Woman accused of kidnapping, battery
LACLEDE — A Sandpoint woman was arrested Tuesday for allegedly kidnapping a 6-year-old girl and attacking two others at the Riley Creek Recreation Area.
Ruthie Ann Peterson is charged with felony second-degree kidnapping and two misdemeanor counts of battery. Bonner County Magistrate Court Judge Lori Meulenberg set Peterson’s bail at $100,000, according to court documents.
Peterson, 22, declined the services of a public defender and advised the court during an initial appearance on Wednesday that she intends to be represented by private counsel.
The child’s foster father told Bonner County Sheriff’s Deputy Tim Reynolds that the girl was missing from the recreation area’s playground and hadn’t been seen for approximately 30 minutes.
Deputies and campers began searching for the girl and vehicles were prevented from leaving the area until she was found.
The girl’s bicycle helmet was found about 100 yards away from the playground.
Approximately 15 minutes into the search, the deputy heard yelling that the missing girl was being held by a woman. When Reynolds found Peterson she was being pinned to the ground by a good Samaritan.
Peterson was arrested and began screaming profanity and unintelligible remarks, according to a probable cause affidavit. The girl was crying and shaking and told a deputy that Peterson had picked her up and carried her off.
The father’s biological daughter told the deputy that she saw Peterson with the girl near the Pend Oreille River. The biological daughter confronted Peterson and said the woman smacked her and tried to rip the bun out of her hair, the affidavit said.
The alleged abduction was preceded by an alleged attack on a woman who was walking in the park.
The woman in that incident told deputies that she encountered Peterson as she was yelling into a mobile phone. The woman said Peterson hung up the phone, grabbed her and demanded to know where her sister was, the affidavit said.
Peterson, the affidavit said, allegedly threw the woman to the ground and began choking and biting her until a bystander intervened.