LAW ROUNDUP: Man charged after chase, crash

Kalispell Police arrested Jasper Marten Howell, 39, after a pursuit at around 10 p.m. Tuesday night.

According to Kalispell Police Investigations Captain Doug Overman, Howell allegedly led officers on a chase on an all-terrain vehicle from Woodland Avenue to Dry Bridge Park, where Howell allegedly crashed the vehicle into the creek.

He then took off on foot before he was apprehended by police.

He was charged with criminal possession of dangerous drugs, obstructing or eluding a police officer and a stop-sign violation. Howell sustained minor injuries that did not require treatment, Overman said.

In other news, an officer advised a woman that a no-contact order had not yet been served against a man who was allegedly sending her unwanted text messages.

A woman on East California Street called because her sister allegedly heard a gunshot in the area two hours earlier. The woman was advised about how her sister might file a report.

A person on First Avenue West called to report that a car had been stolen, but called back a short time later to say that the car was actually just in a different parking lot.

A person on River View Drive reported that a motorcycle helmet, machete, knife, phone charger and phone case had been stolen.

A man was counseled and a dog was found to be OK after someone reported that the man was allegedly beating the animal in a parking lot.

A man was arrested on a felony warrant for possession of dangerous drugs after he allegedly fled the scene when his landlords called police for help. The landlords allegedly evicted the man, only to have him kick in a door on Eighth Avenue West and assault a woman. The woman did not want to give a statement. The landlords only wanted to make sure the man did not return and cause more problems. Someone called after the man was arrested to report that she believed he might have stolen a tablet from a trailer and pawned it. The caller was told that the man had been booked into jail.

 A man was asked to leave a casino for allegedly touching himself in front of customers. The man left, but then allegedly went outside and exposed himself before leaving. He was gone by the time officers arrived.

A person called the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office for help after a young elk could not get over a fence on Montana 209 and catch up to its herd. Fish and Wildlife officers determined that the elk was having trouble getting over the fence, but that it did not appear to be in immediate danger.

Someone raided a contractor’s trailer and took more than $9,500 in tools from a location off U.S. 2.

A woman called from her home in Bigfork to report that she had found a gun in the Swan River.

Two snowmobiles and a trailer were reported stolen from a resident in Essex.

A man called to report that he thought he saw a skydiving accident in Marion because it looked like the skydivers were very tangled up. Law enforcement called the skydiving company and found out that a parachute did fail to deploy during a dive, but that, thankfully, a backup chute deployed correctly.

Whitefish Police received a call from someone on Haugen Heights, who said that a black bear had been seen in the neighborhood, minding its own business.

Columbia Falls Police took a report about a $6,000 Rolex watch being stolen.

One involved party was gone and another refused to give a statement after someone reported that two men were allegedly throwing punches in a parking lot off Nucleus Avenue.

A person was cited and a dog was quarantined after a man reported that the dog bit him and attacked his own dog during the incident on Fourth Avenue West.

Recent rounds of isolated thunderstorms sparked about a dozen small wildfires in the Flathead during the past two days.

Firefighting crews from the Flathead National Forest, Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, Glacier National Park and local fire departments kept most of the reported fire starts under a tenth of an acre. Downed power lines also ignited a pair of small grass fires late Tuesday night and early Monday morning.

In Thompson Falls, the Northern Rockies National Incident Management Team reported that the Copper King Fire was 20 percent contained by Wednesday morning. Crews continued burn-out operations to reduce unburned fuels in the wilfire’s more than 27,000-acre footprint.

Fire information officer Leigh Golden said cloud cover throughout the day allowed firefighters to continue making progress, with no major increases in the fire’s size. An evacuation order still stands for 45 residences in the area, with 130 homes on pre-evacuation notice.