WARNING: This story contains graphic language.
COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho – A man is charged with felony malicious harassment and misdemeanor battery after a fight at a Coeur d’Alene McDonald’s.
Officers responded to the McDonald’s at 340 W. Hanley Avenue for a report of a large fight on July 12, according to documents. When they arrived, they spoke to Jose Ceniceros, who had several scrapes to his legs and red marks on his palms. Ceniceros was at the restaurant with about a dozen juveniles after a they attended a church event.
Ceniceros got into an argument with Richard Sovenski, who pushed him to the ground and punched him.
Sovenski’s son Bryce told police he was in the restaurant with his mother Colleen and father. He heard a verbal argument between Ceniceros and Sovenski.
Colleen told police Ceniceros and the juveniles he was with were “being rude, dancing and running around causing a disturbance.” She said she was worried for her safety as she had a recent shoulder injury and her arm was in a sling.
According to documents, Sovenski spoke to the juveniles about their behavior, which upset Ceniceros.
One of the members of the youth group tried to intervene in the argument, according to documents. She said Sovenski called her a “half-breed” and directed a slur at her. According to documents, a video on Ceniceros’s phone shows Sovenski's son yelling and making a sexually suggestive gesture toward the group.
Ceniceros said the man was calling him and the kids names, like n****** and “half-breeds.”
At one point during the exchange, Sovenski yelled, “That’s why you don’t come to Idaho. We’re real f****** men out here.”
According to documents, Sovenski continued to yell other profanities and eventually shouted, “Get the f*** out of Idaho.”
Sovenski eventually agreed to speak with police. He said his wife recently had surgery on her shoulder and he was afraid the kids would hurt his wife.
Sovenski initially told police that the argument did not escalate to a physical level and was only verbal. As police questioned him further, he admitted to pushing a man because “he thought he was going to get hit.”
When police asked Sovenski why the man was on the ground, he said, “He must have tripped over his own feet.” He told police he used racial slurs because he was “trying to get the upper hand” in the argument.