Police Action In Assault Case Questioned Groups Contend Nez Perce Member Was Attacked By White Youths

Two Northwest human rights groups are taking the Lewiston Police Department to task over its handling of an assault case last week.

The Northwest Coalition Against Malicious Harassment and the Coalition for Human Dignity want more investigation into a fight that resulted in a broken arm for a Nez Perce tribal member.

The human rights groups allege that the man was beaten up by a group of white youths, falsely arrested as the perpetrator and then denied medical treatment for six hours in the Nez Perce County jail. Police later took him to the hospital where he had surgery on his arm, the two groups said Wednesday. They want the matter investigated as a hate crime.

But Lewiston Police Chief Jack Baldwin said the department handled the assault appropriately.

“It was just a fight,” Baldwin said. “I think they did an objective job in this and we were surprised this became a racial incident.”

Witnesses and restaurant employees who saw the confrontation unfold outside the Lewiston McDonald’s told police the Nez Perce man picked the fight, Baldwin said.

The man went outside the restaurant and vomited, then came back inside and poked at one of four boys who he thought were laughing at him, according to witnesses. Another boy then followed him outside and hit him, knocking him to the ground.

Police noticed a small knot on the man’s elbow from being knocked down, Baldwin said, but arresting officers said he did not request immediate medical treatment.

“If he wants to make a formal complaint because he feels someone acted inappropriately, we would investigate it internally,” Baldwin said.