A Coeur d’Alene man is facing a battery charge after allegedly spraying his neighbor with water.

“I couldn’t believe it was battery,” Stephen Scouller said of being cited for the offense at his 15th Street home. “I didn’t spray her at all. It was a little flick and maybe she got a drop of water.” 

City Attorney Randy Adams said assault and battery are criminal charges that have long been on the books. 

"Spraying someone with water could well be either an assault or a battery, depending on the circumstances," he wrote.

In Idaho, battery is punishable by a fine not to exceed $1,000 or by imprisonment in the county jail not to exceed six months.

According to Scouller, he was watering his lawn with a hose the afternoon of July 30 when his neighbor came out and stood on the other side of the chain link fence, upset water was getting on her plants. He said this wasn’t the first time she has shared her concerns with him on the subject and there have been tensions between them for a few months. 

He said he tried to ignore her and continued watering the grass, but when she continued speaking to him, he flicked the hose in her direction and some water hit her. 

Scouller said his neighbor told him, “You got me wet, I’m calling the cops.” 

She did and a few minutes later, police arrived and took statements from both parties. The next day, police returned with a battery citation for Scouller, which surprised him. 

“I didn’t even spray her and then I get a battery out of it,” he said. 

The police report offers a different perspective. 

The officer wrote that upon his arrival, “I observed Stephen to be actively spraying his hose over the 6-foot fence.” 

The officer wrote that he told Scouller to stop and said he looked at the neighbor, who was “standing there clearly soaking wet. She was crying and appeared to be scared and shaking.” 

The woman told police that she had been trying to help Scouller with their elderly dog.

"She had been trying to help for a while and today, Stephen began yelling at her saying something to the effect of, 'Who do you think you are?'" according to the report.

The woman told police Scouller also sprayed her as she was on her balcony and again when she tried to leave her home to go to the store, according to the report. 

The officer wrote that he spoke to Scouller, “who had zero remorse for his actions.” 

“He admitted he sprayed her because she runs her mouth,” the officer wrote in the report. 

The officer wrote that Scouller was agitated "and continued to double down on his actions. He continued to assure me that his actions were justified and legal. I explained that his actions were a crime and that he could be charged with battery."

Scouller disputed the police account. 

He said he was watering the lawn when police arrived, and was not spraying it over the fence. 

“I don't know how he said he saw it happen,” Scouller said. 

He insisted his neighbor “didn’t get wet.” 

“I would never spray directly at her. I sprayed by the fence,” he said. 

Scouller, who has lived in Coeur d’Alene about 20 years, said he gets along well with people. He said he plans to fight the battery citation and if it goes to court he said he will plead not guilty. He hopes the case is dismissed. 

“In my opinion, they don’t have any case,” he said. “They must have way better things to do than this.” 

In a letter to The Press, he described the battery citation as an injustice. 

“I believe the people of Idaho and even the whole U.S. should be made aware of my situation. This is a slippery slope. Setting this precedent for such a petty thing, can’t be good. What’s next? Going to jail for a squirt gun fight?” 

Adams said he was limited in what he could say because the case was making its way through the prosecutor’s office, but did state there was more to the story. 

“He did not just move the water stream closer to his property line,” Adams said. 

According to Idaho code provided by Adams, assault is defined to include “An intentional, unlawful threat by word or act to do violence to the person of another, coupled with an apparent ability to do so, and doing some act which creates a well-founded fear in such other person that such violence is imminent," while battery includes a "willful and unlawful use of force or violence upon the person of another," or "actual, intentional and unlawful touching or striking of another person against the will of the other.” 

Meantime, Scouller said he’ll continue watering his lawn. 

“I can’t let it die,” he said.