Missoula Man Threatens His Neighbor’s Family With a Bat

Missoula, MT (KGVO-AM News) - On April 10th, 2023, Missoula dispatch received a call of a disturbance at Motel 6. A Missoula County Sheriff’s Office deputy arrived and contacted a male victim. The victim explained he had been living in the Motel with his wife and son since about November 2022. Since that time, 42-year-old Donovan Pangburn has lived in the room next door.  

The victim explained that he and Pangburn were friendly and spoke on occasion. The victim was aware Pangburn was having some personal problems. According to court documents, Pangburn asked the victim to take possession of his firearm. However, at approximately 2:05 in the morning, Pangburn began pounding on the victim’s door demanding the firearm be returned.  

The victim opened the door and noticed Pangburn was very agitated and intoxicated. The victim told Pangburn he did not feel comfortable returning the firearm to him. Pangburn became increasingly agitated, and the victim shut the door. 

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Pangburn returned to the victim’s room and ripped the screen off of the front window. Pangburn then opened the window, which the victim and his wife both believed was locked. Pangburn again began yelling that he wanted his firearm back.  

The victim noticed that Pangburn was now holding a wooden baseball bat. Pangburn began to climb through the window to gain entry to the room. The victim pushed Pangburn back, but Pangburn stuck the bat through the window and began swinging it.  

Court documents indicate Pangburn then yelled he was going to kill the victim, the victim’s wife, and their son. The victim was able to grab the baseball bat, but Pangburn continued to yell he was going to kill the victim and the victim’s family. The victim's wife called 911. When Pangburn realized she was on the phone with law enforcement, he fled the scene in his white Ford F150. 

Deputies located Pangburn driving down the frontage road towards Huson, Montana. A deputy approached the vehicle and instructed Pangburn to roll down his window. When Pangburn advised the window was broken, the deputy instructed Pangburn how to open the door to his vehicle.  

Pangburn opened the door to his vehicle but kept the vehicle running. Due to previous law enforcement contacts with Pangburn, the deputy told him to turn off his vehicle so that he would not attempt to flee and injure deputies on the scene. Pangburn refused to comply with demands to turn off his vehicle and demands to exit the vehicle. 

Deputies deployed a taser to remove Pangburn from the vehicle and placed him under arrest. During a search of Pangburn’s property at the jail, staff located a small bag of white crystalized substance on Pangburn’s property. The substance later tested positive for methamphetamine. 

Pangburn is currently being charged with three counts of felony assault with a weapon, felony criminal possession of dangerous drugs, and resisting arrest.

The information in this article was obtained from sources that are publicly viewable.