Robbery try thwarted by workers, customer

A Kalispell man is in jail on robbery charges after he allegedly tried to steal money Sunday from a Lakeside grocery store before he was restrained by employees and a customer.

Wearing a skeleton mask, Trenton Michael Halstad, 19, entered Blacktail Grocery at about 7:45 p.m. Sunday and went straight to the manager’s office, Flathead County Undersheriff Dave Leib said.

“He was not armed. This was apparently a former employee who must have known where the money was kept in the office,” Leib said. “He came in wearing a mask and started helping himself to money in the office.”

According to a dispatch report, the suspect initially tried to break out a window to escape. But he ended up in the store’s entryway, where he was restrained by two employees and a customer.

A sheriff’s deputy arrived and arrested Halstad. He is being held at the Flathead County Detention Center on robbery and criminal contempt charges.