VA officer jailed on battery, assault charges

A federal officer who was armed when he picked a fight with local police Monday is in the Kootenai County jail with bruises on his face.

Johnathan M. Bryman, 39, of Spokane, faces four felonies including three counts of aggravated assault and one count of aggravated battery. He is being held on $50,000 bail.

Coeur d’Alene police responded to a domestic violence call around 10:30 p.m. on the 3200 block of north 11th Street in Coeur d’Alene, where neighbors said Bryman was armed and had pointed a firearm at them and at his soon-to-be ex-wife.

According to witnesses, Bryman was intoxicated when he and his wife argued on the front porch of the home in front of neighbors and one of their children. Bryman, who is a veteran’s affairs protective services officer, called VA police, pulled a handgun from a waistband holster and pointed it at his wife and at neighbors.

At one point witnesses said he yelled at his wife and held the gun to her head.

When police arrived they ordered Bryman — who by then had holstered the pistol, a .38 revolver, — to keep his hands away from his waist.

Instead, witnesses said Bryman lifted his shirt, displaying two guns.

Police said that lifting his shirt was a way to have better access to both firearms.

Police told Bryman to stay put, but he walked off the porch toward police, tripped, stumbled and then lunged at a police officer with clenched fists.

Officers took Bryman to the ground, and slammed his face on the concrete.

Police said Bryman spat blood at officers and told them he had tested positive for coronavirus.

“I have corona,” he told police, according to a report. And he ordered them to kill him.

“Shoot me in the (expletive) head you (expletive) faggot,” he said according to a report.

Police removed the .38 revolver and a Glock 19, from holsters on his waist.

Police said Bryman and his wife are going through a divorce, and that the couple had neighbors over for the evening to relieve the tension of Bryman’s visit.

Bryman was charged Tuesday in Coeur d’Alene Magistrate Court where Judge Timothy VanValin denied a public defender for Bryman, and set a May 1 preliminary hearing.

Aggravated assault carries a sentence of up to five years, and aggravated battery carries a maximum 15-year sentence.