Hearing set in shotgun incident

SANDPOINT — A preliminary hearing is pending for a Bonners Ferry man accused of drawing down a shotgun on a carload of people who tried to intervene in a domestic dispute.

Timothy Joseph Youngwirth Jr. is charged with four counts of aggravated assault.

A hearing to determine if the case is strong enough to justify trying Youngwirth for the felony offenses is set for Aug. 21 in Bonner County Magistrate Court.

He is free on $3,000 bond while the case is pending, court records show.

The charges stem from a July 11 confrontation that started at Second Avenue and Cedar Street and ended on Fifth Avenue, Sandpoint Police reports indicate.

The carload of people, all of whom are 20-something Bonner County residents, told police that they saw Youngwirth yelling at a woman and told him to stop.

The alleged victims followed Youngwirth’s pickup truck to Safeway out of concern for the truck’s passenger, a 21-year-old Bonners Ferry woman.

Youngwirth, 23, admitted that he was angered by the bystanders’ meddling, exited his vehicle and retrieved a 12-gauge shotgun, the police report states. He also admitted engaging the shotgun’s pump action and pointing it at the bystanders, the report alleges.

No shots were fired, although the bystanders told police they feared they were going to be shot.

Youngwirth was originally charged with only one count of aggravated assault, but Bonner County Chief Deputy Prosecutor Shane Greenbank later filed an amended complaint expanding the charges to four counts, court records show.