Scammers suspected in kidnapping scare

A Flathead County Sheriff’s deputy found that a Bigfork girl was fine after it was reported that a suspected scammer had called a friend of her father’s in California saying that the girl might be kidnapped by a Mexican gang if money was not paid.

Dispatch received a call about a Shetland pony being in the middle of East Cottonwood Drive, but by the time a deputy responded, the miniature equine had already been returned to his safe pasture.

A deputy helped a woman secure her license plate after she showed up to the office with tools but not quite enough savvy to get the plate screwed in herself.

A deputy logged a report about a call from a business on Rocky Cliff Drive, where a person reported that there was debris and a hole in the ground beneath a vehicle. The person thought an explosive device of some sort might have been placed under the vehicle. Nothing reportedly went boom though.

Someone reported that two sixth graders in Somers had stolen $45 in cash and trashed a classroom. A deputy was dispatched.

A man on Dover Drive advised dispatch that he was unhappy with a 70-pound hound dog that was seen in his yard, and that he intended to shoot the animal if he saw it on his property again.

A man called from Bigfork and allegedly berated a deputy for not doing anything about a vehicle that had allegedly crashed into a building on Jan. 22 and caused $100,000 worth of damage. The deputy tried to explain that the Montana Highway Patrol was handling the case, but the man allegedly complained that the sheriff’s office had done nothing to protect him. The deputy advised the man that the conversation was going nowhere because the man wasn’t listening and the man allegedly called the deputy a derogatory name before the call disconnected.

A man came into the Whitefish Police Department to report that his ex-wife had come to the man’s work the night before and hit his vehicle with her side mirror. The man did not want to press charges, but did want the incident logged for information. The man was advised that a restraining order might be in order.

An adventurous pup showed up unattended at the train station, and a woman held him on a leash until an officer could come. If the Malamute/husky was trying to go on an adventure like Milo and Otis he was going to have a tough time as he was taken to a doggy holding cell until owners could be located.

Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office arrested a man for burglary and possession of marijuana after a person called from Farm to Market Road saying that a man had tried to get in his house and said that people were after him.

An administrator of an elementary school called for an officer to cite two students for theft. An officer ended up logging a report.

Columbia Falls Police were called to Ninth Street West where someone had reported that two ladies walking in the road were hazards. The ladies said that they walked every day and would get onto the sidewalk. One of the ladies had a walker.

Kalispell Police determined that a man was not vandalizing a vehicle on West Idaho Street but instead was suffering a mental breakdown after someone called to report that the man had parked in a handicap parking spot and began pouring food and chocolate milk all over the parking lot. The man then allegedly opened the vehicle’s hood and trunk and began tearing the car apart. He also allegedly poured a bottle of prescription medication all over the top of the vehicle. At one point the man allegedly took off his shoes and tucked them under the windshield wipers. The man was transported to the hospital for an evaluation. The pills involved were controlled narcotics.