POST FALLS, Idaho — A Post Falls man was charged with assault after verbally accosting a pair of city snow plow drivers that he believed had created icy berms around his car and work trailer.
The man, Joe Lampe, was issued a misdemeanor citation for assault by Post Falls Police on Thursday. Lampe admitted to KREM that he lost his temper during the incident and cursed at the drivers, but disputed one part of PFPD's report on the matter.
On Thursday morning, Lampe said he became enraged when an icy berm prevented him from entering his car. The berm had also damaged part of a trailer behind the car, and took 45 minutes to clear out.
As Lampe drove away, he spotted a pair of Post Falls city plow drivers near the intersection of N Stagecoach Drive and West 22nd Avenue not far from his home.
"I was upset and I yelled at them using not such nice langue," Lampe said. "I told them they’re a bunch of idiots.”
A Post Falls police officer wrote in a report that Lampe "jumped onto the loader, ripped open the door and started a verbal onslaught." Lampe told KREM that he opened the door to one of the snow plows but he denied climbing on the vehicle.
“I exchanged words which were not nice. And that’s my bad," Lampe said. "And I did threaten that I ought to beat [them] and this is the reason why people get shot.”
The responding Post Falls officer wrote that one of the plow drivers said that Lampe stated "I will just go get my gun and shoot you."
When the officer later asked Lampe about the allegations, he denied threatening to get a gun. Lampe did tell the officer that he called the plow drivers "pieces of ------" for damaging his trailer and that "that is how people get their ----- beat."
Lampe told KREM that he doesn't understand the assault citation and that he was being charged unfairly.
“I didn’t think that you’d be looking at criminal charges for yelling at a guy," he said.
According to Idaho code, assault is defined as "an intentional, unlawful threat by word or act to do violence to the person of another."
Lampe said he was still confused by the misdemeanor citation he received.
“The only harm that I chose to do was to yell at them,” he said, adding that he regretted the incident. “I’m not a bad guy. I’m not a violent person."
Under Idaho law, assault is punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 and/or three months in jail. Lampe said he wasn't able to afford a lawyer and was at the mercy of the court.
Lampe's encounter with the plow drivers marks at least the third such incident in the Inland Northwest this week. Two Spokane County plow drivers reported similar altercations with upset residents as well.