Kalispell man caught after helicopter chase

A Kalispell man is behind bars after leading Flathead County Sheriff’s deputies on a foot and air pursuit Tuesday afternoon.

Richard Flint, 32, is being held at Flathead County Detention Center on revocation of conditions of release for a prior crime, Flathead County Sheriff Chuck Curry said.

“He is a person of interest in some vehicle thefts in both this county and Lincoln County,” Curry said.

Just after 1 p.m. a woman on Beaver Lake Road near Whitefish reported that a man she didn’t know had just walked into her house.

He allegedly told her, “Sorry, I didn’t know anyone was home,” and asked to use the woman’s phone before the woman told him to leave.

The woman gave a description of the man to deputies and she was told to lock her doors and possibly set up a game camera in case the man returned.

The responding deputy drove through the neighborhood and warned a neighbor about the suspicious activity. The deputy received a tip shortly thereafter that a man matching the description of the intruder was walking on Beaver Lake Road.

The deputy tried to talk to the man and the man ran into the woods.

Two Bear Air launched a helicopter search that helped deputies on the ground find the man and arrest him.