UPDATE Idaho fugitive arrested in Toppenish

TOPPENISH, Wash. -- Law enforcement officers from the Yakima Violent Crimes Task Force today arrested an escaped federal prisoner from Coeur d’Alene who was hiding at a friend’s house in Toppenish.

James Howard Gallaher, 23, was wanted by the U.S. Marshals for escaping from a Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, federal halfway house where he had been learning rehabilitation skills and looking for work, said an officer involved with the arrest.

Gallaher was at the tail-end of a 37-month sentence for aggravated assault with brass knuckles in 2006 in Northern Idaho, the officer said. However, he had failed to fulfill some of the conditions of the rehabilitation center and fled the home when federal authorities arrived to question him. He had been serving a 37-month sentence for aggravated assault with a dangerous weapon.

He also has previous convictions for battery, malicious mischief and criminal contempt, according to a news release from the Yakima County Sheriff's Office.

Gallaher was hiding at a house on South Olden Way, where he was arrested at 11:45 a.m. without incident.

The Violent Crimes Task Force is made up of officers from the Yakima County Sheriff’s Office, U.S. Marshals, Yakima Police Department, Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Washington Department of Corrections.

-- Ross Courtney

EDITOR'S NOTE: An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported that Gallaher had escaped from a federal prison. It was a federal halfway house.