Hungry Horse standoff ends with man in custody

A Hungry Horse man was arrested Wednesday night after a SWAT team had to use tear gas to get him to exit his house during a standoff.

Benjamin Davis, 34, of Hungry Horse, was arrested on preliminary charges of felony criminal endangerment and assault with a weapon after the standoff, which was sparked after Davis allegedly shot at a nearby resident.

At 4:49 p.m., a First Street South West resident contacted police to say that the man had fired several rounds at him and the house he was in after screaming at him about an issue relating to his dog, according to police radio traffic. None of the shots struck anyone.

The man then went back inside a house two houses away.

Several deputies responded and began looking for the man, and at approximately 5:30 p.m. made a preliminary arrest. The man they arrested, however, turned out to be the resident of the house where the suspect was a visitor.

After determining the suspect was still in the house, the SWAT team was called in.

“We attempted to hail him with a [public address system] once we got everyone in place, then deployed a ‘flash-bang’ [grenade] in his yard to wake him up in case he was passed out inside, but were unsuccessful,” Curry said. “We continued with voice contacts for quite a while, then eventually used a small amount of tear gas, and that was successful.”

The SWAT team’s peacekeeper armored vehicle was also deployed to provide protection for team members, and neighboring houses were evacuated during the incident.

Curry said the standoff lasted for about an hour and a half after resources arrived on scene before Davis was finally taken into custody without incident shortly before 9 p.m.

“We’re always very cautious of these situations; that’s why we have a SWAT team,” Curry said. “The goal is always to protect civilians and our guys first, and we were very successful.”

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