Recall petition sponsor cited for disorderly conduct, assault

Leanna Rodabaugh, sponsor of the recall petition against Mayor Brandon Dewey, has been cited for disorderly conduct for her behavior prior to a Town Council meeting being held at the North Valley Public Library on the evening of July 9.

Mayor Dewey and Town staff were preparing the meeting room for the public when Rodabaugh entered the building. According to Mayor Dewey, Rodabaugh first had a boisterous encounter with Town Clerk Monica Hoffman including profanity, then had words with Town Council member Jaime Devlin before he moved to intervene and ask Rodabaugh to leave. Devlin called the police. 

According to Devlin, she and town staff were in the library meeting room preparing it for the upcoming Town Council meeting that was scheduled that evening when Rodabaugh came in. She said Town Clerk Monica Hoffman informed Rodabaugh that they were setting up the room in preparation for the meeting and asked her to wait outside with the other people. Instead, Devlin said, Rodabaugh walked towards Hoffman screaming at her and told her to “Shut the f**k up!” 

According to Devlin, when she tried to intervene and asked Rodabaugh to leave, Rodabaugh walked towards her and got in her face with her fists clenched the whole time, just yelling. She said she told Rodabaugh that she didn’t have the right to talk to her like that and did not have the right to talk to staff like that and asked her to leave. She said Rodabaugh started to walk away then turned back and walked back up into her face and just stared at her and then went over and sat down. That’s when she called the police.

Rodabaugh was still there when Police Officer John Ellington arrived. He states in his affidavit of probable cause that during initial contact with Rodabaugh she was “defiant and refused to cooperate.” When she was informed that she would be receiving a citation she said, “No I’m not.”

Rodabaugh refused to identify herself and got very close to the officer’s face while walking out.

“I could tell from training and experience that she would most likely physically resist arrest, and most likely be combative,” wrote Officer Ellington. “In order to preserve public safety and for the preservation of peace, I allowed the defendant to obstruct and resist my efforts to lawfully investigate the incident and to issue her a citation for disorderly conduct.”

Ellington said her behavior hindered his investigation and that he had to contact Ravalli County Dispatch to verify her identity. Ellington later discovered, when interviewing witnesses, that Rodabaugh had committed assault during her disorderly conduct when she “charged” Devlin with closed fists which created reasonable apprehension of bodily injury. He notes that multiple witnesses were on the scene.

Rodabaugh was charged with Assault, Disorderly Conduct, and Obstructing a Peace Officer. A court date has been set for July 22, 2020.