A census worker was blocked from leaving an Idaho home. Now, her family wants charges
An Idaho woman believes charges should be filed against people she said blocked her and her daughter from leaving a Nampa property while working for the U.S. Census Bureau.
At roughly 10:30 a.m. on July 27, Maria Boutte said she was driving around her daughter, Samantha, who at the time was working for the 2020 census. The two drove to an address just off South Happy Valley Road in Nampa to see whether anyone lived at the home’s address. Samantha Boutte checked the home and mailbox for a house number. Soon after, a vehicle pulled up to the house and blocked Maria Boutte’s car in the road.
A woman emerged and asked what the two were doing at the house. Boutte said her daughter showed the woman her census identification card, which was hanging from a lanyard around her neck, and said she was working. Then the woman approached Boutte’s car and asked again what they were doing at the address, and Boutte responded that her daughter was working for the census. She even had a sign on her car’s rear window identifying them as a part of the U.S. Census Bureau.
“She just started yelling,” Boutte said of the woman.
The woman reportedly said the two were lying and had inconsistent stories, according to Boutte. She said the woman’s car was blocking the road away from the home, and she and her daughter wanted to leave but were not allowed. Feeling frightened, Samantha called 911.
Deputies with the Canyon County Sheriff’s Office later arrived and interviewed Boutte and her daughter — who are both Hispanic. Deputies also talked to the other woman and a second woman who also pulled onto the gravel road — both appeared to be white. While talking with law enforcement — which she recorded on her phone and posted to social media — Boutte was told that the gravel road was a private driveway and that the other two people believed Boutte and her daughter were trespassing.
Joe Decker, spokesman for Canyon County, said Tuesday that more than one call was made to law enforcement during the incident. He said local law enforcement has been called to the home previously after reports were made of potential burglaries and suspicious vehicles in the area.
Maria Boutte — a reading tutor and Nampa resident — said she felt she was being treated as a criminal after calling law enforcement for help. She claimed that while the deputies treated her unprofessionally, they were acting more casual with the two white women, and even appeared to be laughing while talking with them. The whole ordeal lasted around 45 minutes before the two other cars left and deputies said the Bouttes were free to go.
“We called the police to feel protected,” she said. “I felt victimized through this whole thing.”
Boutte believes charges should be filed against the people who would not let her and her daughter leave the property. Her daughter was lawfully doing her job as a census worker, a position she later quit the same day. Boutte said Samantha complained to the Census Bureau but has yet to hear back.
Decker said the deputies wrote up what they documented during the incident and sent the information to county prosecutors on Tuesday to screen for any possible charges. No charges had been filed as of Wednesday morning.
Decker said that at least one complaint had been filed to the Sheriff’s Office in connection to the case. Boutte, as well as her family and friends, have filed complaints regarding the incident, she said. She also filed a records request to obtain the body camera footage taken from the interaction and any other reports or materials. Finally, Boutte said she has enlisted an attorney.
“(The deputies) made it seem like the other people were in the right, that we were wrong,” Boutte said. “I definitely felt like it was a race issue.”
