Private security guards charged in Coeur d’Alene town hall dragging
KAYE THORNBRUGH | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 1 year, 5 months AGO
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
Kaye Thornbrugh is a second-generation Kootenai County resident who has been with the Coeur d’Alene Press for six years. She primarily covers Kootenai County’s government, as well as law enforcement, the legal system and North Idaho College. | April 20, 2025 1:00 AM
COEUR d’ALENE — City prosecutors have filed criminal charges against six men involved in a chaotic legislative town hall, including the private security guards who dragged a Post Falls woman out of the Coeur d’Alene High School auditorium.
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 five men and Alex Trouette were also cited for security agent uniform violations and security agent duties violations.
Post Falls resident Michael Keller is also charged with battery, a misdemeanor.
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 refused, Norris tried 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. Investigators identified Alex Trouette as an accessory because no footage showed him touching other people.
Investigators identified three other members of the public who Norris or 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 turn her around to zip tie her hands.
Police identified Norris as an “involved” party. No criminal charges have been filed against him.
A report prepared by Coeur d’Alene police described footage that showed Norris threaten to arrest a man who attended the town hall, “shoving” the man toward the auditorium exit and pushing him against a wall in the hallway outside.
Investigators asked to interview Norris about the town hall, according to public records, but he declined through his attorney.
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.
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