Man pleads no contest after impersonating lawman

A Kalispell man has pleaded no contest to a reduced charge after impersonating an officer.

Richard Mullens, 33, entered the plea to a felony charge of criminal endangerment, reduced from felony assault with a weapon, Thursday in Flathead District Court.

The incident started when a Cottonwood Drive resident went outside to investigate after his truck alarm went off on April 24. While checking his vehicle, Mullens’ neighbor walked up from between two parked vehicles.

Mullens was reportedly wearing a badge on a chain around his neck and a holstered pistol on his hip. The neighbor reported Mullens told him he worked for the Sheriff’s Office before pulling the pistol from the holster and telling the neighbor that he was going to “blow him away.”

The document states the neighbor convinced Mullens to holster the pistol, at which point Mullens allegedly told the neighbor he was lucky they were both law men.

A deputy who responded to Mullens’ trailer reported Mullens had a cloth holster on his hip and a fake sheriff’s badge on a chain around his neck when he arrived. The deputy then arrested Mullens.

The pistol was eventually determined to be a BB gun.

A child who was present during the incident later told a deputy that Mullens was drunk and that he “threw the table” that evening.

The court document goes on to state that deputies had to place Mullens on his knees during their contact in order to gain his compliance, which he reportedly failed to give throughout the entire incident. Mullens allegedly screamed obscenities while being transported to the Flathead County Detention Center and smashed his head into the Plexiglas cage, bleeding “significantly” on himself and the interior of the car.

During Thursday’s hearing, Mullens testified that he had drank a lot that night and had no memory of the incident, hence his no contest plea.

The Flathead County Attorney’s Office will be recommending a sentence of 8 years to the Montana Department of Corrections with all but 84 days suspended when Mullens is sentenced on Oct. 24.

Mullens is currently on house arrest.