BILLINGS – Police arrested an 18-year-old Billings man Wednesday afternoon on suspicion he robbed a West End restaurant and the Barnes and Noble bookstore.
Billings police said a man, identified as Tyler Anthony Espinosa, walked into the Golden Corral restaurant on 24th Street West about 3:10 p.m., showed a box cutter to an employee and demanded money.
The employee complied, and Espinosa fled, according to Billings Police Sgt. Scott Conrad.
Three minutes later, police received a call from Barnes and Noble that a man, later identified as Espinosa, walked into the store a block away and made a similar demand while wielding the box cutter.
He fled the store with all the cash in the till while police were converging on the area, according to Conrad.
Espinosa was arrested near the corner of 24th Street West and Monad Road and was taken to Yellowstone County Detention Facility. He likely faces two charges of felony robbery.
MISSOULA – A Frenchtown music teacher says he’s not guilty of sexually assaulting two Frenchtown High School students.
Troy Bashor entered not guilty pleas to one felony count of sexual assault and one misdemeanor count of sexual assault Wednesday in Missoula District Court.
Missoula County prosecutors filed the felony sexual assault charge in February after they say Bashor inappropriately touched a female student on a near-daily basis.
Prosecutors say the felony charge stems from inappropriate contact that spanned from the summer of 2014 to early 2017. The girl involved in the felony charge reported the contact escalated from hugging to groping.
The felony charge comes after a separate misdemeanor sexual assault charge was filed against him in October involving another student. That student claimed Bashor sexually harassed and groped her on several occasions in 2016.
Also at Wednesday’s arraignment, Bashor’s attorney requested to the judge that she amend his client’s travel restrictions. Missoula District Judge Leslie Halligan agreed to amend the restrictions to allowing Bashor to travel within the state of Montana. But if Bashor wants to travel outside Montana, he must get the prosecutors and judge’s permission.
Meanwhile, the civil suit filed in U.S. District Court by one of Bashor’s alleged victims is now set to go to trial next month. The case against the Frenchtown School District and Superintendent Randy Cline accuses school administrators of not taking proper steps to address the complaints against Bashor. The jury trial is scheduled to start April 15 in Missoula before Judge Donald Molloy.
MANHATTAN – Bozeman police say the large law enforcement presence in Manhattan Wednesday night was part of a combined effort to find and arrest a Manhattan man wanted by the U.S. Marshals Service.
Police say they were looking for Brian Luijtjes on a felony charge of tampering with witnesses and informants and a misdemeanor charge of stalking. According to court documents, an arrest warrant for Luijtjes was issued on March 9.
Luijtjes was not at home on Wooden Shoe Lane when officers arrived, but a short time later turned himself in to officers in Manhattan.
After that, a woman, Alyssa Willard was also arrested. She was charged with obstructing Justice for hindering officers who were trying to arrest Luijtjes.
No one was injured when the two were taken into custody. In addition to Bozeman police, Manhattan police, Gallatin Sheriff’s Deputies, and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks all helped in the arrests.
Luijtjes is being held without bond at the Gallatin County Detention Center. Willard appeared in Gallatin County Justice Court on Thursday.
Court documents state that Willard assisted in bonding Luijtjes from the Detention Center on or around Feb. 2. The reporting detective said he attempted to contact Willard at her residence and was told by her roommate that she and Luijtjes were in an intimate relationship. The roommate also claimed Willard was at Luijtjes’s residence as recently as two days prior.
When the detective reached Willard by phone, she allegedly denied being in an intimate relationship with Luijtjes or knowing his whereabouts. She was later observed at Luijtjes’s trailer in a Manhattan RV park, according to court documents, where she was taken into custody.
Willard’s bail was set at $1,000. Her preliminary hearing is scheduled for April 6.
Story by Morgan Davies, David Dyas, and Ken Spencer
GREAT FALLS – Juan Anastasio Rodriguez has been charged in Great Falls with 95 counts of violation of an order of protection after he allegedly called a woman more than 1,000 times in violation of the order.
Rodriguez was found guilty in December 2017 on a charge of sexual intercourse without consent; that charge stemmed from an incident that happened in 2002 and involved a 15-year old girl.
The new charges are the result of phone calls that court document say began on December 6, 2017, just before his trial was scheduled to begin.
