did not have to post bond and was released on his own recognizance.

He was supposed to stand trial a second time on June 9th, but that trial was vacated because of COVID-19. He’s now scheduled to stand trial for rape in October.

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