Charges pending in golf-club assault

Flathead County Sheriff Chuck Curry said the man allegedly wielding a golf club against another man in the Bigfork area on July 4 has been identified, but the assault still is under investigation.

“We do know who the alleged perpetrator is,” Curry said Monday. “Detectives are working on it. At some point it’s going to be forwarded to the county attorney’s office.”

Curry said surveillance cameras captured images of the incident, and a witness also took some video. 

Thomas Valencia, the brother of the victim, Antonio Valencia, said he is concerned about the perpetrators escaping prosecution.

“I’m just worried it’s going to be swept under the rug,” Valencia said. “I just think people need to be aware that these guys are running around town.”

Curry said the altercation was a “road rage” incident that started in the Kalispell area and ended at the Ferndale Market.

Valencia said his brother was being tailgated, and after he tried to get the tailing vehicle to back off by pumping his brakes, it turned into a chase that later involved a second pursuing vehicle.

“They’re trying to run him off the road and they’re throwing beer bottles at him. It was like the ‘Dukes of Hazzard,’” Valencia said.

Five men converged on Antonio Valencia at the store, with one of them striking him several times with a golf club until it broke.

He suffered a fractured vertebra in his neck and is currently unable to work, but he is doing OK otherwise, his brother said.

Thomas Valencia said he believes the assailants were trying to take his brother’s life and they deserve to be charged with attempted murder.