Man pleads not guilty in casino case

The Daily Inter Lake

A Kalispell man has pleaded innocent to robbing a west Kalispell casino with a fake gun.

During his arraignment Tuesday in Flathead County District Court, Jason Robert Skalsky, 36, entered a not-guilty plea to one count of robbery.

According to court documents, Kalispell police responded to the Gold Dust Casino, located in the 1000 block of U.S. 2 West, at 11:45 p.m. on Oct. 26 after a customer called to report a man wearing a Halloween mask had robbed a casino attendant.

The suspect, later identified as Skalsky, dropped the replica pistol and a bag of money during a scuffle with one of the customers in the casino.

Officers later recovered about $4,500 in cash.

The suspect escaped and fled into a wooded area west of Gateway West Mall as officers from the Kalispell Police Department, Flathead County Sheriff's Office and Montana Highway Patrol began searching the area.

Skalsky was found lying in the grass near Ashley Creek.

The Gold Dust Casino robbery was the sixth of seven robberies or attempted robberies at Kalispell-area casinos since late August.

Investigators still are searching for the man or men responsible for the Sept. 15 armed robbery of Windiggers Casino, the Oct. 15 armed robbery of the Players Club Casino, and Dec. 8 armed robbery of the Loose Change Casino.