Guilty pleas entered in battery case

SANDPOINT — A Sandpoint man was sentenced Monday to time served and put on probation for two years for his role in an attack on another man.

Curtis Charles Allen Kluesner pleaded guilty to misdemeanor battery and was given a 180-day jail sentence, court records indicate. District Judge Steve Verby suspended 147 days and gave Kluesner credit for 33 days he’s already served.

The sentence is comparable to that of his alleged accomplice in the battery, Jonathon Dean Lewis. Lewis was also given a six-month sentence, although he was given credit for 14 days and the balance of the sentence was suspended.

Kluesner, 19, and Lewis, 21, were originally charged with attempted second-degree kidnapping, although those charges were not pursued in exchange for guilty pleas to battery.

Krystal Lynn Marie Hepinstall, also 19, was also implicated in the attack and scheduled to be tried next month on aiding and abetting in the attempted kidnapping. However, a plea deal is still pending in her case.

The charges stem from an Aug. 16 assault on a 20-year-old man in Sandpoint. Kluesner and Lewis were accused of pummeling the man and forcing him into Hepinstall’s vehicle. The alleged victim managed to escape and flee on foot.

The incident, according to police reports, was done in retaliation for a beating that occurred on July 30 at Grouse Creek Falls.

A relative of Lewis’ was reportedly struck in the face with the stock of a rifle.

A police report said Lewis and Kluesner confronted the Sandpoint man because they believed he knew who participated in the battery at Grouse Creek.

No charges have been filed in connection with that brawl.