Accounts clash in battery case

PONDERAY — Two people accused of battering a Sandpoint woman last month contend they were attacked by the alleged victim in the case.

“She just wigged out and I’m still trying to figure out why,” said Patricia Ann Fenlon, who maintains that she was punched, bitten and choked during the Feb. 24 incident at a rental cabin in Ponderay.

Fenlon, 35, and her 34-year-old husband, Daniel Dean Fenlon, are awaiting trial on misdemeanor battery charges. The Bonner County Prosecutor’s Office is contemplating additional charges against the couple, but a decision is still pending.

Patricia Fenlon was the alleged victim’s caregiver. The woman has health problems resulting from a vehicle crash several years ago.

The alleged victim told Ponderay Police she went to the cabin, where another man got too “touchy feely,” according to a probable cause affidavit. The woman insisted on leaving, but she was denied and a physical altercation ensued.

Patricia Fenlon, however, gave a statement to police indicating that the alleged victim was distraught, intoxicated and had made unwanted advances toward a second man at the cabin. That man is not clearly identified in court records.

A third man at the cabin, Shane Anthony Newman, gave police a statement alleging that the woman suddenly attacked Patricia Fenlon and had to be restrained. Newman said the woman calmed down, but ended up attacking Patricia Fenlon again, according to the statement.

Patricia Fenlon said she sought charges against the woman, but the request was denied.

“I just can’t believe this all happened. It’s really ridiculous,” Patricia Fenlon said.

The Fenlons are free on bail and awaiting trial on the misdemeanor battery charge. Bonner County Prosecutor Louis Marshall said he would be “somewhat surprised if it stays at the misdemeanor level.”