Snowman interaction results in fall, Coeur d’Alene Police interview

A Coeur d’Alene Resort employee wearing a snowman costume was interviewed for a potential battery charge, and a teenage girl was treated and released for a head injury as a result of an accidental fall.

The snowman blowback started on Thursday as a 16-year-old girl and friends were visiting The Shops, at 210 Sherman Ave., in downtown Coeur d’Alene.

While there, they were approached by a someone dressed in a snowman costume. That person was a man who was not identified other than to say he is an employee with Lake Coeur d’Alene Cruises.

The 16-year-old girl “has an intense fear of mascots and was immediately afraid as the snowman began walking towards her with open arms,” Coeur d’Alene police spokesman Jared Reneau wrote in a news release.

The girl backed up to a wall while also shaking her head and saying, “No,” Reneau wrote.

“The snowman hugged her,” and then turned toward the girl’s friends, who then fled, he wrote. “As the victims were running in the opposite direction, one of them tripped and hit her head.”

That girl, who apparently was not the same as the one with a fear of mascots, was evaluated by medical personnel and released from the scene, Reneau wrote.

Officers were able to obtain security video footage of the incident.

“Prior to contact with the victim, the snowman can be seen interacting with kids and adults in The Shops and posing for pictures,” Reneau wrote.

Officers interviewed the employee posing as the snowman “in the event the victim would like to pursue charges in the future,” he wrote. “The victim’s parents were contacted but were unsure if they wanted to press charges for battery.”

He added: “Based on the information received, there is no threat to the community.”

Efforts to reach Reneau for additional information Friday were not immediately successful.