The order of protection for the woman identified as “Jane Doe” in court documents went into effect in October 2016.
In the course of preparing for the December 2017 rape trial, attorneys for Rodriguez listed Doe as a defense witness.
On December 7th, a GFPD officer contacted Doe in order to ascertain the subject matter of her expected trial testimony. Doe said that she was not going to testify, despite the request of Rodriguez’s attorneys.
That prompted a review of Rodriguez’s phone calls from the Cascade County Detention Center, which revealed that he had begun calling Doe on December 6, 2017.
On December 7th, according to court documents, Doe reminded Rodriguez that there was still an active restraining order in effect, so she could not come to his trial.
Over the next several weeks, Rodriguez called hundreds of times, occasionally threatening her and using profanity, according to court documents.
The charging documents state: “In total, the Defendant attempted to contact Jane Doe a total of 1024 times from the Cascade County Detention Center between December 6, 2017, and January 11, 2018, constituting approximately 1 misdemeanor and 1023 felony violations of an order of protection.”‘
MISSOULA – The University of Montana Police Department is warning students about an assault that occurred in a campus bathroom on Wednesday.
Authorities say this was a violent hate or bias crime. The male assailant has not been identified, and no one is in custody.
A report was filed by a third party that a student was assaulted in a men’s bathroom on the main level of the Liberal Arts building on campus, across from Room 102.
“Due to the nature of the report and the fact that the assailant is still unknown and at large, we did make the decision to notify the campus community of a potential threat so they can be aware and have the information about the incident that occurred today,” said UM spokeswoman Paula Short.
Students and the on-campus community were warned by email and text.
Officials say the assault is considered a hate crime, “my understanding that it is not race related, but some other details surrounding the assault have led them to report it as a bias crime or a hate crime,” Short told MTN News.
UMPD is investigating the incident and are asking anyone with information to come forward. UMPD can be contacted at (406) 243-6131 and information can be submitted confidentially or anonymously.
UM officials told MTN News on Wednesday night that police do not have a suspect and the assailant is still at large. Universities are obligated by federal law to report any crimes that occur on campus where there is an ongoing threat.
We will update this story as more information becomes available.
Reporting by Augusta McDonnell for MTN News
(first report)
MISSOULA – University police are investigating an assault at the University of Montana as a possible hate crime.
An alert sent to UM students and staff said authorities responded to a report of a student assault which occurred Wednesday in the Liberal Arts building on campus.
The message further stated a male student was assaulted by an unknown male in what appears to be a case of hate/bias violence.
Officials says the incident happened in the men’s restroom across from room 102 on the main level of the building.
The University of Montana Police Department is investigating the incident.
Anyone with information is asked to contact UMPD at 406-243-6131.
LIVINGSTON – A second trial is underway for the Livingston man accused of killing a teenage girl in a drunk driving crash in 2015.
Walter Jo Overstreet Jr. is on trial in Park County District Court on one count of vehicular homicide while under the influence and two counts of negligent vehicular assault.
A previous trial ended in a mistrial.
Overstreet was the driver of a vehicle that crashed on Highway 89 North in December of 2015.
Rhiannon Wills, 17, was killed in the rollover crash around midnight.
The Montana Highway Patrol reported at the time of the crash that none of the occupants of the truck was wearing a seatbelt.
Park County sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to the crash site and found a male on the highway signaling for help.
Deputies found four people, including Wills, in the back seat.
The three survivors were injured and bleeding, according to court documents, and they all had to be extricated from the vehicle.
One occupant told deputies he didn’t know where the driver, who he identified as Overstreet, was located.
Deputies called out for Overstreet and found him in the brush after hearing his cry for help.
Overstreet smelled of alcohol, according to court documents.
Deputies asked Overstreet what happened and he allegedly stated, “I was driving too fast.”
The victims were all transported to the hospital.
Inside the truck, deputies reported finding marijuana paraphernalia and alcoholic beverage containers, according to court documents.
The three surviving passengers admitted drinking alcohol in the vehicle and at a house party earlier that night. None of the people involved was of the legal drinking age, according to court documents.
The doctor declined to make a forensic blood draw from Overstreet because of his condition but later told deputies that the hospital lab had Overstreet’s blood.
