Loon Lake man arrested on suspicions of beating 70-year-old woman

Deputies arrested a Loon Lake man suspected of kidnapping a 70-year-old woman for five days and beating her with the blunt side of a machete after she refused to give him cash and prescription drugs. Kurtis R. Kenney, 31, faces potential charges of assault with a deadly weapon, unlawful detention and possession of a controlled substance after authorities came to the assistance of a woman at a Deer Park bank who was bruised and in fear for her life, according to court documents. The woman, who is being treated at Holy Family Hospital in Spokane, told authorities Kenney came to her house Sept. 3 and demanded money and the keys to her car. When she refused, he began to hit her, she said. Eventually Kenney struck her with the blunt end of a machete and destroyed her home with an axe, she told police. A Stevens County Sheriff’s deputy reported seeing bruises on the woman’s face and arms, and her left eye was swollen shut. Kenney called the woman his grandmother, but the woman said she had met him when he dug her car out of the snow some years ago. He stayed with her off and on at her home in Loon Lake after that, she said. Kenney was arrested in possession of multiple pill bottles, according to court documents. They held OxyContin and Oxycodone with the labels rubbed off. The woman also said Kenney vomited on her for several days and only fed her once or twice during the five days she claimed she was held against her will. After five days of alleged abuse, the woman told police she was able to trick Kenney into taking her to the bank. While he waited in the car, she told a teller to call 911, according to court documents. Kenney initially refused to speak with investigators about the bruising, but at the Stevens County Jail he allegedly admitted to the assault but said he would “fight” the detention charge, according to court documents. Kenney said the woman begged him to stay and had a phone available to her at all times. The woman told police she feared for her life if Kenney were released. He threatened her life while she was being held against her will, according to court documents. Kenney appeared before a district judge Tuesday. The felony charges were filed Thursday with the Stevens County Superior Court. Kenney was convicted of drug possession in Spokane County in July 2008 and sentenced to five days in jail and a year’s probation, according to court records.