Felony assault suspect jailed

SANDPOINT — A Bonner County man facing a string of felony charges for allegedly repeatedly threatening his former girlfriend with a pistol is back in jail, court records show.

Richard Kainoua Borja was granted conditional release while awaiting proceedings in Bonner County Magistrate Court, but a warrant for his arrest was issued after he failed to comply with those conditions.

Borja was picked up on the warrant and ordered held in lieu of $120,000 bail after appearing in court on Nov. 29, according to court documents.

Borja, 28, is charged with two counts of aggravated assault and two counts of unlawful possession of a firearm by convicted felon. The allegations against Borja emerged in July, when his ex-girlfriend reported to authorities that he had battered her repeatedly during their two-year courtship, a probable cause affidavit alleges.

Borja is accused at various times of striking her in the head with a small bat and flashlight, punching her in the face and breaking her nose, confining her to a room in a Hope home with no access to a phone, pistol whipping her and threatening her with pistols, a probable cause affidavit alleges.

The alleged abuse followed Borja’s repeated claims that she had been unfaithful in their relationship, court documents indicate.

Borja allegedly threatened the woman with a loaded .22-caliber pistol at a Clark Fork home in late 2017 or early 2018 and ordered her to strip naked in the presence of others, the affidavit said. In June, Borja is accused of driving the woman to a remote area near Shepherd Lake and demanded money. Borja allegedly struck her with a different .22 pistol and pointed it at her head, prompting the woman to escape the vehicle and flee into the woods.

Borja allegedly fired a gunshot into the air as she fled. The woman told an investigator she concealed herself in the trees every time a vehicle passed by, fearful that it was Borja hunting her, court documents said.

Borja’s right to possess firearms was revoked due to a 2014 aggravated battery conviction in Aberdeen, S.D., according to court records.

A preliminary hearing in Borja’s case is set for Dec. 12.

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