The blood sample, which was obtained by authorities with a subpoena, registered a blood alcohol content of .224, which is nearly three times the legal driving limit.
Two of the passengers in the vehicle suffered notable injury from the crash and one victim had to undergo surgery.
Overstreet allegedly admitted to officers that he was the driver of the truck when it crashed.
MISSOULA – A man is charged with felony robbery following a disturbance at a Missoula casino earlier this week.
25-year-old Jordan Nall was charged with one count of felony robbery and one count of misdemeanor resisting arrest.
In court documents, Missoula police responded to a disturbance at One Eyed Jack’s Casino at the 2700 block of South Reserve Street Wednesday afternoon.
Missoula police received a report of a white male assaulting and spitting on an employee of the casino.
When police responded to the scene, Nell was detained by several patrons of the casino in the parking lot.
The first officer to respond to the scene requested that Nall sit up and place his hands behind his head to search for weapons.
Nall began to stand and when the officer requested for him to remain seated, Nall said that he would stand.
It is then the officer began to arrest Nall who resisted and could not be secured until other officers arrived.
After arresting Nall police on the scene interviewed the casino employee who said Nall began taking snacks from the casino that were for patrons of the casino.
The employee told police that Nall then swore at the employee and spit on her while attempting to take trays of food.
The employee followed Nall into the parking lot attempting to take a picture of him for future reference, when he punched the employee in the back of the head.
The employee was treated at a hospital for trauma to her brain and was referred to a specialist regarding her vision.
Nall appeared in Missoula Justice Court Friday afternoon and remains in the Missoula County Jail.
The murder charge against Travis Doss, the Miles City man accused of fatally shooting his girlfriend 18 times in January, has been dismissed, the Custer County Attorney said on Friday.
Doss, 21 years old, was facing one count of deliberate homicide for the murder of Shania Lynn Raymond, 21, whom he lived with at a home south of Miles City.
Custer County Attorney Wyatt Glade said Friday that he dismissed the case against Doss on Tuesday because the investigation is not yet complete and deadlines for court proceedings were fast approaching.
“I requested assistance from the (state) Attorney General’s office and consulted with (them) before making this decision,” said Glade.
The case was dismissed without prejudice, meaning that it can be re-filed once the investigation is complete.
Doss has since been released from jail, where he was being held on a $500,000 bond.
Glade said a number of elements of the investigation are incomplete. For instance, his office is still reviewing more than 23,000 pages of documents from the couple’s Facebook accounts.
Doss was arrested in January after calling 911 to report he’d shot his girlfriend, according to court documents. When Custer County Sheriff’s deputies arrived, they found Raymond dead from multiple gunshot wounds.
Doss told authorities he took his gun outside with him to urinate, saying he was concerned about coyotes.
Doss said he heard three gunshots and felt something hit the back of his head.
According to court documents, Doss said he believed Raymond was shooting at him so he fired 18 rounds into the victim until he believed she was dead.
Doss was transported to the hospital for treatment of a head injury and then taken into custody. The extent and cause of Doss’ head wound was not specified in court documents.
It’s unclear what exactly led to the shooting, but Doss told authorities he and Raymond had been arguing earlier that day.
Doss made his initial appearance on the deliberate homicide charge but he was never arraigned, according to Glade.
BOZEMAN – A Bozeman man was arrested Saturday after allegedly driving 90 miles per hour in a 45-mph speed zone and having drugs in his wallet.
Ryan Finney, 36, appeared in Gallatin County Justice Court Monday on charges of reckless driving and criminal possession of dangerous drugs.
According to court documents, a Montana Highway Patrol trooper observed Finney driving on Stucky Road south of Huffine Lane at a high rate of speed.
The trooper stated that his radar unit recorded Finney’s speed at 90 mph. The trooper also reported the area as a 45-mph two-lane roadway with houses lining the side of the road.
Finney was arrested for reckless driving and taken to the Gallatin County Detention Center. Court documents state an officer searched Finney’s property and found a white, powdery substance in his wallet.
After he was read his rights, Finney allegedly said the substance might be Dilaudid and that he had started injecting the opioid.
Finney also said, according to the reporting trooper, the substance might be the drug molly which his wife put in his wallet for a trip to Chico Hot Springs.
In Justice Court, Finney’s bail was set at $1,000. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for April 13.
