Three face charges of robbery

Felony charges have been filed against three people after an investigation into a November 2010 robbery during which a Kalispell woman said she was held at knife-point and robbed of medications.

Devin J. Olesen, 25, is accused of donning a ski mask on Nov. 2 and forcing his way through the back door of the woman’s home on Ninth Street West in Kalispell.

The victim, Sabine Hindman, said she answered a knock at the front door of the home when a tall, skinny man wearing a mask emerged from the back of the house, put a knife to her stomach and led her to a bedroom.

There, she said was robbed of approximately 1,200 morphine pills — half of them 30 milligram and the other half 15 milligram — as well as 150 Percocet pills and 90 Valium pills, according to court documents.

Two weeks after the robbery, on Nov. 17, a Kalispell Police Department detective interviewed a woman who said Olesen and 26-year-old Brittney Rae Koznov had been living in a camper trailer on her property.

The woman said the pair had offered her pills from bottles that bore the name of Sabine Hindman, the victim of the alleged robbery.

Another man, interviewed by the detective on Jan. 21, implicated a third person, Sabrina Gustafson. He said that Gustafson, 33, had admitted taking part in the robbery along with Kosnov and Olesen.

Gustafson offered the biggest break in the case when interviewed by the detective on Feb. 8. She said Olesen had threatened her about saying anything about the robbery. She said she, Olesen and Koznov had traveled together to Hindman’s house but she got scared and left on foot.

Koznov allegedly knocked on the front door of Hindman’s home in an effort to distract her so Olesen could enter through the rear of the residence.

Gustafson said Olesen and Kosnov returned a short time later with the pills. She said the medications were split among the three of them, according to court documents.

She also said it was her idea to rob Hindman after she was told by a friend that the pills were in the house.

Hindman identified Koznov in a photograph lineup and told detectives she had come to her front door earlier in the day and asked to speak to someone who didn’t live there.

Olesen has been charged by the Flathead County Attorney’s Office with felony robbery while Koznov is facing a charge of accountability to robbery and Gustafson is charged with conspiracy to commit robbery.

The three felony charges each carry a maximum penalty of 40 years in prison and no less than two years in prison, along with a fine of up to $50,000.

Olesen, Koznov and Gustafson have all also been charged with felony possession of dangerous drugs, which carry potential sentences of up to five years in prison.

They’re expected to be arraigned in Flathead County District Court March 17.

Reporter Eric Schwartz may be reached at 758-4441 or by e-mail at eschwartz@dailyinterlake.com