Four charged in Happy Valley home invasion
By ERIC SCHWARTZThe Daily Inter Lake
The Flathead County Attorney’s Office has filed felony charges against four men linked to an armed home invasion robbery in which a 16-year-old girl was held at gunpoint in the Happy Valley area July 6.
Three of the men — 22-year-old Kelly Campbell, 25-year-old Bradley Thompson and 29-year-old Kevin Gaethe — were arrested as investigators served search warrants in Whitefish and Columbia Falls following the robbery.
The fourth man, 27-year-old Whitefish resident Stephen Acton, remains at large and has been described by law enforcement officials as armed and dangerous.
During an interview with detectives, the 16-year-old girl picked Acton’s photograph out of a lineup and identified him as one of two men who walked into her father’s home on Hare Trail at about 4:45 p.m. July 6 and demanded to know where her father’s guns were.
She said Acton pointed a handgun equipped with a laser sight at her while the guns were stolen. The men claimed that her father’s brother owed them money, according to court documents.
The investigation into the incident by the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office led to the discovery of a heroin trafficking and money counterfeiting operation, according to the sheriff’s office.
Deputies also recovered the gun safe and firearms that were stolen during the robbery, according to court documents.
Sheriff Chuck Curry said Thursday that the crime remains under investigation.
Thompson has been charged with robbery,
accountability to robbery, theft and assault with a weapon. He was arrested after being detained for shoplifting at a business on Hutton Ranch Road the morning after the robbery.
According to court documents, he provided law enforcement with the names of Gaethe and Campbell. It was also discovered that it was Thompson’s Volkswagen Jetta that was used in the robbery.
Campbell, arrested later the same day, said he was in the process of picking up Acton when he was detained during a traffic stop and later arrested. He said they planned to go to Portland, Ore., to replenish their heroin supply, according to court documents.
He denied being involved in the robbery.
Gaethe is accused of helping Acton steal the gun safe.
Campbell has been charged with accountability to robbery and theft. Gaethe has been charged with robbery, accountability to robbery and theft. Acton is charged with robbery, accountability to robbery, theft and assault with a weapon.