BILLINGS – One of the two men accused of beating and beheading a Billings man in October is now accused of intimidating his girlfriend in an effort to keep her from further incriminating him.
Donald Cherry, 31, and Jeffrey Haverty, 33, are both charged with deliberate homicide for the murder of Myron Knight, 41.
Cherry was charged Friday with one count each of tampering with evidence and intimidation after investigators learned the content of three visits he had in January with his 21-year-old girlfriend, who is also a witness.
During the first two visits, Cherry allegedly gave the woman his version of events and asked her to find witnesses for him, according to court documents.
Cherry told the woman during the third visit that there was a reason he was having such a “hard time” in jail and held up the affidavit to the screen, showing the woman the part of the document that had her statements to investigators.
“I know some things are just not right in your head sometimes,” Cherry told his girlfriend. “I know you don’t remember right.”
Cherry then winked at the woman.
“Things happen,” said Cherry. “The only thing we gotta do is keep going through it. The only thing that makes a witness is there’s two people saying the same thing. So as long as we say the same thing, then that’s all that matters, ok?”
Later in that conversation, Cherry allegedly told his girlfriend that if she “didn’t remember right,” then that would make her guilty too.
The body of Myron Knight was found in early November on Billings West End.
Cherry reiterated his account of events to the woman, stating that they left together before the murder and had no idea that Haverty was planning to kill Knight.
The woman had told investigators during an earlier interview that she witnessed Knight bloodied at the scene of Haverty and Cherry’s campsite off South 32nd Street West and Gable Road.
Haverty struggled to cut Knight’s head off with a hatchet, she said, and Cherry finished the job.
According to court documents, Cherry and Haverty met Knight at Montana Lil’s Casino the night of the murder.
Before the three men left together, Knight asked the casino staff to hold onto his gambling winnings in case Haverty and Cherry intended to rob him. Knight warned that if anything happened to him, Cherry and Haverty were responsible.
Cherry told authorities that the three of them left to use methamphetamine together on the roof of the former Cactus Creek building on 24th Street West. They then headed to the campsite.
From there, Haverty and Cherry both claim they left and the other disappeared with Knight.
Two weeks later, police received a report of a body wrapped in carpet at an apparent transient camp on the West End.
Knight’s body was found covered in foliage and carpet and his head was located in a nearby hole, according to court documents.
Cherry’s girlfriend told detectives that she was not present when the victim was killed.
But she reported that Cherry told her Haverty had struck the victim in the head with a hammer after the two men attempted to rob Knight and angrily realized he only had $6.
The state medical examiner noted that it was likely the victim’s head was removed while he was still alive, according to court documents.
After the murder, Cherry, his girlfriend and Haverty all went to a casino and gambled.
Cherry is being held at the Yellowstone County jail on a $500,000 bond and Haverty is being held on a $580,000 bond.
GREAT FALLS – Donna Lynn Miranda was arrested after allegedly driving under the influence and crashing into a truck on 15th Street South early Sunday morning.
According to the Great Falls Police Department, Miranda was driving the wrong way down 15th Street South, which is a one-way, when she collided with a truck near 4th Avenue South.
The head-on collision caused Miranda’s airbags to deploy and front-end damage to her vehicle.
Officers believed Miranda had been drinking and driving due to her bloodshot eyes and slurred speech.
Although she appeared uninjured, she was not sure if she had been knocked unconscious in the crash. She was taken to Benefis Health System for an evaluation, and she agreed to a blood test and admitted to drinking earlier in the day.
However, once she arrived at Benefis, she refused to provide a blood sample. After being taken to the Cascade County Detention Center, she refused to perform a sobriety test, and refused to provide a breath sample, according to the charging documents.
The driver of the other vehicle was not injured.
The GFPD said Miranda faces charges for driving under the influence and traveling in the wrong direction of a one-way; both charges are misdemeanors.
MISSOULA – The 17-year-old Big Sky High School student who is being held on multiple charges stemming from a Friday incident at the school appeared in Missoula County District Court Monday afternoon for a bond hearing.
The male has not been charged yet, but is being held on a parole violation, one count of felony criminal endangerment, one count of misdemeanor fleeing an officer and one count of felony tampering with evidence, according to Jennifer Clark, the Deputy County Attorney with the Missoula County Attorney’s Office.
