SWAT team arrests aspiring deputy in felony case

The sheriff s SWAT team and other officers Thursday arrested a man who was about to begin a new job as a deputy.

Rick Rossmiller had not been sworn in as an officer, but he had moved to Kalispell from Choteau to take a job as deputy. He began orientation Wednesday; on Thursday, he was arrested on suspicion of felony possession of stolen property.

Sheriff Jim Dupont said Rossmiller had come from Choteau with experience and ringing recommendations. He said Rossmiller is in his 30s.

On Wednesday, Rossmiller went through orientation at the Flathead County Sheriff s Office and qualified in shooting tests at the firing range. But also Wednesday, the office received a tip that Rossmiller had brought stolen property with him from Choteau.

Dupont said Rossmiller is accused of taking chain-link fencing from a school and a hot tub from a neighbor. In both cases, Dupont said, Rossmiller wrote the police report about the thefts. He wasn t considered a suspect, Dupont said.

Dupont said he declined to swear in the new deputy until the allegations could be investigated and called him in Thursday morning to talk about the accusation, which Rossmiller denied. Dupont sent him home while the investigation continued. Later on Thursday, Rossmiller didn t answer his phone or his door after repeated efforts to contact him. His truck was outside his apartment, though, with sections of chain-link fence propped in the bed.

Finally, after calling

Rossmiller in vain, officials became concerned about his welfare. A neighbor reported hearing something that sounded like a gunshot, Dupont said. Officers obtained an arrest warrant and decided on a forceful entry into Rossmiller s apartment at Orchard Village on Appleway Drive.

They evacuated residents in units around Rossmiller s and closed traffic at both ends of Appleway Drive, behind the Red Lion Inn.

Seven SWAT team members and four patrol officers from the Sheriff s Office were assisted by Kalispell police officers.

On Wednesday afternoon, a sergeant with a rifle positioned himself across the street from the apartment building. Others swept around to the back of the apartment complex. Using a key to Rossmiller s unit, they burst in and announced themselves.

He came out with his hands up, said sheriff s detective Glen Fulton. He was taken into custody without incident.

Everything went very, very well, Fulton said.

Rossmiller said he had been sleeping and didn t hear the phone or the knocks on the door, Dupont said. Rossmiller then invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and was taken to the county jail on felony theft charges.

Dupont said Rossmiller could face official misconduct or other charges in Choteau if the allegations about him are proven. The $3,500 hot tub he allegedly stole was found at his girlfriend s house, along with other property that is suspected of being stolen, Dupont said.

After Rossmiller s arrest, Ashley Potts, property manager for Orchard Village, explained to startled residents what happened and reassured them that the SWAT team was there solely because of Rossmiller.

He had just moved in, she said, and seemed to be a promising tenant, concerned about whether it would be all right if he parked his patrol car in the apartment parking lot.

Several neighbors gathered outside after the incident.

The SWAT team looked like a military brigade to Riley Nelson, she said.

I saw a guy over there with a really big gun, one resident said.

Michael Arends was frustrated in her effort to get to a friend s apartment because of the roadblocks, she said.

When she arrived, her friends were outside, talking about what had just happened.

We don t have TV or anything, Mimi Kersten said, so the drama got her attention.