Law Roundup: Barfly accused of enjoying cruises

A pair of callers, frustrated by a local man’s penchant for going on drunken cruises, phoned the Columbia Falls Police Department looking for intervention of some kind. The first said the man arrived at a bar in the area already drunk and likely drove there. A second caller called just under 20 minutes later with the stated purpose of telling officers that the same man was likely driving drunk and was “constantly getting lost and constantly driving.” There is no information on whether the man’s name is Cliff or Norm.

A Martha Road resident wanted to speak with someone at the police department about animals running off-leash and defecating in neighborhood yards.

Police investigated a traffic accident that occurred on Fourth Street East at the request of the owner of the accident vehicle. She claimed someone hit her parked Dodge Ram while she was shopping inside a nearby store, but a review of the company’s surveillance footage disproved that theory. When officers explained this to the woman, she admitted it had happened the day before in Kalispell. She was adamant she didn’t hit anything because of “all the bells and whistles” in her truck.

Officers checked a truck that had been reported suspiciously abandoned on the side of Diane Road.

A security guard reported seeing a drunk man trying to get into the driver’s seat of the car. He was stopped when another man grabbed him and hit him on the hood of the car. The drunken person appeared to have lost consciousness and his apparent attacker grabbed him and threw him into the car before leaving. Officers were unable to locate the vehicle.

Police were called to 4th Avenue after a report of a dog in the car, barking and screaming. The person who notified authorities said he believed the temperature may have been too low and causing distress to the animal. Officers were unable to locate the dog.

An officer reported seeing a bear running in the wooded area behind a house on Nucleus Street for the second time.

A caller reported a possible parking violation by a Flathead County Sheriff’s Office vehicle on 12th Avenue. The law enforcement vehicle was larger than its lane and thus ended up blocking the sidewalk. The caller said that the dispute over parking is renewed every winter.

Officers believed the woman who initially claimed she had been assaulted but then wanted to retrieve her belongings from Browning may have been under the influence of alcohol. For the last request, direct them to the Browning Law Enforcement Office or the Glacier County Sheriff’s Office.

A group of revelers partying around a bonfire on Ninth Street proved to be a nuisance for a store manager, who asked police to evict the merrymakers. The fire was extinguished by the time officers arrived and the merry troupe agreed to move the festivities.

Officers tried to track down a reckless driver who swerved along the road, crashing into the pavement near a local café and nearly crashing into a parked car. It was later found parked in a restaurant.