Officers have recommended criminal battery and false imprisonment charges for the private security guards who helped drag a woman by her arms out of a Republican town hall in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, and battered other people at the February event, according to police reports released Wednesday.
Coeur d’Alene police said five private security officers for Lear Asset Management touched or physically removed several attendees including Teresa Borrenpohl, who was booing and loudly commenting to lawmakers at the town hall held at Coeur d’Alene High School.
Then-unidentified men in black jackets grabbed Borrenpohl, pulled her to the floor and dragged her out as she screamed, video shows.
Lear did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Meanwhile, despite Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris physically engaging with two people at the event, he is not considered a suspect, according to the police reports — only an “involved” party.
Police also recommended a battery charge against a member of the public who officers say pushed Borrenpohl’s friend. The man also had a firearm at the time, reports say, so police recommended charging him with possessing a weapon on school property.
How it all began
The spark that led to the fracas was when Borrenpohl shouted, “Is this a town hall, or a lecture?” at the emcee.
Norris confronted her, identified himself and told her to leave or she would be escorted out. When she didn’t comply, video shows Norris grabbed her arms and tried to pull her from her chair.
Norris then gestures to the security team. The men walk over and grab Borrenpohl.
According to witness footage, Borrenpohl can be heard screaming repeatedly, “Who are these men?” and, “Who are these guys?”
Both men then pull her to the floor and grab her by her arms and legs. The men roll her over and drag her by her arms out the door as she continued to ask people who the men are, the video shows.
Police wrote in reports the security members were wearing tactical-type pants and long-sleeved black jackets with no security markings or badges that would indicate they were security, which is a violation of city code. Lear’s license to operate within the city was revoked because of that violation.
Borrenpohl told police she had bruising all over her body; a sore neck, shoulder and elbows; and abrasions on her hands and back from the incident.
After the altercation, Borrenpohl was cited for alleged battery based on the “limited information” police knew at the time because she bit one of the men as he dragged her away. The private security officer she bit told police he wanted to press charges against her because she left a mark on his skin, the reports say.
But after further reviewing evidence, the city prosecutor’s office decided to drop the battery charge “in the interest of justice” and “careful consideration of the law,” Ryan Hunter, Coeur d’Alene chief deputy city attorney, said previously.
One Coeur d’Alene police investigator noted in his reports that most of Borrenpohl’s statements were one sentence and didn’t disrupt the “flow” of the town hall. The cheers sustained by the audience were “more of a disruption than any statement that Teresa made,” the officer wrote.
According to the police reports, Gregg Johnson also yelled at Norris to leave Borrenpohl alone.
Norris grabbed Johnson’s arms and pushed his hands multiple times to get him to leave, the reports say.
More people join the fray
As security tried to drag Borrenpohl out of the auditorium, videos show a member of the public pushing and blocking Borrenpohl’s friend, Megan Dardis-Kunz, who was trying to get close to Borrenpohl to support her, according to police reports.
When Dardis-Kunz walked toward Borrenpohl, a man pushed her and then grabbed her arms, blocking her from proceeding toward her friend, she said.
A witness told police she recalled the man in the flannel shirt having a revolver on his hip.
Meanwhile, one woman who chose to record Borrenpohl and did not attempt to touch or insert herself into the altercation was told by one of the guards to back away. She did, but he pushed her down the hallway, tried to turn her around, zip tie her hands and then touched her breast, she said in the report.
Reports indicate Lear had no contract with the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee which hosted the town hall.
The police officer who drafted the report also noted there were “mixed messages” from different committee members as to whether Lear was hired to provide security at the event.
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