Businessman arrested during 'Operation New Hight'
SAGLE — Sheriff’s deputies arrested the owner and operator of the Long Bridge Bar & Grill Thursday as part of “Operation New Hight,” an expansive crackdown on criminal conduct in Bonner County.
Daniel Jon Maddux, 54, is charged with two counts of delivery of a controlled substance. Maddux was apprehended on a $100,000 felony warrant resulting from a grand jury investigation.
Deputies also arrested a former and current employee of Maddux’s. Current Long Bridge Grill waitress Elizabeth Ann Goldberg, 43, was indicted by the grand jury on two counts of delivery of a controlled substance. Former waitress Karen Leann Medland, 50, was indicted on one count of delivery of a controlled substance.
The sheriff’s Criminal Interdiction Team turned its sights on the Long Bridge Grill due to a long history of criminal complaints involving reports of drug distribution and sales at the restaurant, sheriff’s officials said in a news release.
As a result of the indictments and information gathered during Operation New Hight, the Bonner County Prosecutor’s Office filed court documents to seize the restaurant through civil proceedings.
The sheriff’s CIT also arrested Robert Lynn Dell Daniels, 43, of Sagle. He was arrested on a $100,000 warrant after being indicted on six counts of delivery of a controlled substance and one count of grand theft by possession of stolen property.
Sheriff’s deputies arrested Matthew Harold Johnson, 34, on his houseboat in Garfield Bay on Wednesday morning as part of Operation New Hight. A grand jury found probable cause to try Johnson on two counts of delivery of marijuana.
Judge Barbara Buchanan sustained Johnson’s $100,000 bail and appointed a public defender to represent him.
In addition to the slew of drug arrests, Operation New Hight also targeted members of the local chapter of the Hermanos Motorcycle Club. Three club members were arrested on Monday and two more have since turned themselves in.
Jonathan Brandon Bates, 28, turned himself in on Thursday, while James Ray Smith, 50, turned himself in on Wednesday. Both suspects are charged with recruitment of criminal gang members.
Friends and family of the Hermanos MC members contend they are being unfairly targeted by law enforcement and are innocent of any criminal wrongdoing.
Sheriff’s officials said they are trying to prevent Hermanos MC, a support club for the Bandidos Motorcycle Club, from gaining a toehold in Bonner County.