Shooting suspect waives hearing

SANDPOINT — A Bonner County man accused dousing his girlfriend with gasoline and threatening neighbors with a firearm waived his right Wednesday to a preliminary hearing.

Stephen Paul Hindsley is charged with two counts of aggravated assault and is scheduled to be arraigned in 1st District Court on Aug. 3.

The case against Hindsley is proceeding even though the girlfriend is now recanting her statements to deputies following the June 20 incident in Colburn, court records indicate.

In exchange for not contesting the case at this stage, the prosecution agreed to reduce Hindsley’s bail from $200,000 to $20,000.

Hindsley’s waiver came a day after Judge Barbara Buchanan declined to dissolve or modify a no-contact order in the case. Deputy Prosecutor Valerie Fenton  objected to a modification because of the seriousness of the incident and nothing to indicate Hindsley’s behavior would not continue, court documents show.

Hindsley, 19, poured gasoline on the 29-year-old woman, according to the criminal complaint. She fled to a neighbor’s home and Hindsley later appeared at the property line with a gun, a deputy’s report said.

Neighbors told deputies Hindsley fired a gunshot in their direction.

Hindsley’s girlfriend now contends that she was intoxicated from prescription painkillers and alcohol and that she had threatened to burn down their home, which sparked a tug of war over a gas can, according to a letter she wrote to the court.

The girlfriend said she was splashed with gas and the gun Hindsley allegedly wielded was actually a hammer. She explained in the letter that he used the tool to strike a bullet against a rock.