Police: Man pointed rifle at strip club customers

A Newman Lake man who allegedly pointed a rifle at a man’s head in the parking lot of a Stateline strip club was released from jail and will have a second court hearing next week.

Cody Betts, 26, is charged with aggravated assault, a felony, which carries a penalty of up to five years in prison, and exhibition of a deadly weapon, which can add 15 years to an aggravated assault sentence.

Betts posted $20,000 bail Monday. A Feb. 11 hearing in Coeur d’Alene has been scheduled.

Deputies said Betts was arrested around 9:30 p.m. Jan. 30 at Stateline Showgirls after witnesses accused him of pointing a rifle at a man’s head in the strip joint parking lot.

When authorities arrived at the club on the 6700 block of West Seltice Way, Betts had already been detained and was lying on the ground in handcuffs surrounded by a half dozen people. He had been disarmed, a deputy said.

When he arrived, Deputy Robert Imthurn said the manager of the club, Joshua Mulvey, handed Imthurn a rifle with a wooden stock that he said he had taken from Betts.

Witnesses said Betts had argued with two patrons in the parking lot when he grabbed the rifle and attempted to strike them with its butt. The men fled, but two other men, who had walked outside to smoke a cigarette, were confronted by Betts.

“You don’t want none,” Betts allegedly told them as he pointed the rifle at them. The men reported the incident to the bouncer and manager, who detained Betts.

The firearm was unloaded at the time, police said, but according to the complaint, the incident “created a well founded fear” in the victims “that such violence was imminent.”

Betts told police the two men he initially tried striking with the gun had threatened him.

At next week’s hearing, Betts will have a chance to agree to an upcoming probable cause hearing, or he could choose to waive the hearing and be bound over to Coeur d’Alene’s First District Court.