Bar outburst nets man a five-year sentence

After an outburst at Cattleman’s Bar and Casino followed by a police chase in February, Brandon Lee Webb has been sentenced to the Montana Department of Corrections for 10 years with five years suspended.

The sentence imposed Thursday by Flathead District Judge Robert Allison included recommendation for placement in the Connections Corrections program.

Webb was previously convicted by Alford plea to felony burglary for remaining in an occupied building and causing criminal mischief.

An Alford plea is a legal maneuver that maintains his assertion of innocence but concedes he likely would be found guilty at trial.

According to court documents, Kalispell Police officers were called to the bar after Webb became disruptive. Webb had allegedly kicked a gambling machine and when employees asked him to leave, he reportedly threw a chair into a wall and banged his fists on a door. Webb also attempted to assault patrons.

Officers arrived to the scene around the time Webb tried to leave. Webb fled on foot and jumped two fences before officers apprehended him, according to court documents. At the police station, Webb was said to have given officers a false name.

Before sentencing, Webb gave a statement in an attempt to explain some of the root causes for his behavior as a combination of mental disorder diagnoses such as bipolar disorder that he said stem from trauma and abuse as a youth worsened by attempts at self-medicating with alcohol resulting in side effects with prescription medications.

“I don’t handle being abused well. I’m very sensitive to it and if someone comes up to me and pushes me around, my PTSD kicks in,” Webb said.

Webb later added, “I’ve learned from my mistakes.”

Allison encouraged Webb to walk away from situations where he feels “pushed around.”

“I think probably we all deal with those situations differently and maybe not always all that way but in general the walk away approach is the best one,” Allison said.

Allison said enrollment in an anger management program would not be a bad idea, but ultimately left that up to a probation officer.

“We all have stuff in our past that we carry with us yet we have a society that expects us to adhere to certain rules, so do what you need to do so that you don’t come back,” Allison said before wishing Webb good luck.

Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or hmatheson@dailyinterlake.com.