Man pleads not guilty to series of charges

A 31-year-old Bigfork man pleaded not guilty May 24 in Flathead District Court to a bevy of charges including driving under the influence.

According to a court document, a Montana Highway Patrol trooper responded to Montana 83 after a report of a drunk driver and found Jason Hill in his pickup truck parked off the road. As the trooper approached the vehicle he could small alcohol.

When the trooper spoke to Hill, he allegedly became aggressive and tried to fight.

THE COURT document alleges that Hill resisted arrest, threatened to kill the trooper and his family and made other threats, including telling the trooper “I’m going to say this quietly. I’m going to rape your kids then kill you, I promise.”

The trooper eventually used a Taser and hobble restraints to take Hill into custody, the document states. Hill then beat his head against a window and had to be taken to Kalispell Regional Medical Center for treatment of a resulting cut. While he was being treated, a deputy had to hold Hill’s head still, and Hill spit on him, also attempting to blow his nose on another deputy.

HILL REPORTEDLY verbally abused everyone around him for several hours.

He is charged with threats in official matters, a felony, and misdemeanor counts of driving under the influence of alcohol, resisting arrest, assault with a bodily fluid and criminal possession of dangerous drugs (for a marijuana pipe and a small amount of the drug reportedly found on him).

According to the court document, Hill previously was convicted of disorderly conduct several times and was convicted of burglary in Alaska in 2007, for which he is still on probation. Hill also reportedly was abusive to jail staff during a prior incarceration in Flathead County.

If convicted of all charges, Hill faces between 24 hours and 12 and a half years in jail and a fine of between $400 and $53,000.