Witnesses: Police Over-Reacted During `Riot' In Coeur D'alene

COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho - A downtown businessman says police "lit a fuse" that led to more problems Friday night when what was described as a riot broke out after a classic-car cruise.

Witnesses said a man on a motorcycle sped out on the street in front of the Iron Horse Bar & Grill. After the man was ticketed by an officer patrolling on foot, patrons of the bar came out and joined the crowd already on the street and began booing, throwing debris and screaming profanities at officers.

Jim Egan, operator of Wilson's Variety and Soda Shoppe, said that people were starting to disperse when they were "inflamed" at the sight of officers arriving in riot gear.

A wall of officers marched forward chanting "back, back, back" in an attempt to push the crowd out of the area. Several individuals then hurled beer bottles, rocks and other debris at officers.

Egan said he saw seven or eight people hit with police batons, including a young woman who was jabbed in the stomach and left crying on the sidewalk.

Egan said police "lit a fuse," then overreacted. "Once it started, it was too late to stop it," he said.

Coeur d'Alene resident Lonny Eachus said he saw one person kicked and beaten while on the ground.

"They were on edge," Eachus said of police. "I do think they were nervous. But I don't think that nervousness is a justification to treat people the way they did."

There were no serious injuries. Sixteen people were taken into custody and 14 of those were charged with unlawful assembly and resisting or obstructing officers, Coeur d'Alene Police Capt. Carl Bergh said.

Garad Copstead, 23, son of Coeur d'Alene City Councilman Chris Copstead, said he was at a nearby restaurant when he saw women in their 50s being knocked down by police.

"They were overzealous," he said. "They were very brutal to the wrong people. Many of the people were just trying to get out of the way."

Bergh declined to discuss Copstead's allegations.

"The appropriate place to discuss Mr. Copstead's concerns is in a court of law. From everything I've heard, our arrests were well-founded," Bergh said.