Man charged with assault after alleged knife chase

COEUR d'ALENE — A Coeur d'Alene man was arrested for aggravated assault Monday after reportedly threatening his brother-in-law with a knife.

Brian Chittenden, 35, was taken into custody without incident at his family's property in Coeur d'Alene at 6:11 p.m. on Monday, according to a Kootenai County Sheriff's Office incident report. Deputies were called to the scene after Chittenden's brother-in-law reported the man had chased him down a driveway while holding a knife and making threats.

"As I contacted (the brother-in-law) I could see he was visibly shaking and was very agitated and could not focus on what I was asking him," the report states. "(He) kept saying he was very scared and shaken."

While talking to the responding deputies, the brother-in-law said his family had been attempting to contact Chittenden for more than three days, but were unable to. Chittenden, according to the report, has "undiagnosed mental issues" that caused the brother-in-law to drop his child off at home before trying to check on Chittenden at his residence on the family's 40-acre property.

"He pulled in the driveway and walked up to the house," the report states. "(He) stated he observed Chittenden in the window and he had a large knife in his right hand with the blade held at chest height and the blade pointing up."

According to the report, Chittenden observed his brother-in-law looking through the window and "yelled out in an angry, loud voice." The report states that after yelling, Chittenden headed toward the door, still brandishing the knife.

"(The brother-in-law) stated he has never seen Chittenden like this and started backing up on the porch as Chittenden came out the door," the report states.

Chittenden then allegedly chased his brother-in-law down the driveway while yelling obscenities. This, according to the report, put the brother-in-law in "fight or flight mode" as he ran down the driveway, "not looking back, scared for his life."

The brother-in-law was able to flag down two vehicles, whose occupants agreed to wait with the man until authorities arrived.

After interviewing the brother-in-law, the deputies decided to attempt to contact Chittenden. According to the report, Chittenden exited the home without incident before being placed in handcuffs.

"During the contact, I observed Chittenden was highly intoxicated and would go from angry, to yelling at us, to crying, and back to halfway normal," the report states. 'The moods changed many times during the 30-minute contact."

The report states that when deputies interviewed Chittenden, his stories changed many times and he said he could not recall if he had a knife while chasing his brother-in-law down the driveway. Chittenden was later taken to the Kootenai County jail and charged with aggravated assault.

A preliminary hearing in the case has been scheduled for April 5 in Kootenai County District Court.