Officer's shoulder dislocated in scuffle

SANDPOINT — A Newport man had to be sedated and a Priest River Police officer suffered a partially dislocated shoulder during an arrest on the Oldtown Bridge on Tuesday.

Officer Tanner Bodie was detailed to a welfare check on the U.S. Highway 2 bridge at around 5:30 p.m. after reporting that a man was sitting on a railing as though he was about to jump into the Pend Oreille River. He was also leaning back toward the roadway and may have been intoxicated after getting ejected from Club Rio, a reporting party told dispatchers.

As Bodie and deputies from Bonner County and Pend Oreille County converged, Anthony Scott Coulson got down from the railing and attempted to walk away at a brisk pace, a probable cause affidavit said. Coulson refused commands to stop and tried to brush past Bodie, the affidavit said.

Bodie grabbed Coulson’s left arm and attempted to pin his arms behind his back, but Coulson resisted with enough force to partially dislocate the officer’s shoulder, according to the affidavit. Coulson allegedly resisted being placed into handcuffs and yelled in the officers’ faces.

The affidavit further alleges that Coulson threatened to kill Bodie and attempted to slip his cuffs to his front, prompting the officer to make an emergency stop. Coulson was ultimately sedated by an emergency medical technician so he could be safely transported to the jail, the affidavit said.

Coulson, 27, is charged with battery on a law officer for causing Bodie’s injury, a criminal complaint alleges. The offense is a felony punishable by up to five years in prison.

A public defender has been appointed to represent Coulson and a preliminary hearing is set for Sept. 4.

Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.