Arraignment set in attempted kidnapping

SANDPOINT — Two people accused of seizing and beating a Sandpoint man connected to a battery at Grouse Creek this summer are scheduled to be arraigned next month. A third suspect is awaiting trial.

Jonathan Dean Lewis and Curtis Charles Allen Kluesner are set to be arraigned on Nov. 2 and Nov. 16, respectively. They are each charged with attempted kidnapping in the second degree and battery.

Krystal Lynn Marie Hepinstall is also charged with attempted second-degree kidnapping for allegedly aiding and abetting Kluesner and Lewis in the Aug. 16 assault in Sandpoint. Hepinstall pleaded not guilty last month, setting the stage for a December trial in 1st District Court.

Lewis, 21, and Hepinstall, 18, are free on bond while their cases are pending. As of last week, Kluesner, 19, was being held on warrants stemming from unrelated matters.

Kluesner and Lewis are accused of attacking a 20-year-old Sandpoint man who they believed knew who was behind a July 30 assault near Grouse Creek Falls which injured a teenage relative of Lewis’. The two allegedly forced the man into Hepinstall’s vehicle, but he managed to escape.

The clash at Grouse Creek erupted following a verbal altercation between two groups of people who were partying at the site, according to Bonner County Sheriff’s officials. A 17-year-old was allegedly struck in the face with the stock of an assault rifle.

The Grouse Creek incident remains under investigation.