Boy charged with assault given curfew

Two teenage boys charged with assault following an incident on a Glacier High School football bus denied the charges Thursday in their first appearance in Flathead District Court.

A curfew was imposed on one of the defendants because he has been attending school events.

Logan Jones and Charles Calobeer, both 15, are facing misdemeanor charges in Youth Court due to their alleged participation in the Sept. 12 assault of several players on the bus as they headed back to Kalispell after a game in Missoula.

Deputy County Attorney Lori Adams pushed Thursday for a curfew to be imposed on Jones and requested that he be placed on house arrest during the hours of that curfew.

Adams said the request was due to Jones showing up at homecoming events as well as freshman football games in which the alleged victims were playing.

She said that violated school restrictions that were imposed when Jones was first suspended and then expelled from Glacier High School.

Jones’ attorney, Julianne Hinchey, argued against the house arrest but agreed with the curfew.

Judge Stewart Stadler ordered that a curfew for Jones be enforced from 6 p.m. to 7:30 a.m. overnight. If Jones violates his curfew by leaving home during those hours, he could be incarcerated in the Flathead County Youth Detention Center.

In both cases, hearings were set for Jan. 18 and Feb. 1, with a jury trial date of March 5.

Jones and Calobeer were kicked off the football team after the incident.

Those who attended court on Thursday first had to pass through a security checkpoint on the first floor including a metal detector and manned by staff from the detention center who have additional training with the equipment.

According to Flathead County Sheriff Chuck Curry, the decision to set up the checkpoint was made due to the level of emotion surrounding the bus incident.

“It’s not unusual that we have screened people,” Curry said. “We have set up screening randomly and also any time there is a case with a profile that has a lot of emotion associated with it, and again just for everyone’s safety. One of the things we are tasked with is providing courtroom security.”

In the past, such a checkpoint has been set up on the third floor where the courtrooms are located, but Curry said there are many ways to get in and out of the third floor, making it more logical to move it to the first floor at the building’s entrance.

Thursday’s checkpoint was set up before 8 a.m., when the third floor opens, and taken down at around 11 a.m. Curry said there were no problems and everyone was very understanding.

Among those in attendance at the hearings for Jones and Calobeer were members of three of the victims’ families as well as one victim.

Reporter Jesse Davis may be reached at 758-4441 or by email at jdavis@dailyinterlake.com