Missoula County Sees Rise In Felony Complaints This Week

Missoula, MT (KGVO-AM News) - The Missoula County Attorney’s Office filed 12 new felony complaints this week, which is six more than last week and still slightly lower than the weekly average. According to County Attorney Matt Jennings, they had five violent crimes, three endangerment crimes, two property crimes, and two drug crimes. One of the cases this week involved a serious accident on I-90.

“We had a wrong-way driver who was extremely intoxicated who collided head-on with another vehicle on the Interstate,” Jennings said. “Sadly, we get these pretty regularly. I'd say, probably about once a month, we have somebody driving the wrong way on the Interstate very drunk, and it breaks my heart seeing this. It's almost always in the wee hours of the morning and always in the dark. I see so many of these that I really hate driving at night anymore.”

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There was also a high-speed chase through the city of Missoula this week.

“A person drove through five to six yards, damaging fences, landscaping, and other materials,” Jennings said. “They continue to flee from law enforcement. It was an extended chase and really dangerous. A lot of people could have gotten hurt. We're thankful that nobody did, though an officer did have to discharge a firearm in trying to apprehend this individual. They ultimately had to put down spike strips to disable the vehicle, but this person still tried to flee.”

Jennings said there were a couple of burglary cases this week, and he admits those can be pretty scary.

“Law enforcement got a couple of these guys, and we will prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law,” Jennings said. “I've recommended in the past that people get things like Ring cameras or something else and lock their doors when they're not around. I didn't always do that my whole life, but I do now. It's just a really simple thing that people can do to make sure that you're not being victimized and that you don't have that trauma or scary memory of somebody entering your home and stealing something.”

Jennings said he will have a full 2025 crime report in the next few weeks. The Missoula County Attorney’s Office provides a weekly crime report every Friday morning at 9:00 on Talk Back.