BISMARCK -- A Grand Forks man pleaded not guilty in South Central District Court on Monday to charges that he neglected a child and attempted to disarm a police officer.
Eric Knight entered his plea to Judge Sonna Anderson following a preliminary hearing to establish probable cause in the case.
Bismarck Police Officer Dan Salander was the sole witness in the hearing. He was one of the officers who responded to a police call involving Knight at the Ramkota Hotel the night of Feb. 8.
A woman had requested that officers conduct a welfare check on a 2-year-old child in the hotel room listed in Knight's name.
Salander said Knight's hotel room door was left unlatched, and officers entered after knocking loudly and announcing themselves to no response.
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Police found Knight asleep in a bed, with the 2-year-old child awake next to him. Knight allegedly threw a sippy cup at the woman as she collected the child, leading officers to try and subdue him, Salander said.
During the scuffle, Salander said he could feel his holstered sidearm being tugged on his belt in a manner consistent with somebody trying to remove the gun.
Salander said he used a pressure point to subdue Knight until another officer could handcuff and detain him.
Knight's attorney, Jeff Bredahl of Fargo, questioned the necessity of the encounter.
Bredahl asked why officers conducted a warrantless entry into the hotel room. Salander responded that he had reason to be concerned about the well being of the 2-year-old child, as the mother said Knight had been drinking and acting violently.
Anderson found that there was sufficient probable cause to bring charges of felony child neglect, preventing arrest and attempting to disarm a law enforcement officer, though she said Bredahl would be free to raise his concerns about the process at trial.
A three-day trial tentatively has been set for June 24.
