Missoula Crime Report: Knife Assault and Shots From a Pellet Gun

Missoula, MT (KGVO-AM News) - The weekly crime report by Missoula County Attorney Kirsten Pabst on Friday’s Talk Back program contained fewer than the usual number of crimes compared to past weeks, but many of those charges included violence and weapons.

“We charged 13 new criminal complaints, slightly down from last week,” said Pabst. “Most of those fall into the violent crime category and most of those violent crimes fall into the interpersonal violence. Three were partner or family member assaults. One was the allegation of privacy in communication which is a threat over an electronic medium such as email, voicemail, and things like that.”

Pabst provided specifics on the more violent crimes charged in the past week.

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“We charged a robbery, where the allegation is that woman brandished her knife in a grocery store; two counts of assault with a weapon in another case where the defendant allegedly shot two people below his window with a high powered pellet gun,” she said. “In the property category, we charged three new cases, including theft of a motor vehicle, which was a log hauling truck.”

There were also nonviolent crimes charged in the past week.

“Identity theft using fake emails allegedly, and then criminal mischief to a Subaru,” she said. “We charged one felony DUI, and then finally in the drug category, we charged various possession of dangerous and illegal substances including meth, heroin, and fentanyl.”

After the report, Pabst was asked how the 100-degree temperatures forecast for the days ahead might impact criminal activity in Missoula.

“Sometimes it brings out different types of crimes,” she said. “For instance, we'll see more boating under the influence or more DUIs, especially if people don't just take those few minutes to plan ahead and get a designated driver. When we really see those changes are when there's a sustained period of pretty extreme weather either very cold or very hot and people get cooped up inside and there are all kinds of influences as you know, including the moon.”

Pabst provides her weekly crime report each Friday on the KGVO Talk Back show.