Boise County elected official denies Payette River stabbing, files countersuit
A Boise County elected official accused in a lawsuit of stabbing a teen girl and threatening her mother at knifepoint during an altercation on the Payette River last summer has denied the claims and countersued. At the same time, another county official has asked a special prosecutor and the Idaho Attorney General’s Office to look into the incident and how it was handled by local law enforcement.
Boise County Commissioner Darrell “Lindy” Lindstrom filed a counterclaim Monday against Abby and Treyson Beard and a minor, identified only as T.B. in the lawsuits. The countersuit was first reported by Boise State Public Radio.
Lindstrom did not respond to requests for comment.
Lindstrom and two co-defendants were accused by the Beards in a March civil lawsuit of instigating a fight at a river takeout near Horseshoe Bend during which he and the other men allegedly threatened to kill the family. The alleged incident happened in August 2025, but no criminal charges have been filed.
Boise County Prosecutor Alex Sosa previously told the Idaho Statesman that the county sheriff’s office “has not completed the investigation due to heavy caseloads.” The Boise County Sheriff’s Office did not respond to requests for comment.
Last week, Sosa filed a petition for the appointment of a special prosecutor — Gem County Prosecutor Erick B. Thomson — in the sheriff’s office case involving Lindstrom. The petition was granted.
Sosa told the Statesman in an email that he had no knowledge of whether criminal charges were forthcoming from the sheriff’s office investigation into the incident.
The prosecutor also wrote to Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador to request an Attorney General’s Office investigation into allegations of Boise County commissioners concealing or coercing a law enforcement investigation, open meeting law violations at commission meetings, electioneering from Boise County staff and misuse of public funds.
Sosa’s letter to the Attorney General’s Office said the request was made at the direction of the Boise County Board of County Commissioners “to avoid the slightest appearance of impropriety.”
The Attorney General’s Office did not respond to a request for comment on whether it will investigate the allegations.
Commissioner says Ada County family instigated river violence
The Beards’ lawsuit alleged that they were rafting and Lindstrom was jet skiing with a group on the Payette last summer when the conflict began — a fact Lindstrom’s counterclaim confirms. But his account of the incident significantly diverges from there.
The initial lawsuit said T.B. “directed gestures” at the jet ski group because they were being reckless and dangerous, riding close to the rafts at high speeds. Lindstrom’s version of events said the rafting group was “belligerent” and using “threatening and vulgar language and gestures” toward his group before turning violent.
The Boise County commissioner denied having knowledge of a string of allegations from the Beards’ lawsuit that claim his co-defendants aggressively approached the Beards, who are from Ada County, at the Parnell Beach takeout point and threatened the family before getting in a physical fight with a third party.
Lindstrom’s counterclaim also disputes the initial lawsuit’s allegation that he took a knife from Abby, who had grabbed the weapon because she feared for her and her children’s safety, and held it to the woman’s throat before stabbing teenage T.B. in the leg, causing wounds that required emergency medical treatment.
According to the counterclaim, Abby “brandished” a knife, which Lindstrom admits grabbing while the woman’s hands were still on the weapon. Lindstrom claimed he was stopping Abby from “committing violence with a deadly weapon” and was beaten by Treyson and T.B. in the process. He denied the rest of the attack described in the Beards’ lawsuit, which included an alleged threat to Abby and injury to T.B. The Beards’ lawsuit alleged Treyson was beaten by one of the co-defendants and sustained medical and dental injuries.
Lindstrom’s claim said his group chose not to pursue criminal assault and battery charges against the Beards.
Lindstrom’s attorney did not respond to a request for comment.
