Threats bring felony charges

SANDPOINT — A Bonner County man is facing a suite of felony charges for allegedly threatening a former girlfriend with a pistol on more than one occasion.

Richard Kainoua Borja is charged with two counts of aggravated assault and two counts of unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

The allegations surfaced in July, according to court documents. The woman told sheriff’s investigators that Borja had repeatedly battered her during the course of their two-year relationship.

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Borja’s right to possess firearms was revoked due to a 2014 aggravated battery conviction in Aberdeen, S.D., according to court records.

Borja was arrested in January for alleged attacking another man with a baseball bat in Hope, 1st District Court records indicate. Borja didn’t deny hitting the alleged victim because the person customarily carries a knife and had been aggressive with him in the past, an affidavit said.

Borja was charged with aggravated battery, although the state moved to dismiss the charge against him during a preliminary hearing, court documents indicate. The felony charge was dismissed without prejudice, which leaves the state free to pursue it at a later date.

The status of Borja’s liberty was not clear on Monday. Online court records contained no information on bail or the appointment of counsel. The Bonner County Sheriff’s Office’s online inmate roster was also inaccessible on Monday.

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