Moscow woman charged with felony battery after allegedly kicking deputy

A woman was charged with felony battery on a law enforcement officer after an incident in Lapwai where Nez Perce County deputies say she kicked Sgt. Lucan Martin while another deputy attempted to place her in handcuffs.

Amanda M. Berney, 28, of Moscow, was arraigned by video in Nez Perce County Magistrate Court on Thursday afternoon, where she was released on her own recognizance by Senior Magistrate Judge Kent Merica.

Berney was also charged with misdemeanor resisting arrest, which carries a maximum penalty in Idaho of one year in jail and a $1,000 fine.

The maximum penalty in Idaho for felony battery on a law enforcement officer is five years in prison and a $5,000 fine.

Deputies say they were dispatched to a citizen dispute on the 200 block of East Alder Avenue in Lapwai at 10:55 p.m. Wednesday. Deputies say Berney was “acting erratically and saying random things.” Berney did not follow a command to stop, and Martin told Deputy Kasey Nielsen to detain Berney in handcuffs. Berney pulled away after one handcuff was put on, “screamed random things” and kicked Martin, court records said.

Nielsen then got both handcuffs on Berney, but she managed to get one hand out. Deputies reapplied the handcuffs and were attempting to get her in the back of the patrol vehicle, but Berney slipped out of one of the handcuffs again as she resisted. The deputies then put her on the ground and handcuffed her again, court records said.

Merica set a preliminary hearing in the case for Aug. 12.