Montana Man Arrested In Beating Case Suspect Charged In Attack On Cda Man In Dispute Over Woman

A Montana man is awaiting extradition on an aggravated battery charge in connection with the severe beating of a Coeur d’Alene man, police said Friday.

Ravalli County sheriff’s deputies arrested Raymond T. Davis, 24, at his home in Hamilton, Mont., Wednesday night. Coeur d’Alene police are still searching for another man who may have been with Davis during the attack.

An arrest warrant obtained this week by Kootenai County prosecutors alleges Davis confronted Gary Newsom in his apartment last month, said Coeur d’Alene police Lt. Walt Roeske. Davis is being held in the Ravalli County jail without bail until an extradition hearing.

Detectives believe Davis pummeled Newsom on May 30 in a dispute over a woman, Roeske said. Newsom’s attacker appeared to know him and told him he was going to “make him pay for what he did,” a police report says.

A friend of Newsom who witnessed the attack told police Newsom was punched and kicked dozens of times.

Newsom, 37, was hospitalized for several days following the attack with head and facial injuries. He may need up to a year to fully recover from the beating, Roeske said.

Investigators plan to go to Hamilton next week to question a man who may have prevented Newsom’s friend from helping him during the attack.

Police have not identified the alleged accomplice, but said prosecutors will decide if he should face charges as an accessory.

Officers were called to Newsom’s apartment on Abbey Road five days before he was beaten to investigate a domestic disturbance. Newsom admitted he pushed his former live-in girlfriend during the May 25 argument and officers arrested him on a battery charge, according to a police report.