The Friday incident involving the student and shots fired by an SRO officer remains under investigation by the Montana Division of Criminal Investigation.
“The probation office was doing a probation search at the school, inquiring about the possibility of [the suspect] having a firearm. He left the school, got in the vehicle and rapidly left,” Clark said.
The suspect appeared before Judge Leslie Halligan on Monday.
“We will be filing a petition to revoke,” Clark said in the Monday hearing, as the suspect is being investigated for possessing a firearm during the incident, a violation of his parole.
Clark says that prosecutors have not decided if he will be charged as an adult because they do not know yet what they will be able to charge him with, pending the investigation.
Montana law allows for minors to be charged as adults, but only for certain crimes, which are listed under Montana Code 41-5-206.
According to Clark, they are hoping to file charges in the next week.
Halligan set the suspect’s bond at $20,000, and asked that he at least be screened for the house arrest program by the youth court.
Judge Karen Townsend will be taking his case from this point, and the suspect will be appearing before her on Tuesday morning for another hearing.
Authorities say that the school resource officer (SRO) and school staff were conducting an investigation after receiving a tip that a student brought a gun to school. While a male student was being questioned, he ran away into the parking lot and was chased by the SRO.
The student jumped into his vehicle and appeared to attempt to run over the SRO, prompting the officer to fire his duty weapon around 12:45 p.m., according to Anastasia Burton with the Montana Department of Justice.
The student then drove down South Avenue and onto Reserve Street with Missoula Police officers in pursuit until he crashed into a vehicle on the lot of Denny Menholt University Honda, located a little more than a mile away from the school.
The 17-year-old student, who was not hurt in the crash, was taken into custody and is being held at the Missoula juvenile detention center.
Burton says that a handgun suspected to be involved in the incident was found by a citizen along the chase route near South Avenue and Old Fort Road. The handgun has been recovered by law enforcement.
MTN News is not going to release the suspect’s name or image unless he is charged as an adult.
The names of the two inmates at the Cascade County Detention Center that died last week were released on Monday.
Fergus County Coroner R.J. (Dick) Brown provided the information in an email.
Brown said that Roger Lee Wells of Great Falls, 64 years old, died in the emergency department at Benefis Health System on March 10th at 5:36 a.m.
Leland C. Bennett of Great Falls, 23 years old, was taken to Benefis by ambulance on March 10th at 3:10 a.m. and died on March 11th at 4:45 p.m.
Bennett had been charged several weeks ago with threatening Sheriff’s deputies with a knife outside a casino in Vaughn.
According to Cascade County Sheriff Bob Edwards, the two deaths were not connected. One of the deaths was consistent with a suicide and the other appears to be from natural causes, according to Edwards.
In accordance with Montana Code, Brown was called in and will assume the duties of Cascade County Coroner for both of these cases and the required inquest.
An investigation into both incidents is being conducted by the Montana Department of Justice’s Division of Criminal Investigation.
Norma and Larry Carson are each charged with aggravated animal cruelty, a felony, after one dead horse and several malnourished horses were found on their Teton County property.
Court documents say that on January 31st, the Teton County Sheriff’s Office received a report from a Montana Livestock Brand Inspector; the report said the inspector saw one dead horse belonging to the Carsons.
The inspector requested assistance from the Sheriff’s Office, and two deputies were allowed in the Carson’s barn.
Inside, according to court documents, there was one horse barely alive, one dead horse in a stall, and two malnourished horses without food or water in their stalls.
A veterinarian was called to the scene to euthanize one of the horses due to the malnourished condition of the horse.
A search warrant was obtained, and a total of seven malnourished horses were seized from the property.
BILLINGS – Jury selection got underway Monday in the case against a Billings man accused of raping a teenage girl in 2012.
Marcial Mejia, 35, is charged in Yellowstone County District Court with one count of sexual intercourse without consent.
The victim, who was about 14 years old when the assault occurred, reported the abuse when she was 17 after she learned Mejia was contacting her younger sister on Facebook.
The victim reported that she had met Mejia via Facebook and began communicating online.
Mejia gave the girl his phone number, and she called him one day for a ride home, according to court documents.
Mejia drove the victim to his house, she said, to pick something up.
