Man sentenced for Evergreen disturbance

The Daily Inter Lake

An Evergreen-area man convicted of twice attacking a Flathead Drive resident during an argument over $10 was sentenced Thursday to the Montana Department of Corrections for 10 years with eight suspended.

Michael Anthony Mejak, 34, pleaded guilty by way of Alford plea in February to felony criminal endangerment for his role in the fracas.

Pursuant to a plea bargain, prosecutors dropped burglary, aggravated assault and misdemeanor assault charges against Mejak.

According to court documents, deputies responded to a home in the 400 block of Flathead Drive in early September 2008 after receiving reports that Mejak had attacked a 50-year-old man living in a fifth-wheel camper on the property.

Investigators said Mejak, who went to the home to accuse the man of stealing $10, punched him in the head several times before head-butting him.

Mejak was asked to leave the property, but later returned and forced his way through the camper door in an attempt to attack him again, investigators said.

The 50-year-old man pulled a knife and cut Mejak, reportedly in self-defense.

Mejak, who was cut on his chest and head, was taken to Kalispell Regional Medical Center for stitches. The other man suffered a cut on his eye and had his nose broken in three places.