Hearings pending in angler shooting

SANDPOINT — A preliminary hearing and an arraignment are pending for two men who allegedly shot at teenagers fly fishing in the Priest River this fall.

Leo Michael Inwood and Eric Rampton Wood are facing a series of felony charges in connection with the Sept. 13 incident of West Settlement Road. One of the 13-year-olds was struck in the leg by incoming gunfire, according to court documents.

Inwood, 42, is charged with unlawful discharge of a firearm at an occupied vehicle and unlawful concealment of evidence. Wood, 52, is charged with attempted unlawful discharge of a firearm at an occupied vehicle and unlawful possession of a firearm.

Both men were initially charged with misdemeanor malicious injury to property, although those offenses have been upgraded to the felony level because the damage to the motorized Honda scooter that was shot up exceeded the $1,000 statutory threshold, according to amended criminal complaints filed by Bonner County Chief Deputy Prosecutor Shane Greenbank.

Wood is being prosecuted as a persistent violator because of two prior felony convictions in Nevada for burglary and desertion or nonsupport of wife or child, according to court documents. The sentencing enhancement would add at least five years to the underlying prison sentence if he is convicted a third felony.

The two teens said they were casting their lines into the river when they saw the moped they rode to the fishing spot being shot at by two men at a partially constructed home. When the shooting subsided, they got back on the moped to flee the area and one of the teens was shot in the right femur. They later crashed the moped, according to a probable cause affidavit.

Inwood is accused of concealing the firearms used in the incident knowing they would be discovered through an authorized law enforcement investigation.

Wood waived his right to a preliminary hearing and is scheduled to be arraigned in 1st District Court on Nov. 27. Inwood’s case was scheduled to undergo a preliminary hearing last month, although the proceeding was reset for Nov. 15 because of a witness’s unavailability, court records show.

Both men are being held at the Bonner County Jail in lieu of $30,000 bail each.

Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.