Missoula Crime Report: Attempted Murder, Citizen Assists Police

Missoula, MT (KGVO-AM News) - It was a busy week for Missoula law enforcement and subsequently the Missoula County Attorney’s office that charged 21 criminal complaints, according to County Attorney Kirsten Pabst, who provided her weekly report on the KGVO Talk Back show on Friday.

“We have had a really busy week with a little bit of a spike, I'd almost call it,” began Pabst. “We filed 21 new criminal complaints versus the 13 that we filed the last couple of weeks. About half of those fall into the violent crimes or crimes against persons category. In one case, the allegation is that a woman threw a mason jar at her partner injuring him with that. Another was a strangulation, and then we charged a person with attempted deliberate homicide for allegedly stabbing another person on the bus.”

Police Receive an Assist from a Disabled Person in a Wheelchair

In one unusual case, Pabst said a disabled citizen provided an assist to police holding a suspect in place with their wheelchair.

“We also charged an attempted robbery,” she said. “In that case, an elderly woman was testing a wheelchair ramp for one of her clients. She set down her purse and the defendant allegedly not only took her purse but allegedly tried to wrestle away her keys. A witness intervened and took the defendant to the ground and the patient then held him there with his wheelchair until law enforcement arrived.”

Threats were made on a Police Officer's Family and of a Mass Shooting

Pabst said there were serious threats made that also resulted in felony arrests.

“We charged two cases that involve threats,” she said. “In one the defendant repeatedly threatened to harm a police officer and her family and in another the defendant allegedly threatened to commit a mass shooting at a local clinic.”

There were DUIs and Drug Crimes Charged as Well

Pabst said there were also felonies charged involving sexual offenses.

“Two of our new cases involved sexual abuse of children or possession of sexual material,” she said. “There were two felony DUIs (Driving Under the Influence), two theft cases, one involving a Dodge Ram truck and the other involving mail from other people’s mailboxes. There were five new drug cases and in the administrative crimes category two failures to register. In one, the defendant was a violent offender and in the other the defendant was a sexual offender. So all in all it was super busy week.”

Pabst also referenced a charity she is involved with called ‘Fight Crime, Invest in Kids’ that will be featured during a special celebration sponsored by Townsquare Media in November.

The Missoula County Attorney’s Office provides a crime report every Friday morning at 9:00 during Talk Back.