Man dies after tumble down stairs

A 55-year-old Kalispell man died Saturday evening after an altercation with another man at an apartment in Evergreen.

Gerald Payne fell down a set of stairs and suffered what appeared to be head and neck injuries, according to a press release from the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office.

Payne allegedly was fighting with David Day, 54, at around 5 p.m.

Payne was transported to Kalispell Regional Medical Center, where he later was pronounced dead.

Day was arrested and is incarcerated at the Flathead County Detention Center on charges of criminal endangerment. Other charges possibly are pending.

Sheriff Chuck Curry said Monday that he couldn’t comment yet on the circumstances surrounding the altercation.

“Honestly, we’re still working on that and trying to sort out the details,” he said.

Curry said charging documents would be filed possibly by today.

Payne’s body was taken to the Montana State Crime Lab in Missoula for autopsy. The incident remains under investigation by the Sheriff’s Office.