Child endangerment charges have been dropped against a Sagle woman accused of dousing an infant with pepper during an argument at a discount store this spring.
Bonner County Prosecutor Phil Robinson moved to dismiss the case against Lorlie Marie Gantenbein last month. Robinson said in the written motion the state no longed wished to proceed with the case after further investigation.
District Judge Steve Verby signed an order of dismissal on Aug. 18.
Gantenbein, 37, said the case against her was abandoned because she passed a polygraph examination. Gantenbein has denied from the outset allegations that she sprayed the 2-month-old with the incapacitating mist.
The case stemmed from an altercation at the Ponderay Wal-Mart on May 2.
Gantenbein and her teenage daughter, according to preliminary hearing testimony, crossed paths with 15-year-old Lacey Clayburn and her mother, 38-year-old Ethel "Rusty" Clayburn near the shoe department.
An argument erupted and Gantenbein's daughter, Jordanna, apparently pulled the can of spray from her purse and discharged it at Lacey and Rusty Clayburn. Lorlie Gantenbein insists her daughter used the spray in self-defense.
The elder Gantenbein was accused of taking the spray from from her daughter and letting loose another blast in the baby's face. Gantenbein, however, denies firing the spray at the infant.
"The baby was not sprayed in the face. The grandmother walked through the spray with the baby when she was going after my daughter," Lorlie Gantenbein said on Friday.
The baby reportedly stopped breathing because of the spray and was taken to a hospital for treatment. The release of the spray also forced the evacuation of the store.
Lorlie Gantenbein was charged with felony injury to a child, while 17-year-old Jordanna Gantenbein was charged with three counts of misdemeanor battery.
In a plea deal with the prosecution, the younger Gantenbein pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of disturbing the peace in exchange for the two remaining battery charges being dismissed.
Judge Barbara Buchanan sentenced Jordanna Gantenbein in July to 90 days in jail, with 66 days suspended. Twenty days were to be served at the court's discretion and Gantenbein had the option of spending four additional days in jail or spending two days in a work program.
What caused the dispute between the two families was not disclosed in court, although Lorlie Gantenbein said she had recently evicted members of Clayburn family for not paying rent. Jordanna Gantenbein had also dated an ex-boyfriend of one of the Clayburns, she said.
Lorlie Gantenbein added that the incident has damaged her reputation and her ability to get work in town, and forced her daughter into home school.
"These people have ruined our lives," she said.
