Essex residents worried after crime spurt

A string of burglaries in the quiet areas of Essex and Pinnacle on the southern edge of Glacier National Park have spurred worried residents to request more law enforcement.

More than 20 gathered Tuesday before Flathead County commissioners to voice their concerns.

“We are in a self-help area,” Essex resident Tod O’Connell said. “There is no police presence around.”

O’Connell and other residents spoke about their experiences with a string of burglaries that  started on May 17 and lasted a couple of days. As many as 18 properties were broken into and many of the stolen items haven’t been recovered.

Two men have been arrested in connection to the crimes, according to Flathead County Sheriff Chuck Curry. Leif Ness and Merlyn Marceau were arrested and charged with burglary shortly after the crimes occurred.

Things have quieted down in the rural communities along U.S. 2, but residents are still on edge. They wanted the Sheriff’s Office to show more of a presence in the area.

“These additional patrols are necessary in our area,” said Marty Phippen of Essex.

The reaction time for deputies was among the concerns.

One man, John Brown, had his property raided in the burglaries. He said he called the Sheriff’s Office at 2:44 p.m. after he found out about the crime. He said somebody finally showed up at 9:38 p.m.

Curry spoke to the residents after they had made public comments. He said that with limited resources and personnel, deputies need to be close to the statistically high-action areas.

More often than not, that’s not Essex or Pinnacle. And when urgent calls arise, others can get backlogged.

“A crime against property is second to an assault in progress,” Curry said.

The Sheriff’s Office has four to six deputies working a given shift, with up to 150 calls per day. Most of them occur in the “valley floor,” as Curry put it.

Residents at the meeting grumbled angrily about how the burglaries disrupted the neighborly atmosphere. Many of the people talked about keeping watch on each others’ homes and reporting odd activity.

But some of them talked about resorting to violence.

“It’s almost to the point where people do want to take it into their own hands,” Brown said.

Another man mused about violent responses future burglars, saying that everyone has been up in arms. O’Connell asked aloud what would happen if he shot somebody or killed them “with a baseball bat.”

Curry stressed that any deadly action would need to be in response to an equally deadly threat — a response of “like force.”

“It is your right as a citizen to protect yourself,” he said.

But he encouraged residents’ ideas of community watch programs and training on what to do when criminal elements reach the quiet, rural parts of the county.

The Essex burglaries are still under investigation. Curry said that most of the stolen items ended up on the Blackfeet Reservation.

Sheriff’s Patrol Commander Nic Salois said more suspects are under scrutiny.

The acute rash of crime in the area will remain on the minds of residents for a while. It’s an area in which many people don’t lock their homes or cars.

After the meeting with the commissioners, O’Connell told of talking to his neighbor who was shaken by the incident.

‘She said, ‘I wake up constantly,’” O’Connell said.

Reporter Matt Hudson may be reached at 758-4459 or by email at mhudson@dailyinterlake.com.