Charging document presented in falcon death

COEUR d'ALENE - The Kootenai County Prosecutor's Office presented its charging document in district court Tuesday against a woman suspected of attacking and killing a falcon owned by a Hauser hunter last month.

County Prosecutor Barry McHugh told The Press that late last week his office completed its review of an Idaho Department of Fish and Game investigation into the Jan. 7 incident. The document, which identifies the woman and details the charges filed against her, was not available at the courthouse Tuesday.

According to Scott Dinger, the woman parked her red Jeep Wrangler near the spot where his falcon, Hornet, was in the process of killing a duck the duo had successfully hunted.

Dinger, 50, said as he was approaching the scene, he saw his falcon, clearly injured, flying away. The woman asked Dinger if Hornet was his falcon and when he replied that it was, she allegedly told the falconer that she had beaten the bird. He found Hornet dead approximately an hour later and said the bird suffered a fractured skull and broken leg.