Details emerge in false arrest case

A former Idaho State Police trooper who avoided jail time for unlawfully arresting a woman was reportedly the subject of numerous citizen complaints prior to his conviction, The Press has learned.

Prosecutors say 15 citizen complaints were lodged against Joshua P. Kagarice prior to the 2017 unlawful arrest incident. He was not disciplined for any incident prior to that.

The Coeur d’Alene Press has a pending public records request related to those complaints.

Kagarice was convicted of illegal arrest, a misdemeanor, and sentenced last week.

Kagarice was hired by ISP in 2007. He was a patrol officer for District 1 at the time of the June 2017 illegal arrest.

Kagarice’s wife complained about a car alarm going off in their Hauser Lake neighborhood in the early hours of that morning.

Kagarice, who was on his way home after his shift, responded to his neighbor’s residence to investigate what he called a violation of noise ordinances. The alarm had stopped by the time he arrived.

He reportedly knocked on the door, shined a flashlight into the home and ordered the occupants to come out. Nobody did.

Kagarice pepper sprayed the neighbor’s dog, which was in the yard. He later said the dog had its hackles up and growled at him.

The neighbor said Kagarice rattled the doorknob before leaving the scene.

Kagarice returned to the residence later that day, in uniform and in his ISP patrol vehicle, and knocked on the door again.

His neighbor refused to identify herself to Kagarice, who said he was investigating a misdemeanor crime.

She had reportedly contacted dispatch to determine why law enforcement was at her home. There were no complaints against her and no records to indicate the reason for a police response.

When the neighbor tried to close the door, Kagarice prevented her from doing so and ordered her to come outside.

She said Kagarice forced her to the ground and arrested her for obstruction.

He then reportedly patted her down and slammed her against the hood of his patrol vehicle before taking her to jail.

Kagarice later noted that he had issued his neighbor a ticket for failing to wear a seat belt in 2010.

He reportedly described his neighbors with disparaging terms, calling them “dopers” in conversation with coworkers after the arrest.

The Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office conducted a criminal investigation of the incident, at the request of ISP. Kagarice was placed on leave during the investigation.

Prosecutors filed charges against Kagarice in November 2017.

Judge James Combo granted a motion to dismiss the case in May 2018, finding that Kagarice had lawful authority to investigate a nuisance and that his neighbor was legally obligated to identify herself.

Kootenai County prosecutors appealed in 2019 to the district court, where Judge John Mitchell reversed Combo’s decision.

In response, Kagarice’s attorney appealed to the Idaho Court of Appeals, which reaffirmed Mitchell’s ruling and sent the case back to magistrate court.

Kagarice’s attorney moved to dismiss the case twice more, arguing that the law he was accused of violating was unclear and that the case had dragged on for almost four years.

Both motions were denied.

Kagarice waived his right to a jury trial in the case, instead opting for a court trial before Magistrate Judge Patrick McFadden.

ISP Capt. John Kempf testified that he had reviewed footage of the arrest, as well as other material related to the incident.

Kagarice should not have personally investigated the noise complaint to begin with, he said. Troopers are trained not to investigate crime involving themselves or their family.

ISP does not generally investigate noise complaints, Kempf said.

A noise complaint should have been referred to KCSO — but prosecutors said Kootenai County does not have a noise ordinance and the car alarm did not constitute a violation of Hauser’s nuisance ordinance.

When Kagarice told his neighbor her car alarm woke his family, she reportedly apologized.

“There was an opportunity there for him to accept her apology and move on,” Kempf said. “He continued to press on.”

Though Kagarice characterized his neighbor as combative, saying she screamed and thrashed during the arrest, Kempf said that description didn’t match footage of the incident.

“He escalated the situation, brought her out in handcuffs and slammed her against the hood of his car,” Kempf said.

Saying Kagarice showed “extremely poor judgement,” Judge McFadden found him guilty of illegal arrest.

He sentenced Kagarice on Sept. 7 to 60 hours of community service and one year of unsupervised probation. Kagarice must also pay a $500 fine.

In addition to those terms, prosecutors had requested 180 days in jail with 170 days suspended and five days of actual jail time, along with five days of service in the Sheriff’s Labor Program in lieu of the remaining jail time.

Prosecuting attorney Barry McHugh said the conviction was important, though the sentence was not what his office requested.

“When an officer acts inappropriately, it is important for the public to know those actions will be investigated and, if appropriate, prosecuted,” he said. “Without that accountability, the trust that exists between law enforcement and the community suffers.”

McFadden also granted withheld judgment in the case.

In Idaho, a withheld judgment is a case resolution where the court does not immediately enter judgment.

After the sentence has been completed, the offender can ask the court to dismiss the case retroactively, making it as if the conviction never occurred.