Kidnap attempt gets weird

HARRISON - A 64-year-old man is facing three felony charges in connection with allegations that he held a neighbor at gunpoint for more than an hour while demanding $200,000.

Donald Leon, of Harrison, was charged Wednesday with second-degree kidnapping, aggravated assault and attempted grand theft. Leon reportedly asked his neighbor's daughter to have the alleged victim come over to his house on Tuesday night, a Kootenai County Sheriff's Office incident report states.

Leon had talked to the neighbor on other occasions about doing work around his house and, according to the report, that is what the man assumed would be the topic of conversation.

However, when the neighbor got to Leon's home he noticed Leon sitting next to a bar table with a pistol on it and another pistol allegedly in his hand.

"Donald told (the neighbor) that he could not leave," the report states. "Donald went on to say that (the neighbor's son) has been poisoning him and (the neighbor) and 'some other time' have been collaborating together."

The report goes on to state that Leon was "very agitated" during the confrontation and allegedly told his neighbor that his gun had one in the chamber and the safety was off.

"Donald was waving the gun around while talking and ended up pointing it at (the neighbor) four or five times," the report states. "At one point, Donald said (the neighbor) had until tomorrow to pay him $200,000 otherwise he would have 'people come take care of him.'"

According to the report, Leon eventually let his neighbor leave without further incident and warned the man not to call the police.

However on Wednesday, the neighbor's wife contacted Kootenai County Sheriff's Office deputies who responded to the neighborhood. In his report, the deputy states that when they contacted Leon, the man was hard to understand.

Furthermore, the deputy wrote that Leon could not identify his neighbor by his actual first name and instead called him "Danny."

Leon then allegedly told the deputy an elaborate story involving multiple people who he said were "grooming" his neighbor and threatening him with firearms. At one point he reportedly told the deputy his reasoning behind the incident was to "fight fire with fire."

After the interview with Leon was completed, deputies retrieved the man's firearms and placed him under arrest.

"Donald said he understood and he was just happy to be alive," the report states. "I transported Donald to Kootenai County Public Safety Building without incident."

Leon is still in custody at the jail and a judge set his bond at $25,000 during his first appearance in district court.