Roommate rumble

A 37-year-old Dalton Gardens man was arrested Feb. 9 after an altercation with his female roommate turned violent.

Both parties called 911 to report the incident which, according to a Kootenai County Sheriff deputy's report, started when the woman told the man she was going out with friends for a few hours.

"(He) became verbal with her and he stated if she left then he would lock her out of the house," the report states. "(She) told (him) that if he did lock her out then she would call the cops."

The woman told the deputy that her roommate then jumped out of the rolling chair he was sitting in and began wrestling with her. At one point during the altercation, the man allegedly grabbed her and bounced her off the concrete wall before putting her in a headlock.

"(She) had her arms behind her and she reached up and could feel (his) face and his lip and she was trying to push his face away the whole time while he was wrestling with her," the report states.

Eventually the woman got free and ran upstairs to her room, where she contacted police.

When deputies arrived on the scene and began questioning the man, he said his mother was in the process of evicting the woman because she had been living rent-free for a few months.

"(He) had trouble answering any of my questions directly," the deputy wrote. "Every time a question was asked, I had to repeat it and tell (him) to stay on topic and help me figure out what had happened that night."

The man then alleged that it was his roommate who initiated the physical altercation after he told her he would lock her out. According to the report, the man had two small scrapes on his face and a red spot in the left corner of his mouth.

In determining who was to blame for the fight, the deputy wrote that the injuries the man sustained on his face were consistent with the woman's story of grabbing at his face in a defensive manner.

"I firmly believe (he) could have removed himself from the situation at any point in time without causing injury to (her) as he did," the deputy wrote.

The man was taken to the Kootenai County jail and charged with one count of battery.