Uncooperative witness causes case's dismissal

SANDPOINT - An uncooperative victim has derailed a felony domestic violence case against a Bonner County man, court records show.

Todd Randal Becker was charged with attempted strangulation, unlawful entry and resisting arrest in connection with an alleged attack on a 46-year-old woman in Ponderay last October.

Ponderay Police were summoned to a residence and encountered the couple sitting in a hallway with a woman in a choke hold. Becker refused commands to unhand the woman and began pulling her down the hallway.

Becker, 47, released the woman and was jolted with a Taser when he stood to engage the officers, a probable cause affidavit said. Becker, however, continued to resist arrest and was jolted a second time.

The woman told police her boyfriend attacked her inside her home and beat her after they got into an argument outside a Ponderay bar. Becker allegedly ransacked the home in search of the woman's firearm and threatened to kill her and himself, the affidavit alleged.

Becker was to stand trial on the felony and misdemeanor charges earlier this month in 1st District Court. However, Bonner County Deputy Prosecutor Katie Murdock advised the court that the state was unable to secure the victim's testimony, prompting Murdock to move for a dismissal, court records indicate.

Judge Barbara Buchanan dismissed the charges without prejudice, which means they could be re-filed at a later date, records show.