Missoula Weekly Crime Report: Two Vehicle Thefts and a Handful of Assaults Occurred
The Missoula County Attorney’s Office filed 11 new felony complaints this week, which is down from the 15 they filed the previous week. According to County Attorney Kirsten Pabst, five of those 11 cases involved some form of violence and three of those were partner or family member assaults.
In one case, a defendant was charged with resisting arrest, obstructing a peace officer, and assault with a weapon.
“In that case, an employee at the Poverello Center called 911 to report that the defendant was threatening people, including her,” Pabst said. “The defendant was outside of the Pov and was wielding a weapon, which was a metal bar. He threatened her with the metal bar. In another case, we charged aggravated assault. In that case, the allegation is that the defendant went to a motel in town, kicked in the door, and demanded drugs from the victim who was the housekeeper. She attacked her, tried to strangle her, and stole cash from her.”
Pabst said her office also charged one defendant with criminal endangerment and DUI fourth or subsequent offense.
“In that case, a driver called 911 to report an impaired driver,” Pabst said. “The defendant allegedly ran a red light, drove into oncoming traffic, nearly struck a building, and crossed over the centerline causing an SUV in the other lane to have to swerve and jump a curb to avoid being hit. When the defendant was arrested, he was reportedly on the nod. The officer located heroin and methamphetamine in the car.”
In the property crimes category, two theft cases were charged.
“In one, the defendant was allegedly driving a stolen vehicle down a bike path in Seeley Lake,” Pabst said. “In the other, the defendant told the victim that his truck got stuck. He asked for a ride to the bar so he could get WiFi and call a friend. While the victim was getting his jacket, the defendant took off in the victim’s vehicle.”
There were three new drug cases and they all involved methamphetamine. Pabst wanted to remind people that there are a lot of mislabeled and fake pharmaceuticals in our community. Those often contain fentanyl, which is a tranquilizer for elephants and rhinos. Pabst said those are especially dangerous and can cause some severe overdoses.
You can listen to Pabst's full report below: