Man challenges three assault charges

A Kalispell man has pleaded not guilty to charges alleging that he kicked his girlfriend, rupturing her spleen, and pulled a shotgun on her and two other men.

Elijah Norman Weller entered the pleas Thursday in Flathead County District Court to felony aggravated assault and two felony counts of assault with a weapon.

According to court documents, in the early morning hours of July 4, a Flathead County Deputy responded to North Valley Hospital to take a report of an assault.

At the hospital, Crystal Turner told police that her boyfriend, Weller, had attacked her at their Poplar Drive home. Turner stated that Weller grabbed her by the hair and threw her to the ground. When she attempted to get up, Weller allegedly kicked her extremely hard in her left side, and Turner said she “felt something happen inside her body.”

At the hospital, it was determined that Turner’s spleen was ruptured, and she underwent surgery to remove it.

Turner said Bradley Smith, along with two other men, were at her home when the incident happened. When she was able to get up, Turner said, she walked outside, and Weller allegedly grabbed a shotgun and threatened the group. Turner said that she, Smith and another man got into Smith’s vehicle and drove away, and as they did so, Weller fired a round from the shotgun.

Weller previously had been charged with two felony counts of arson in July after allegedly lighting a man’s front door on fire on July 17 and then torching a parked vehicle a few hours later.

Aggravated assault and assault with a weapon charges carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine of $50,000. Arson carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $50,000 fine.