Private security guards plead not guilty to battery after Coeur d’Alene town hall dragging
Employees of private security firm LEAR Asset Management dragged Post Falls resident Teresa Borrenpohl out of a town hall meeting Feb. 22.
HAILEY HILL/Press
COEUR d’ALENE — The private security guards who dragged a Post Falls woman out of the Coeur d’Alene High School auditorium during a chaotic legislative town hall have pleaded not guilty to multiple misdemeanor charges, according to court records.
Paul Trouette, Russell Dunne, Christofer Berg and Jesse Jones, all of whom are associated with the security firm Lear Asset Management, are charged with the misdemeanor crimes of battery and false imprisonment. The men were also cited for security agent uniform violations and security agent duties violations.
Court filings show that the men received criminal summons in April and pleaded not guilty through their attorneys in early March.
Post Falls resident Michael Keller is also charged with battery and pleaded not guilty through his attorney.
The charges stem from Feb. 22, when Teresa Borrenpohl shouted from the audience during a town hall hosted by the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee.
Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris approached Borrenpohl and told her to leave. When she did not, Norris took her by the arm with both hands and made multiple attempts to pull her from her seat. He then appeared to gesture to plainclothes security personnel, who dragged Borrenpohl out of the auditorium.
Berg, Dunne, Jones and Paul Trouette “all put their hands on (Borrenpohl) against her will,” police said. The dragging resulted in “bruising, red marks and/or abrasions,” according to court records.
Investigators identified Alex Trouette as an accessory to the alleged offenses because no footage showed him touching other people.
Police identified three other people who security personnel “forcefully touched or physically removed” from the town hall, including a woman who said Paul Trouette touched her breast after pushing her down the hallway and while attempting to zip tie her hands.
Keller allegedly shoved one of Borrenpohl’s friends during the town hall. Police said footage from the event “shows the battery by Keller very clearly.”
In Idaho, false imprisonment is punishable by up to a year in jail and a maximum fine of $5,000, while misdemeanor battery carries a maximum sentence of six months in jail and a fine of up to $1,000.
Pretrial conferences and jury trials in the five criminal cases are scheduled to occur between late April and mid-July.