Man arrested for attack on bar patron

SANDPOINT — One man was arrested Thursday and another is sought for arrest in connection with an alleged attack that left a Sandpoint man in critical condition with a skull fracture.

Charles Tyler Sprinkle is charged with aggravated battery, a felony. John Howard is accused of aiding and abetting the Aug. 30 attack and is the subject of a $50,000 arrest warrant.

Sprinkle, 34, of Sandpoint, is accused of attacking the 36-year-old victim after he left the 219 Lounge, leaving him with multiple facial and skull fractures and subdural bleeding on the brain, court records indicate.

The alleged victim has since been released from Kootenai Medical Center, where he was being treated in an intensive-care unit. The injuries were severe enough to warrant a felony charge, the criminal complaint against Sprinkle alleges.

The alleged victim and a friend were reportedly asked to leave the downtown bar due to disorderly conduct and were allegedly followed by Sprinkle and Howard.

Sprinkle allegedly jumped the man from behind while Howard prevented the man’s friend from intervening, court documents indicate.

A motive for the alleged attack remains unclear, said Sandpoint Police Det. Rob Dressel. It occurred on Second Avenue, behind the 219.

Howard apparently told police that the victim and his friend were the aggressors, although a witness to the incident told police that Sprinkle and Howard initiated the attack, court records said.

“From across the street, he saw two big guys attack his friends from behind,” Dressel said.

Court records indicate the victim was intoxicated. His blood-alcohol level when he was admitted to KMC was 0.23, which is nearly three times the legal limit to drive.

Sprinkle is described in court documents as standing 6-feet, 4-inches tall and weighing 225 pounds. The alleged victim is 6-feet tall and weighs 185 pounds.

Howard was schedule to surrender on Friday.

“He was supposed to turn himself in today and he didn’t,” said police Chief Corey Coon.

Sprinkle made an initial court appearance on Friday. Judge Debra Heise sustained his $100,000 bail, appointed a public defender to represent him and entered an order barring him from contacting the victim, court records show.

A preliminary hearing in Sprinkle’s case is pending.

There was a report going around town that one of suspects boasted about “curb stomping” the victim, which typically involves placing a person’s head a curb against a gutter and stomping them with a foot.

However, Coon said there was no evidence that such an act had been committed.