Plow driver gets unwanted passenger

A snowplow driver called the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office on Monday night after an unwanted passenger hopped into his truck on U.S. 2 East in Columbia Falls. A man, described as white, about 30 years old and wearing a black stocking cap and black jacket, climbed into the cab of the snowplow and said he was with the FBI and demanded a ride.

The snowplow driver was able to remove the man from his truck. About 2 minutes later, the same man walked into a hotel, saying he was a law enforcement officer, had a gun and was “checking on businesses.” Police caught up with the man, who belonged at a nearby hotel, and told him to stay in his room for the night.

A bulletin board outside of a Marion school was burned sometime Monday night. The principal reported it to the Sheriff’s Office and was concerned because it could have lit the building on fire. The suspects left behind a bottle of lighter fluid.

A construction trailer in Bigfork was broken into sometime Monday night and several items were reported stolen.

A man said his truck had been vandalized in Bigfork after finding a defroster vent halfway torn off and smashed.

A Columbia Falls woman called police to say she had attended a Tupperware party hosted by another woman and ordered $44 worth of product, which she never received.

A power company reported vandalism to a Marion power line where it appeared several insulators had been shot out on Pleasant Valley Road.

A Columbia Falls man had cash and jewelry stolen from his home. There was no sign of forced entry and the man had a couple of possible suspects.

A delivery driver called police after delivering a package to a Kalispell woman Monday afternoon. The woman began telling him that she had a “terrorist electrical people issue.” Shortly after, the woman called dispatch herself to advise them that she received a message on her TV that said to turn everything off in the house due to a potential fire or explosion. Police checked her home and determined the woman may have been suffering from mental distress.

A Bigfork man reported a gun was stolen off of the gun rack on his vehicle sometime Monday night.

An employee at a fast-food restaurant said a couple came in appearing to be very drunk on Monday. The pair had a small child with them and took off driving in a dark green Jeep Cherokee.

A principal from a Kila school reported that some parents in the stands at a basketball game were possibly drinking alcohol.

A man called police around 4:15 a.m. Tuesday after he arrived at his Shadow Lane home in Kalispell to find fresh footprints in the snow that went from vehicle to vehicle in his neighborhood. Nothing was stolen from his vehicle.

A man staying at a Columbia Falls hotel reported a strange knock on his door at 4:45 a.m. Tuesday. The man who knocked said that “his son was flat-lining,” and when he was questioned further, the man changed his story, saying “it was the guy that created Superman.” This was the same man who had hopped into the cab of the snowplow a few hours earlier.

A man staying at a U.S. 93 South hotel called the Kalispell Police Department on Monday night saying there was a man following him around town “from Pennsylvania and is here to take him back to Pennsylvania to the Marine Corps.” The man reporting the strange encounter said he isn’t with the Marines and added that the man following him had some type of weapon.

A woman said her grandson stole 30 of her prescription hydrocodone pills and wasn’t sure if he was selling them at high school or taking them himself.

Someone in a white Dodge Ram pickup drove off with $55 worth of gas from an East Idaho Street station Tuesday morning without paying for it.

A woman who lives on Second Avenue East near a hotel reported that she’s had people peeping in her windows twice and asked for extra patrol in her neighborhood.

A woman was reported for DUI on Tuesday morning after she parked outside a U.S. 93 North business, got out of the vehicle and chugged a beer. The vehicle turned out to be stolen and she was arrested.

A woman said her neighbors on Second Avenue East let their dogs “poodoo” wherever they want. The woman added that she slipped on one of the piles of “poodoo.”

A business owner called Columbia Falls Police on Monday to report that one of her employees has been stealing candy.