Process server alleges he was locked in yard

A man serving a Sanders Beach homeowner with court papers Monday called 911 after the owner allegedly refused to let the processor leave.

Coeur d’Alene private investigator and process server Steve Reed alleges that homeowner Jerry Frank closed the automatic security gate trapping Reed and his car in the driveway. Reed filed a false imprisonment report against Frank.

“It is the proverbial don’t shoot the messenger,” Reed said. “He was all babbling about the city. He was angry; the veins were popping out of his head.”

Frank said he didn’t lock anyone in his yard and he can’t believe Reed filed a complaint.

“The guy drove in the driveway and the security system locked down when it knew there was an intruder,” Frank said. “I can’t imagine what this is about.”

Coeur d’Alene is going to court to force Frank, who lives on East Lakeshore Avenue, to remove a makeshift barricade restricting access to the popular stretch of Sanders Beach. The barricade violates the city’s shoreline ordinance, which prohibits structures south of East Lakeshore Drive between 12th and 15th streets.

Frank has refused to remove the bicycle rack and section of chain-link fence stretching from the seawall in front of his home toward the water’s edge. He argues that the beach is part of his private property.

For years, Lakeshore homeowners and swimmers and sunbathers have battled about whether this stretch of Sanders Beach is public property.

Frank has 20 days to respond to the city’s complaint, which Reed served Monday evening.

Reed said that he drove his white Chevy Malibu into Frank’s back driveway about 8 p.m. He got out and knocked on the back door. Reed said Frank opened the door a couple of inches and then slammed it shut when Reed announced he was there to serve court papers.

Reed said he put the papers on the porch and was returning to his car when the iron security gate began to close. Reed said Frank then came out of the house and refused to open the gate. Reed dialed 911.

“It’s not a good feeling to be trapped inside somewhere,” Reed said, adding that he’s encountered numerous sticky situations in his years of serving papers.

The police report states that an officer had to ask Frank several times to open the gate and a female was yelling obscenities out the front door. Frank’s wife, Pat, said that she wasn’t aware of any confrontation and that she had no comment.

It wasn’t the first report filed against Frank. In August 2003, a Coeur d’Alene woman filed a battery report against Frank for allegedly grabbing her 8-year-old daughter’s arm and pulling her off the beach.

The charges were dropped when Frank agreed to write a letter of apology to the girl that stated that “old people like me” should know better.

“Please accept my apology and don’t be afraid of me,” Frank wrote in the Sept. 18 letter. “I am much nicer than you think.”