Sandpoint man arrested on charges of resisting, assault on officer

A Sandpoint man was arrested last month on charges of resisting arrest and battery on a law enforcement officer after police said they found him passed out on a sidewalk.

On Aug. 18, Sandpoint Police officers received calls about a man making threats. When officers arrived on scene, a witness told them that a white man had allegedly entered the store, “threatened to ‘kill [racial slur],’ then left.”

As officers were leaving that scene, they were dispatched to the corner of Third Avenue and Pine Street for a welfare check. Upon arrival, court records contend that officers found a man passed out on the sidewalk, and recognized him as 39-year-old Alexander Griffin. Griffin allegedly had slurred speech and was very unsteady on his feet when he stood up – signs officers claim show he may have been intoxicated, court records said.

Griffin allegedly kept balling up his fists and flexing his muscles as he spoke to police, and began resisting officers when they tried to restrain him, according to the probable cause affidavit. Eventually, officers say they were able to detain Griffin, and EMS called to check his condition.

“Later, while being medically cleared, he kicked out with his foot, striking my right arm just below my elbow,” an officer wrote in the probable cause affidavit.

Griffin completed a field sobriety test, blowing a .253 into the breathalyzer — over three times the legal limit. Two bonds — one for battery and the other for resisting — of $300 each were paid by Griffin.

His arraignment date is set for Sept. 29. An arraignment is different from a preliminary hearing in that the preliminary hearing is where the judge decides if there is enough evidence mounted against the individual for them to stand trial. An arraignment is where one can file a plea of guilty, not guilty or no contest.