Press employee thwarts attempted kidnap

An early morning attempted kidnapping was foiled Sunday and a knife-wielding assailant has been arrested.

At about 5:30 a.m. Sunday, Coeur d’Alene Police officers responded to the Coeur d’Alene Press, 215 N. 2nd St., for a reported kidnapping/attempted rape that had just occurred.

The 27-year-old female victim inside the building said she arrived to work at 5:25. Moments later, Jason A. Edwards, 44, a dock worker for the Press, came into the building and told her that her friend was waiting to talk to her outside. The victim was alone in the office at the time.

The victim said she followed Edwards outside and her friend was not there. She said Edwards put his arm around her, verbally threatened her, and held a knife at her stomach area. He started walking her to his van about 200 yards away. Once they were at the van he tried to open the door, and the victim struggled to gain control of the knife. She was able to break free and take the knife from him.

After the struggle, in which the assailant’s hand was cut, the victim ran back to the Press building with the suspect chasing her. She made it inside and locked herself into an interior office, where she called police.

The suspect walked around looking for her but was not able to gain access to the office she was in, she said. He left the building and drove to the area of Northwest Boulevard and Davidson Avenue, where officers attempted to stop his vehicle. He made a U-turn on Davidson and ran over his own mailbox before he stopped for officers.

He was placed under arrest and faces multiple charges - kidnapping, aggravated assault, attempted rape, burglary and DUI. Edwards was transported to Kootenai Health for treatment of his injuries. Police said that once he’s released from the hospital, he’ll be transported to Kootenai County Jail.

Bill Izzard, the newspaper’s production manager who worked with police on the investigation Sunday, reviewed video of the incident and said the female employee was “extremely composed.”

“When police interviewed her she was calm and helpful,” Izzard said. “They asked her if she’d be willing to watch the video and she didn’t hesitate. Her composure was just amazing.”

Edwards is a registered sex offender with a previous conviction of lewd conduct against a 4-year-old female. That case was investigated by the Coeur d’Alene Police Department in 2008. Edwards was convicted of that offense and sentenced to 180 days with a retained jurisdiction and is required to register as a sex offender.