Assault suspect arrested

Alleged beating sparks second SWAT action in less than a day

The Flathead County Sheriff's Office carried out its second SWAT team action in less than 24 hours early Tuesday.

As a result, Shane Stansberry, 36, was arrested Tuesday afternoon on a felony aggravated-assault warrant in the beating of his 30-year-old girlfriend.

A call came in about 11:30 p.m. Monday, reporting an assault at 7480 U.S. 2 in Columbia Heights.

A woman reported that she and her boyfriend had been out drinking, Sheriff Mike Meehan said Tuesday morning, and when they returned home he beat her severely.

She fled the home and reached a phone to call for help. When deputies arrived, they summoned Three Rivers EMS, which took her for treatment at North Valley Hospital.

Among other injuries, Meehan said, she had a broken nose and possibly other broken facial bones as well as considerable bruising.

Deputies immediately went to the house to make an arrest, but Stansberry did not answer the door, Meehan said. Looking through a window, he said, deputies spotted a hunting rifle inside the house.

Assuming that the suspect still was at the house - and based on his earlier violence, the likelihood that he could have a gun and the severity of the victim's injuries - the SWAT team was summoned.

The team staged behind the Super 8 motel nearby, then set up a perimeter around the house and watched for several hours. Seeing no activity, they eventually entered the house.

Stansberry was not there, Meehan said.

Acting on the victim's concern for her children in the house, deputies looked for them. They were found safe and asleep, Meehan said, apparently unaware that anything had happened.

Meehan said Stansberry is not the children's father.

At 4:10 a.m., Department of Family Services workers were called to take over care for the children, ages 6 and 11.

Reporter Nancy Kimball may be reached at 758-4483 or by e-mail at nkimball@dailyinterlake.com