Jail flooder is sent off to prison

A man who caused more than $6,000 damage to the Flathead County Justice Center is now the state prison's problem.

David Pinard, 31, also known as David Pinnard, was sentenced to prison Friday morning and was quickly taken to Deer Lodge.

In January, while he was in the jail on a burglary charge, he reportedly tore up a blanket and flushed it down a toilet, flooding the south side of the justice center.

Sewage spewed down hallways, soaked into walls and ruined carpeting on the main floor and poured into the women's locker room below.

Sheriff Jim Dupont said Pinard was a difficult inmate since he was arrested on Dec. 5 for burglary. Dupont described him as "an extreme white supremacist" who has a swastika tattoo and harasses workers who have foreign-sounding names.

Pinard also tried to kick the door off his cell, according to detention officer Dave Hutton.

Last week, Pinard erupted again, flooding the jail nurse's offices and destroying a plastic box.

On Friday morning, District Judge Kitty Curtis sentenced him for the burglary and for felony criminal mischief for the jail damage.

Pinard was represented by public defender Glen Neier and was prosecuted by Deputy County Attorney Tim Wenz.

Pinard withdrew an earlier innocent plea and entered guilty pleas on both charges.

Curtis sentenced him to 20 years for burglary and suspended 12 years.

On the criminal mischief charge, he received a concurrent 10-year sentence.

Curtis also ordered him to pay $6,480 restitution to the county, along with a fine of $500 and public defender fees of $500, plus a $110 surcharge and a supervision fee.

He also must obtain counseling or chemical dependency treatment while in custody.

Dupont said Friday he doesn't believe the county will ever receive any restitution from Pinard.

"That's the fallacy of the system," he said.

Reporter Chery Sabol may be reached at 758-4441 or by e-mail at csabol@dailyinterlake.com