Whitefish man jailed on gun charge

The Daily Inter Lake

A Whitefish man is jailed on a count of discharging a firearm in city limits, but the Police Department investigation into the incident early Tuesday may turn up cause for more charges.

Richard Lindley, 42, is being held in the Whitefish jail. He was arrested at his home on Ramsey Avenue after the emergency call came in at 3:12 a.m.

Assistant Chief Mike Ferda said the incident started earlier with Lindley getting his vehicle stuck in the snow. He walked the short distance to his house, Ferda said, and got help from a couple of other men there.

Things apparently turned sour, Ferda said, and there was an altercation at the vehicle. Lindley left the vehicle and returned home, where he vented his anger and started breaking things in the house, Ferda said.

Sometime during the incident, police said, Lindley fired three shots into the air.

Whitefish police and Flathead County sheriff's deputies were sent to the scene.

Ferda said that the first responding Whitefish officer passed the vehicle, but nobody was near it. The officer went to the house, Ferda said, where through a window he saw Lindley emerge from a bedroom, carrying a shotgun in the ready-carry position.

The officer ordered the man to drop the weapon, Ferda said. When Lindley did not immediately obey the order, the officer returned to his squad car and took cover.

Police detective Sgt. Dan Frank, who is conducting the department's investigation, said Lindley apparently was outside by that time but returned inside. He immediately came back out of the house without the gun, Frank said, and officers took him into custody without incident.

He would not, however, allow officers inside the house to retrieve the gun.

Frank said officers cleared the house in search of possible victims. Not only did they see the shotgun in a bedroom at that time, Frank said, but also they smelled marijuana and saw drug paraphernalia.

They obtained a search warrant, and seized the gun and several other items.

Ferda said nobody was hurt in the incident. But he said Lindley had blood on his hands and admitted he was in a fight.

Frank said formal charges are pending and more charges may be filed.