Woman changes plea for brandishing ax

An Evergreen woman admitted in court Wednesday to brandishing an ax in a drunken incident on South Cedar Drive on Sept. 20.

Rachel Rae Gulbranson, 31, pleaded guilty to felony criminal endangerment as part of a plea bargain that recommends a five-year deferred imposition of sentence.

The charge was reduced from felony assault with a weapon.

Gulbranson cried on the witness stand as she admitted to the crime. At first she claimed she did not know she had an ax in her hand, but upon further questioning by Flathead District Judge Heidi Ulbricht, Gulbranson said she did remember the crime and knew she was holding an ax.

Prosecutors claimed in court documents that during the incident Gulbranson was screaming obscenities at neighbors and began to take the ax off her shoulder as she yelled, “Don’t [expletive] test me” at one woman.

Reporter Megan Strickland can be reached at 758-4459 or mstrickland@dailyinterlake.com.