Charges amended against man who allegedly tried to kidnap co-worker

COEUR d'ALENE — The Coeur d'Alene man who allegedly attempted to kidnap a co-worker from the Coeur d'Alene Press offices — with the intent to rape her — saw his charges amended this week.

A charge of attempted rape filed against Jason A. Edwards, 44, was changed to battery with the intent to commit a serious felony, according to court documents filed by Kootenai County Deputy Prosecutor David Robins.

A charge of first-degree kidnapping was amended to attempted first-degree kidnapping, the documents said. He remains charged with aggravated assault and burglary, which were among the original felony charges from the Nov. 1 incident. He also is charged with a DUI, a misdemeanor, in relation to the incident.

He remained in custody Thursday night at the Kootenai County jail on $500,000 bond. He no longer works at The Press.

A preliminary hearing scheduled for Tuesday was continued until Dec. 1. At the December hearing, Magistrate Clark A. Peterson will be asked by prosecutors to move the case up to 1st District Court to prepare for trial. Prosecutors will call key witnesses to testify during the preliminary hearing to establish probable cause.

On the morning of Nov. 1, police said, Edwards coaxed a 27-year-old female co-worker at The Press to go outside using a lie that a friend of hers was out there to meet her.

Once outside, Edwards then allegedly put his arms around the woman, verbally threatened her and held a knife to her stomach area.

He led her to his van parked roughly 200 yards away. At the van the woman reportedly broke free and took the knife from him, according to police. She ran back to the newspaper's offices and went inside, where she called police from an interior office.

Edwards apparently wasn't able to make it inside the office building. He then decided to leave, driving his vehicle in the area of Northwest Boulevard and Davidson Avenue.

Officers attempted to stop him. He made a U-turn on Davidson and rammed his own mailbox before getting stopped by police. He was arrested and taken to Kootenai Health for injuries he suffered in his attack. Following treatment he was taken to jail.

Edwards is a registered sex offender with a previous conviction of lewd conduct against a 4-year-old girl. That case was investigated by the Coeur d'Alene Police Department in 2008.