'Sovereign citizen' politely declines help

The Whitefish Police Department got an earful from a Denver Street man claiming to be a sovereign citizen. After receiving a 911 hang-up call, authorities had called the man back to check on his well-being.

He said everything was OK and that he was testing his phone and that he thought he hung up before it went through.

He then said he was a “sovereign United States citizen” who pays taxes, and that the person who called him back was invading his space. He ended the conversation by saying he did not feel comfortable talking to the person any more and thanked the person for their services.

Lights and trailers were seen set up off Texas Avenue and around 15 people were walking around, but the person who reported them said it was possibly the movie being filmed in Whitefish.

A confused Wyoming resident reported receiving a citation in the mail to appear in court for contempt over expired plates, but said he hadn’t been to Whitefish in 10 years.

A school administrator wanted officers to speak to a 12-year-old boy about possible sexual harassment.

An apparently drunk driver drew a response from the Creston Fire Department after crashing his vehicle on Foothill Road Wednesday afternoon. According to scanner traffic, the man rolled his vehicle into a tree before getting out of the vehicle and walking around. He was reported slurring his words at the scene.

Flathead County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to a pair of disturbances involving guns Tuesday.

At 3:09 p.m., it was reported that a man pointed a gun at a work crew on McMannamy Draw. The man was refusing to pay them for their work.

At 8:26 p.m., a woman reported several people were threatening her with a shotgun at a property near Bigfork. She said her ex-fiance had taken her possessions and she went to the house to get them back when she was threatened. She also said they had several rooms and a basement full of marijuana plants. The property was eventually determined to be in Lake County, and the incident was turned over to deputies from that jurisdiction. The woman was reported to be safe for the night.

A case of too many vehicles caused a motorist to be run off the road when a person passed him while meeting a school bus going the other direction on Montana 206 in Columbia Falls.

Several enraged evictees returned to their former home on Pheasant Drive and trashed the place.

A not-quite explosive discovery was made at the dump when someone found a simulation grenade.

Deputies were unable to locate a man seen driving at least 100 miles per hour on a motorcycle westbound on Montana 40.

A puppy was reportedly abused on Timberlake Drive in Lakeside, where a Dachshund had to be transported to an emergency veterinary clinic after a neighbor witnessed the dog’s owner slamming it into the ground.

A man feeling guilty for violating his probation by smoking marijuana was given a break and told he would not be going to jail after he self-reported the activity three days later.

A startled boy and his mother called the Kalispell Police Department after a man smelling of alcohol came up a hill at Woodland Park waving a knife at the boy and his friend.

A Fourth Avenue West man fed up with police inaction reported vehicles parked in his driveway and in nearby no-parking zones, telling police they needed to write more tickets to “educate these folks.” A responding officer issued eight parking citations.

A cat owner called to complain that a person would not give him his pet back.

Hoodlums on skateboards were suspected when money was stolen from a car in a West Idaho Street parking lot.

A West Utah Street woman complained about her neighbor’s dogs coming over to “do their daily constitutional” on her lawn and she was tired of cleaning it up.

A man and woman agreed to keep their problems to themselves after being reported physically fighting in the parking lot of an East Idaho Street fast food restaurant.

A thief with unusual tastes stole grease screens that had been left outside of a South Main Street restaurant to dry.

A Buttercup Loop man reported a pair of Chihuahuas “running amok” up and down his street.

A pack of perverted boys were reported to the Columbia Falls Police Department after entering a supermarket, approaching a female employee, grabbing her breasts and saying “they are real!” before running out.

A concerned citizen contacted police to report a man with a “5 o’clock shadow” possibly “lurking” in the area of Second Avenue West, checking parked vehicles.

An officer received an unusual walk-up complaint from a person who said a squirrel was harassing their dog and causing it to bark.