A Custer County sheriff's deputy placed anti-wolf activist Ron Gillett under arrest at his Stanley home Tuesday after an alleged confrontation with local wolf advocate Lynne Stone.
Gillett, director of the Idaho Anti-Wolf Coalition, was released on his own recognizance later that day, according to a news release from the Custer County Sheriff's Office.
Owner of Triangle C Ranch outfitters, located on the edge of Stanley, the 67-year-old Gillett has reportedly been involved in several public shouting matches with Stone in recent years.
The controversial anti-wolf activist has long objected to the federal government's reintroduction of gray wolves to Idaho in 1995 and 1996. Gillett and the coalition are circulating a petition that would prevent Idaho from taking over management of wolves and also require that the predators be removed from the state.
Stone is executive director of the Boulder-White Clouds Coalition, a Stanley-based environmental group. She's spent the past several years monitoring the Basin Butte wolf pack and other wolves in the Stanley area in an effort to keep them from harm.
Speaking by phone from Stanley on Thursday, Stone said the altercation began after she parked her vehicle near the Valley Creek Bridge in Stanley prior to taking a walk along the creek with her dog.
While standing next to her pickup truck, she said Gillett turned onto the road and stopped alongside her vehicle. She said he leaned out of his pickup window and began yelling at her.
Lynne Stone
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"I said, 'Ron, go away and leave me alone,'" she said.
Stone, who said she filed five reports with the Custer County Sheriff's Office last spring alleging Gillett was repeatedly following and harassing her, said she pulled out her digital camera from under her down jacket and shot two pictures of him as he yelled at her from his vehicle.
"To document the fact that once again here he was," she said.
Stone said that after she took the photographs of Gillett, he became angry and got out of his vehicle. She said he told her he was going to take the camera from her.
"Before I knew it he had a hold of my hand," she said.
Stone said Gillett also had his right hand near her neck as he tried to twist the camera from her hands.
"I wasn't letting go," she said.
When his white cowboy hat fell from his head, Gillett let go and turned around to pick it up, Stone said. She said he then got back into his vehicle and screamed, "If you were a man, I'd beat the crap out of you."
Stone said that once Gillett had left she called Custer County Sheriff's Deputy Mike Talbot to report the incident. Soon after, Talbot showed up with two other officers to interview her, she said.
According to an arrest report from the Custer County's Sheriff Office, Talbot drove to Gillett's home, where he placed Gillett under arrest for misdemeanor assault and battery. Gillett was transported to the Custer County Jail in Challis.
Prior to Gillett's release from jail, the 7th District Magistrate Court issued a no-contact order prohibiting him from coming closer than 300 feet from Stone or 100 feet from her vehicle. The order also prohibits Gillett from contacting Stone by telephone, through a third party or by e-mail.
During his arraignment on Tuesday, Gillett pleaded not guilty. The next step in the case will be for the defendant's attorney and Custer County Prosecuting Attorney Shawn Glen to meet as part of a pre-trial conference. During that conference, the parties could announce that a plea agreement has been reached, recommend the case proceed to a jury trial or something else, Glen said.
No date had been set for the pre-trial conference as of press time Thursday.
The maximum penalty for misdemeanor assault is a $1,000 fine, three months in jail or both. The maximum penalty for battery is a $1,000 fine, six months in jail or both.
Gillett was unable to be reached on Thursday when contacted by the Idaho Mountain Express. He was apparently traveling to a gun show in Nevada and unreachable by phone, a contact at his ranch stated.
The confrontation between Gillett and Stone comes at the same time that the federal government is scheduled to hand over to states the management of gray wolves in the Northern Rockies, including in Idaho. The official transfer of wolf management is scheduled to occur today.
Stone, who said she went to a Stanley medical clinic on Tuesday, said the altercation left her with a sore arm and shoulder and a numb hand.
Ron Gillett
