Police seek witnesses, recordings

COEUR d’ALENE — Police are investigating a number of possible crimes that may have been committed during a reported racial incident in downtown Coeur d’Alene on Thursday evening.

Police Chief Lee White said an Idaho statute regarding malicious harassment and another one regarding disorderly conduct are being considered. A federal crime depending on what actually happened that night may also be appropriate, White said.

But as police have not spoken to victims or witnesses and don’t have any video recordings of the incident, White said it’s difficult to say with certainty what laws may have been broken.

According to a Coeur d'Alene police report of the incident, Robert Moyer, a donor for the University of Utah basketball team, told police the team was in Coeur d'Alene for the NCAA tournament in Spokane and had gone to Crafted at Fifth Street and Sherman Avenue for dinner.

Moyer told police that about 6 p.m. two lifted pickups were revving their engines and speeding by the team as they walked down Sherman Avenue.

“The trucks then turned around and came back towards the team and yelled the "N" word at them as many of their players are African American,” the report said. “Robert stated the incident caused a well founded fear among the players.”

The incident was reported to police about 10 p.m. The responding officer reported that he was unable to make contact with the players.

“However, Robert told me the team members wanted to press charges if the situation happened again,” the report said.

According to the report, there was “very limited information, a several hour time delay and no suspect description.”

White said Tuesday that police were still seeking to speak with potential victims.

“So far we don’t know exactly who that might be,” he said.

It was initially reported there were about 100 people in the vicinity of the incident when it occurred, White said.

He said police were working with the FBI, seeking video footage along Sherman Avenue from Thursday evening and hoping to interview witnesses. Police are also reviewing footage of patrol cars from earlier in the day to see if it might show the truck in question.

Until then, White said it will be “difficult to determine which state or federal statutes may be most applicable,” he said.