Ex-councilman arrested for slugging mayor

EAST HOPE — A former councilman was arrested Monday for allegedly punching Mayor Jake Both in the chest in a dispute over a newspaper delivery tube on public property.

Dan Shanahan is charged with misdemeanor battery, said Bonner County Sheriff Daryl Wheeler, adding that the East Hope resident may also face additional charges of disturbing the peace.

He immediately bonded out of the Bonner County Jail, Wheeler said.

Shanahan, 35, is accused of punching the mayor after storming out of City Hall and slamming the door. Both said he followed Shanahan outside and told not to slam the door anymore.

Assistant City Clerk Sandy Butler, who witnessed the confrontation, said Shanahan wheeled around and charged up to Both, who had his hands up and palms facing outward.

“Jake had his hands up there and left them up there to stop him from running into him,” said Butler. “Then he turned around and slugged Jake in the chest real hard. He slugged him and knocked him back into the building.”

Shanahan contends Both, 78, was the aggressor.

“It’s his position that he was the one who was assaulted. He was grabbed under the armpits by the mayor and he simply pushed him back to get him off of him,” said Toby McLaughlin, Shanahan’s Sandpoint attorney.

Both flatly denies assaulting Shanahan, who served several months on the council before resigning under threat of a recall election.

“I held my hands up to protect myself,” said Both.

Both suffered a bruise to his chest, but said he’s otherwise OK.

Monday’s altercation followed an ongoing struggle over the placement of a Bonner County Daily Bee delivery tube that was on property Shanahan is renting.

Shanahan contends the tube was on private property. The tube has been taken down repeatedly and vanished at one point. City officials gave the sheriff a packet of documents proving the location of the tube was on public property, although Shanahan apparently disputes the accuracy of those records.