29 year-old Justin Arney is in the Missoula County Jail after allegedly threatening his former girlfriend with a gun and stating that he would kill her if she contacted the police.

In Missoula Justice Court on Monday, Arney heard the multiple charges from Deputy County Attorney Carrie Garber of felony assault with a weapon and intimidation, in addition to $30,000 in warrants for failure to appear in court.

Initially, Garber asked Judge Landee Holloway for a bond amount of $50,000.

“Over the July 4th holiday, this individual approached the victim in the parking lot of Southgate Mall because that is just outside her workplace,” said Garber. “This was done after a series of phone calls and Facebook messages which were all in violation of an order of protection that the defendant was clearly aware of.”

Garber provided more information about the contact with the victim.

“She had advised him that if he were to continue that contact law enforcement, to which he replied that if she did that then he would kill her,” she said. “When she left for lunch and returned he was still there. He continued to drive by and shouted that he would kill her if she called the cops and pointed a gun at her.”

Police were called and they responded to the home of Arney’s mother, where after several hours, Arney finally came out and was taken into custody.

“When he finally came out of the family residence a couple of hours later, a gun was found in the living room,” she said. “We believe that this individual poses a significant threat to the victim in this particular case, as well as anyone else he comes in contact with, in addition to law enforcement, as well as the general public.”

Arney’s public defender asked Judge Holloway to release Arney on his own recognizance, however, instead of setting bail at the requested $50,000 amount, she raised it to $75,000, and remanded him back to the jail.

His district court arraignment has been scheduled for July 25.

 

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