Fallout from Grouse Creek battery case continues

SANDPOINT — A second suspect in an alleged attack linked to a perplexing assault at Grouse Creek was arrested Wednesday following a hearing on another charge.

Jonathan Dean Lewis was arrested on a felony charge of attempted first-degree kidnapping and misdemeanor battery. Judge Debra Heise set Lewis’ bail at $50,000 on Thursday and appointed a public defender to represent him.

Lewis, who also uses the last name Huckabee, was ordered to have no contact with the alleged victim in the Aug. 16 assault in Sandpoint.

Charging papers state that Lewis either forced the 20-year-old victim into the car and pummeled him or aided and abetted another man, Curtis Charles Allen Kluesner, in the confrontation.

Kluesner, 19, remains at large.

Police reports indicate the man was assaulted because the defendants believed he knew who was behind a July 30 confrontation at a campsite at Grouse Creek.

Lewis, 21, was served with the arrest warrant on the kidnapping charge when he appeared for a preliminary hearing on a burglary charge, which is also connected to the events at Grouse Creek. Prior to the campground assault, Lewis and a juvenile went on an after-hours beer run which culminated in them allegedly taking the alcohol from a Sagle convenience store without paying, court documents said.

The burglary charge against Lewis has since been amended to misdemeanor theft.

A third suspect in the allegedly retaliatory assault on the 20-year-old man in Sandpoint, Krystal Lynn Marie Hepinstall, waived her right to a preliminary hearing on a charge of second-degree attempted kidnapping.

Hepinstall, 18, is set to be arraigned in 1st District Court next month, although the state and the defense have indicated a plea agreement is being considered.

No charges have been filed in connection with the Grouse Creek battery in which a teenager was reportedly hit in the face with the stock of a firearm. Authorities say the incident remains under investigation.