The girl said Mejia asked her to come inside and she agreed, trusting Mejia because he was wearing a military uniform.
Inside the home, Mejia allegedly raped the girl on his couch.
Mejia then drove the victim to her neighborhood and dropped her off, according to court documents.
The victim said Mejia attempted to contact her multiple times but she refused to communicate.
According to court documents, the victim contracted a sexually transmitted disease from Mejia.
The victim eventually reported the assault to her school counselor after she learned Mejia had tried to contact her younger sister online.
Authorities arrested Mejia at the Army Reserve Center shortly after the victim’s disclosure.
Detectives located other young girls who reported that Mejia had contacted them and tried to bring them home, according to court documents.
After his arrest, prosecutors read the comment section in a Q2 News article about Mejia and found at least eight other girls who said Mejia had contacted them online.
Prosecutors plan to present screenshots from Mejia’s Snapchat, Facebook and other social media to the jury.
Mejia has not been in custody since his initial arrest.
HELENA – A 36-year-old Helena man is accused of strangling a woman and hitting her with an axe handle.
Bryan Charles Blankenship appeared in Lewis and Clark County Justice Court Monday afternoon.
According to court documents, the woman had gone to a home on the 65-hundred block of Lone Pine Rd on Saturday to retrieve some of her belongings.
The woman told police that Blankenship had become upset when she entered the home and began to assault her.
Blankenship is alleged to have grabbed her by the throat and held her against a wall, punched her in the face and struck her with head with the handle of an axe.
Court records say a deputy observed blood on the woman’s face, a cut above her right eye and two large welts on her head.
When the deputy questioned Blankenship he told them woman had come to the house to cause of disturbance and only said he had tried to push her out of the house.
Blankenship has been charged with Assault with a Weapon and Strangulation of a Partner of Family Member, both felonies.
Justice of the peace Michael Swingley set bond at $25,000.
KALISPELL – A Columbia Falls man is behind bars after a Monday night disturbance resulted in the Flathead County SWAT team being called out.
Flathead County Sheriff Chuck Curry says deputies were dispatched to the Lower Valley area just before 10:30 p.m. Monday after dispatchers received a 911 call and could hear a disturbance in the background.
Curry says deputies were able to make contact with the victims and learned that a subject had reportedly threatened individuals inside the residence with a baseball bat. Deputies attempted to negotiate with the subject but he refused to come out of the home and barricaded himself inside.
The Flathead County SWAT team was sent to the scene and negotiators attempted to end the incident. Curry says that pepper spray was deployed into the residence which caused the subject to come out.
Ronald Lindsay, 33, was then taken into custody without incident. Curry says Lindsay is being held pending charges of assault with a weapon, partner family member assault and obstructing a peace officer.
The Flathead County Sheriff’s Office is continuing to investigate the incident.
LIVINGSTON – For the second time, the trial for a Livingston man accused of causing a fatal crash while driving drunk has ended in a mistrial.
Walter Jo Overstreet Jr. was on trial in Park County District Court last week for one count of vehicular homicide while under the influence and two counts of negligent vehicular assault.
The trial ended with a hung jury around midnight Friday, the Park County Clerk of Court said Tuesday.
The first trial ended in a similar fashion last year.
Overstreet told authorities he was the driver of a vehicle that crashed on Highway 89 North in December of 2015.
Rhiannon Wills, 17, was killed in the rollover crash and two others were seriously injured.
When deputies arrived on scene, they found the victim dead in the truck and injured passengers.
Overstreet was found nearby in the bushes with injuries that required hospitalization, according to court documents.
When asked what happened, Overstreet allegedly said “I was driving too fast.”
Deputies found marijuana paraphernalia and alcoholic beverage containers inside the truck, according to court documents.
The three surviving passengers admitted drinking alcohol in the vehicle and at a house party earlier that night.
None of the people involved was of the legal drinking age, according to court documents.
The doctor declined to make a forensic blood draw from Overstreet because of his condition but later told deputies that the hospital lab had Overstreet’s blood.
The blood sample, which was obtained by authorities with a subpoena, registered a blood alcohol content of .224, which is nearly three times the legal driving limit.
Two of the passengers in the vehicle suffered notable injury from the crash and one victim had to undergo surgery.
It wasn’t immediately clear Tuesday whether the prosecutor would refile the case.
