Coeur d’Alene prosecutors charge suspects after town hall fracas
Guards employed by LEAR Asset Management held Teresa Borrenpohl to the ground during a town hall.
HAILEY HILL/Press file
COEUR d’ALENE — City prosecutors have filed criminal charges against multiple people involved in the legislative town hall that devolved into chaos after security personnel dragged a woman out of the Coeur d’Alene High School auditorium, though the details of the charges are not yet publicly available.
Ryan Hunter, chief deputy city attorney for Coeur d’Alene, confirmed that his office filed charges “against several of the suspects” late Wednesday and that the charges are “working their way into the court’s system.”
The charges stem from Feb. 22, when Post Falls resident Teresa Borrenpohl shouted from the audience during a town hall hosted by the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee.
Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris approached Borrenpohl and told her to leave. When she refused, Norris took her by the arm and tried to pull her from her seat. He then gestured to plainclothes security personnel, who converged on her and dragged her out of the auditorium.
After a weekslong investigation, Coeur d’Alene police asked city prosecutors to file misdemeanor charges of battery and false imprisonment against Paul Trouette, Alexander Trouette, Cristofer Berg, Russell Dunne and Jesse Jones. The men were associated with the security firm Lear Asset Management.
Berg, Dunne, Jones and Paul Trouette “all put their hands on (Borrenpohl) against her will,” police said, while investigators identified Alexander Trouette as an accessory because no footage showed him touching other people.
In the aftermath of the town hall, the city of Coeur d’Alene revoked the firm’s business license, though Paul Trouette has appealed the decision.
Police also recommended a battery charge against Michael Keller, a member of the public who allegedly shoved one of Borrenpohl’s friends during the town hall.