Suspect is accused of witness intimidation

SANDPOINT — Criminal troubles are compounding for an Oldtown man accused of attacking and threatening to kill his girlfriend last month.

Charges of attempted witness intimidation were brought against Patrick Allen Geaudreau on Friday as he awaits a preliminary hearing on charges of aggravated battery, first-degree kidnapping and attempted strangulation.

Geaudreau is accused of using third parties to try to convince his former girlfriend to change her story or decline to testify against him, according to charging documents. Geaudreau made phone calls to several other people in a bid to influence the woman’s testimony on Tuesday, the day before a planned preliminary hearing. Geaudreau waived his right to the hearing on Wednesday, which sends his case to 1st District Court for further adjudication.

A probable cause affidavit said Geaudreau made three calls using the jail’s Telmate phone system, which is monitored by jail officials. Geaudreau placed a call to a residence in Newport and urged two people there to contact the woman in a bid to get her to drop the allegations. Geaudreau also called a family member who wanted nothing to do with the plot and a third person who agreed to try and talk to the woman, the affidavit said.

Geaudreau, 27, is accused of attacking the woman on Hoodoo Mountain on May 8. The woman was struck with brass knuckles during the attack and Geaudreau said he intended to kill her, court documents allege. The woman managed to escape his vehicle after the alleged attack and made it to safety.

Geaudreau categorically denied the allegations in an interview with a Spokane television station.

Geadreau was initially a suspect in a high-speed chase in which shots were fired a pursuing law officers on May 10. However, Geadreau’s involvement has been ruled out of that episode, according to Bonner County Prosecutor Louis Marshall.

Geadreau was arrested during a May 25 traffic stop and remains held at the Bonner County Jail in lieu of $210,000. He is scheduled to be arraigned on June 20.